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The Second Sorrowful Mystery |
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 The Second Sorrowful Mystery byJonathan Harrington Mass Market Paperback 256 pages (August 2000) Worldwide Library ISBN 0373263589 Reviewed by Devorah Stone Read our review of The Death of Cousin Rose by Jonathan Harrington Read our author interview There is no first sorrowful mystery book written by Jonathan Harrington. The Second Sorrowful Mystery refers to Catholic teachings concerning Christ's martyrdom. Although the cover does say this book is a sequel to The Death of Cousin Rose I was able to follow the sequel without reading the first one. Balleycara is small Irish town where everyone thinks they know everyone but as it turns out they don't. The sleuth, an American teacher at a Dublin boy's school, Danny O'Flaherty, visits Father O'Malley in Balleycara. O'Flaherty hopes to spend his vacation time fishing with the priest. When he arrives, Fidelma Muldoon the priest's maid, tells him Father O'Malley is missing. Later that day O'Flaherty finds the dead priest locked in the church basement. The American sleuth, staying in the local B&B and drinking in the local pub, discovers secrets about almost everyone living in this picturesque village, including the good priest himself. The man Danny O'Flaherty had always looked up to as a friend and spiritual guide also had a past that was less than pure. Even priests have secrets. O'Flaherty discovers O'Malley's secrets and personal sins after his death. The sleuth wrestles with his own feelings of betrayal. The list of possible suspects in one small village mounts. There are possible devil worshipping pagans, the widow Kathleen Conlon and Seamus Larkin who the priest would not allow to marry, and the doctor who sent single pregnant girls to England for abortions, are all suspect. O'Flaherty suspects everyone at the priest's last mass - even the tourists and a young lad. In order to find the murderer he makes himself unpopular with many villagers. Still, a romance which was ignited in the previous book, starts to blossom in this one. Jonathan Harrington paints a vivid picture of a bucolic small town wrestling with the pressures of the outside world while clinging to its own traditions. I found Balleycara an inviting place I would like to visit. The author also leaves enough human kindness and understanding of the villagers at the book's conclusion to make me want to visit Balleycara again. |
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