Triple Pursuit

Ralph McInerny is one of my favorite mystery writers. A philosophy professor who has taught at Notre Dame for forty years, he is a noted scholar whose novels reflect his knowledge of the vagaries and virtues of the human heart. In "Triple Pursuit" we are again in Fox River with Father Dowling, his staunch housekeeper, Marie Murkin, and his pal Detective Phil Keegan. This is a marvelous yarn whose theme might be "cherchez la femme." Once again McInerny treats us to the interior lives of characters large and small, like the pretty young mother, Jane, who looks forward to private morning time after her husband is off to work and her children to school; or to the aging priest who continues to serve a parish despite nearly crippling arthritis. McInerny is a mature fiction writer who writes equally well of women and men, something that cannot be said for a lot of younger male writers. Kudos to him for this latest novel, and may he give us many more to enjoy!

TRIPLE PURSUIT is one of the better Father Dowling mysteries. Readers who are familiar with this series will feel right at home with the usual cast of regular characters and some interesting new ones. There are 3 murders involved (plus another possible one, disguised as a suicide), and several of the more sympathetic characters take turns as suspects. Father Dowling doesn't really get involved in the actual investigation until near the end, and then his involvement is rather rashly independent. A suitable culprit is finally nabbed, and everyone lives happily ever after.If this sounds rather flippant, it is very affectionately so. I really don't read the Dowling novels for the mysteries, but for the interplay among the fascinating people who inhabit the books. The warm, intelligent and conscientious Dowling himself, his nosy, officious housekeeper, his close friend detective Captain Keegan, Keegan's calm and capable assistant Cy Horvath, the rascally shyster Tuttle (who turns out to be something of a hero in this novel), and Tuttle's empty-headed cohort Peanuts Pianone, who is both an inept cop and a member of the local mob family, all play appropriate and believable parts in the plot. The additional characters for this novel add humor, love, sex, betrayal, and basic human emotions in a realistic blend of events and relationships.If you want a blood and thunder action mystery, this is not it. The violence is there, but it is downplayed, and the emphasis is consistently upon the shifting relationships among the characters. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this latest novel in an intelligent and well-written series.