A Matter of Roses (Faith Abbey Mystery Series, Book 1)

The town of Eastport has just had its' first murder in 47 years. The most hated man on the island, a developer naturally, Mac Curtis is found dead by Teal Pond. The murder weapon, a custom made knife he used in Vietnam, is missing, and the trouble has only just begun. There are innumerable suspects, from his wife and partners to a local enviromentalist. The Chief of Police needs help he can't get from his own department, his second in command is a raving egomaniac without the intelligence to match his ego. So, the Chief turns to his childhood friend, the monk, Brother Bartholomew, to help him. Brother Bartholomew has problems of his own, from the past and present, but he agrees to help his old friend.This was a very suspenseful mystery. You never knew the killer's indentity until the author wanted you to know. There was plenty of action in between. A very fast and enjoyable read.

A MATTER OF ROSES is wonderful stuff--a multidimensional mystery that grips even non-mystery buffs. Following Peter Ellis' Brother Cadfael tradition, the book features as sleuth Brother Bartholomew, a monk at Faith Abbey. The story opens with Green Beret Mac Curtis'love for Nurse Susan, a love engendered principally by her recognition of the hurt boy beneath Curtis' macho veneer. Sue rejects his advances and falls in love with Maurice Thomlinson, a frail, idealistic botanist who health and career are wrecked because of the "witches brew" he was ordered to concoct to defoliate the Vietnamese. After the war, these three end up on Cape Cod. In an inherited cottage, Susan is nursing Maurice, her invalid husband. Mac Curtis, now married to the dynamic Allison, is planning a real estate development, Teal Pond. Other characters in the seaside town include eccentrics such as a commodore whose cannon the sheriff locks up because of the naval officer's inappropriate firings and a failed writer turned recluse and radical ecologist. Mac Curis contrives a rose contest and a party to obtain backers for Teal Pond. When Sue again rejects him, Curtis drinks, turns ugly, then frightens his guests with a vicious description of how to gut a person with a kinfe. His indiscretion costs him financial backing for Teal Pond, and the project flops. Never the nice guy, Mac Curtis' partners, Tobin and Cal, are stunned to learn that although they are ruined, Curtis is not. Through a slight of hand involving fine print in the contract his partners signed, Mac Curtis has protected himself at their expense. When Curtis turns up dead in a marsh, no one is sorry, and everyone is suspect. When his wife, Allison, is also murdered, the town becomes frantic. The sheriff informally enlists Brother Barholomew in the investigation, a welcome distraction for the monk torn between his vows of celibacy and the sudden reappearance of a lost love. The superbly crafted plot keeps the reader on edge right up to its explosive climax and poetic denouement. What makes A MATTER OF ROSES much better than an ordinary mystery is the way Manuel describes the settings--the coffee shop, the dunes, the abbey's Fourth of July celebration--and the characters' battles. Brother Bartholomew struggles with his soul; the sheriff fends off a coup in the police department. Tobin deals with his disturbing marriage, Cal's wife with sudden loss and alcholism. The reader becomes involved with these conficts as well as with Brother Bartholomew and the sheriff's quest for the killer. A MATTER OF ROSES is that rare find--a wonderful present for almost everyone on your gift list, including yourself. Don't miss it.

I would truly like to spend some time with Brother Bartholomew, the engaging amateur sleuth in "A Matter of Roses". Preferably over coffee at Norma's Café where his mother waits table and keeps tab on who is saying what about whom in the Cape Cod community of Eastport. I would ask Brother Bartholomew about what the building craze is doing to the pristine Cape Cod I knew and loved many years ago, about life in an ecumenical religious community and, of course, about dastardly murder. These are just some of the buds and thorns of "A Matter of Roses". The story is real enough that I can't be sure whether Brother Bartholomew is a creation of David Manuel or if David Manuel is the good Brother's nom de plume. In either event, this cerebral sleuth in his modern-day monastary is anything but cloistered as he tracks down the murderer in this nicely-paced novel.

A truly good read with plenty of surprises! The plot is captivating -- emotionally charged. The characters are well-developed, drawing the reader in. You feel as though you are a part of their lives -- so much so that you can personally identify with one or more, and find traits of friends, and even enemies, in the others!The setting is the fictitious town of Eastport on glorious Cape Cod -- delightfully familiar to the many who have visitied her quaint towns, and inviting to those who have always longed to!I am eagerly anticipating the sequel that I might catch up on the people and events of Eastport!

As an avid reader of WELL-written mystery stories, this book fulfilled all my expectations. The characters were developed with such depth and perception, that I felt I knew them. The mystery was intriguing, and kept me guessing right until the end. For those who love Elizabeth George, Martha Grimes, Patricia Cornwell, John Lescroart and others, you will not be disappointed. The mystery takes place in the fictional town of Eastport on Cape Cod, at an abbey named "Faith Abbey". Although I've heard it compared to the Ellis Peters series, this book is every bit as delightful, yet refreshingly different. I highly reccomend it!