Blood Ties: A Father Dowling Mystery - Hardcover

McInerny, Ralph

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 031233690X ISBN 13: 9780312336905

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2005

Synopsis

Henry Dolan's granddaughter, Martha Lynch, adopted 23 years earlier, wants to find her birth parents. Her adopted parents are frantic over the idea of losing her, so Henry seeks out Father Dowling for help.
Meanwhile, Martha's birth father, Nathaniel Fleck, who left before Martha's birth, has contacted Martha's real mother, Madeline, for details about Martha. Madeline panics, afraid he won't leave her alone, and turns to Amos Cadbury, a lawyer, for advice. When Nathaniel is found murdered two days later, Dowling and Amos must juggle the responsibility of spoiling the peace of the families involved while uncovering the truth behind the murder.
Blood Ties is an absorbing and suspenseful addition to this beloved series.

About this title

About the Author

RALPH MCINERNY is the author of over thirty books, including a popular mystery series set at the University of Notre Dame, where he has taught for over forty years. He lives in South Bend, Indiana.

Reviews

The engaging 24th Father Dowling mystery (after 2004's Requiem for a Realtor) explores the moral ambiguities of the choices people make in the wake of a young woman's unwanted pregnancy. McInerny uses a full palette of nothing but grays as Martha Lynch seeks to learn the identity of her birth mother on the eve of her engagement. At the same time, Nathaniel Fleck, who turned his back on Madeline years earlier when she was pregnant, is determined to learn the fate of his child and to make amends. Almost everyone involved, from a lecherous oldster to a sleazy lawyer, shows at least a modicum of decency. And some, like Father Dowling and lawyer Amos Cadbury, both privy to Madeline's and Martha's identities, carefully weigh the one's need for secrecy and the other's for knowledge. When Fleck dies in a suspicious accident, the question becomes not only how the ramifications of Martha's parentage will play out but did someone resort to murder to keep Fleck from finding the answer? McInerny's nimble characterizations and subtle soundings of the moral issues make this a strong entry in the long-running series.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Father Dowling, the parish priest who seems to spend an inordinate amount of time solving crimes, returns in this intricate tale of murder and family history. The murder part is pretty straightforward: Nathaniel Fleck, who has been trying to reestablish contact with his estranged daughter (she was adopted by another couple 23 years ago), turns up dead. The rest of the story is more complicated. Fleck's daughter has been trying to find her birth parents. Fleck, her birth father, contacted the girl's birth mother (from whom he was also estranged), who then turned to a lawyer for advice. Now, Father Dowling and the lawyer, Amos Cadbury, not only have to solve Fleck's murder but they also must try to keep his death from destroying the young woman's two families. The Father Dowling mysteries have always combined mystery and morality effectively, and this one is no exception. Fans will be pleased. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 031233690X
• ISBN 13: 9780312336905
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272