The Book of Kills (Roger and Philip Knight Mysteries Set at the Univ. of Notre Dame) - Hardcover

McInerny, Ralph

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312203462 ISBN 13: 9780312203467

Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur, 2000

Synopsis

Prior to the kidnapping of several school administrators and the desecration of headstones in the Cedar Grove Cemetery, the University of Notre Dame's biggest worry had seemed to be this season's challenging football schedule. But these "pranks" are getting more and more serious. Then, Orion Plant, an eccentric scholar in the history program, began attracting negative media attention by claiming the university founder, Father Edward Sorin, stole the land on which the school sits from Native Americans. All in all, it's more than the board of trustees can handle.

A potentially costly lawsuit, embarrassing publicity, and a scandalous half-time prank broadcast on national television, cause university chancellor Father Bloom to turn to detective Philip Knight and his brother, brilliant philosophy professor Roger Knight, for help. But just as the brothers dig into the investigation, the scholar turns up dead, an Indian headdress wrapped around his bloody head. The South Bend police department is stumped, leaving the Knights once again to bring the killer to justice.

Another cleverly constructed and witty installment from one of the genre's masters, The Book of Kills is a delightfully sinister stroll through the hallowed halls of academia.

About this title

About the Author

Ralph McInerny, a winner of the Bouchercon Lifetime Achievement Award, is the author of over thirty books, including the popular Father Dowling mysteries, most recently Grave Undertakings and the Andrew Broome mysteries, most recently Heirs and Parents. He has taught for over forty years at the University of Notre Dame, where he is the director of the Jacques Maritain Center. He lives in South Bend, Indiana.

From Publishers Weekly

Fans of academic whodunits will find much to chuckle over in this fourth Notre Dame mystery (On This Rockne, etc.) from the creator of Father Dowling, featuring the sleuthing Knight brothers, the hulking Roger and private detective Philip. A series of pranks, including the kidnapping of the chancellor, has alarmed the Notre Dame administration, and the Knight brothers get the call to investigate. The various shenanigans seem somehow related to the claim by a group of Native Americans that the land on which the famed university stands was stolen from them and should be returned. A longtime history graduate student, Orion Plant, has uncovered information in the course of his dissertation research that allegedly bolsters this claim. But when Plant turns up dead, the Knight brothers have to delve even deeper to discover who had the most compelling motive to murder him. Does Plant's long-delayed dissertation have anything to do with his death? Could his long-suffering wife, waitress Marcia Younger, have finally tired of his dallying with Professor Otto Ranke's daughter, Laverne, and done him in? And what about the unsolved murders of a number of Native Americans in South Bend years before? The Knights have to sniff down many trails in order to find the right answer. McInerny has fashioned another deft and mordantly witty excursion into the rarefied atmosphere of Notre Dame. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0312203462
• ISBN 13: 9780312203467
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288