Celt and Pepper: A Mystery Set at the University of Notre Dame - Hardcover

McInerny, Ralph

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312291175 ISBN 13: 9780312291174

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2002

Synopsis

Martin Kilmartin is a popular young Notre Dame professor and a promising poet, and as far as everyone on campus knows, he's off to visit his ancestral Ireland over winter break. It's a shocking moment when Professor Kilmartin is discovered dead in his office, never having made it on his winter retreat. Apparently the victim of a weak heart, Kilmartin's death comes just months before he is to be wed, and on the heels of some outstanding recognition for his verse.

All in all, it seems to be just another campus tragedy, and while some wonder at the authenticity of the official explanation for his death, the police are content to blame his medical condition for his untimely demise. That is, until Professor Roger Knight, big man on campus and compulsively curious amateur sleuth, gets involved. The rotund professor's interest is piqued after reading some of Kilmartin's melancholic work, and he points to several anomalies at the crime scene in questioning the case. Before long, he's unearthed more than a few people with motive to harm the burgeoning artist.

Roger's first task, with the help of his brother Phil, will be to determine whether there has in fact been a crime, and if so, who exactly was behind it. Before he's through, he'll use his diverse experience with poetry, literature, Irish history, and Notre Dame lore, not to mention his ear for university gossip, to get the bottom of another fascinating acadamic whodunit from master storyteller Ralph McInerny.

About this title

About the Author

Ralph McInerny is the author of over thirty books, including the popular Father Dowling mystery series, and has taught for over forty years at the University of Notre Dame, where he is the director of the Jacques Maritain Center. He has been awarded the Bouchercon Lifetime Achievement Award, and was recently appointed to the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. He lives in South Bend, Indiana.

From Booklist

In the fifth Roger and Philip Knight mystery, fragile Irish poet and visiting professor Martin Kilmartin is found dead in his Notre Dame office, apparently from a violent sneeze caused by the pepper sprayed on his telephone. Notre Dame professor Roger Knight and his brother, private investigator Philip Knight, investigate, while Roger decides whether or not he wants to accept the job of director of the proposed Malachy O'Neill Center of Catholic Literature. The array of suspects includes jealous colleagues, a disgruntled student, Kilmartin's fiancee, and her not-quite-ex husband. The plethora of characters with their multiple points of view along with a rather disjointed, nonlinear plotline slow the pace, but readers who appreciate academic mysteries with faculty one-upmanship, gossip, and lots of literary references, as well as Notre Dame life and lore, will find much to enjoy here. The prolific McInerny has written more than 28 books, including the popular Father Dowling mysteries. Sue O'Brien
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About this edition

• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0312291175
• ISBN 13: 9780312291174
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240