Evil Intent

Callie Anson, a newly ordained Anglican minister, soon discovers that the London church scene is a world of political infighting in this absorbing mystery from British author Charles (Cruel Habitations). The low-church evangelicals and the high-church Anglo-Catholics disagree on everything, except that they both oppose the ordination of women and homosexuals. In this climate, someone murders Father Jonah Adimola, a conservative priest known for his outspoken dislike of feminism. Throw in a closeted gay priest whom the queen wants to make bishop; a hard-nosed reporter willing to do anything for a story; and a hunky, single cop, and Callie's first week on the job is anything but slow. With the current hullabaloo in the Anglican community over ordaining open homosexuals, this book is certainly timely. Unfortunately, the bad guys—the evangelicals and the Anglo-Catholics—are so unpleasant as to be implausible, while the vaunted liberals would be more interesting if they were a little less good. Still, fans of Julia Spencer-Fleming and Michelle Blake will doubtless enjoy curling up with a new female cleric -cum -detective.
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An expatriate living in England, Charles delivers a compelling story woven around the twenty-first-century Anglican Church. Callie Anson, the first woman curate in Paddington, is trying to deal with the displeasure her hiring has unleashed, both among congregants and other priests. Callie welcomes the friendship of Frances Cherry, a progressive woman who argued for ordination of women long before it became a cause. Accompanying Callie to her first clergy chapter meeting, Frances clashes with ardently conservative Nigerian priest Father Jonah Adimola, who speaks out against female priests. Jonah is later found murdered, and suspicion falls squarely on Frances. As Callie tries to prove her friend's innocence and win over the naysayers in her congregation, a subplot develops concerning a secretly gay priest who has been appointed bishop. Charles paints a vivid picture of the complex issues facing the Church of England today and, in an author's note, states her own view that how the church deals with homosexuality will be its defining issue for the foreseeable future. Jenny McLarin
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