The Discourtesy of Death: A Father Anselm Novel

by William Brodrick

Overview

An English barrister-turned-monk looks into a disabled woman’s death: “Strikes a nice balance between sleuthing and character-driven suspense.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
CWA Gold Dagger Award-winning author
 
An anonymous letter arrives at the priory accusing a prominent academic, Peter Henderson, of a grotesque murder: the calculated killing of Jenny, his disabled partner, believed by everyone to have died peacefully two years ago. Time has moved on. Grief and loss were tempered by a comforting thought: Jenny was spared a long and painful illness. Knowing the truth behind the soothing lie, Father Anselm—former barrister, current clergyman—must move cautiously to expose the killer and the killing without harming young Timothy, Jenny and Peter’s son.
 
But Jenny’s father is looking out for his grandson too. He is capable of anything if he thinks it’s for the best. And he has set out to execute Peter Henderson . . .
 
“William Brodrick’s crime novels have the great (and unusual) merit of being unlike anyone else’s.” —Spectator
 
“Classics in the making.” —Jeffery Deaver

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781468311860
Publisher:	ABRAMS, Inc. (Ignition)
Publication date:	07/26/2016
Series:	Father Anselm Thrillers
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	309
Sales rank:	506,957
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

William Brodrick was an Augustinian friar before leaving the order to become a lawyer and novelist. Winner of the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger Award, he is the author of six novels featuring Father Anselm.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

 

Praise for The Sixth Lamentation: 

“It’s indeed rare to find such a masterful blending of sharp suspense and literary resonance as we see in The Sixth Lamentation. Brodrick has produced a truly compelling novel.” —Jeffery Deaver 

“Engrossing . . . An intricate mystery of both the mind and the soul.” —USA Today 

“A cat’s cradle of a mystery with the interwoven stories pulled as tight as a piano wire.” —Martha Grimes 

Editorial Reviews

06/13/2016
Early in Brodrick’s mild fifth Father Anselm thriller (after 2012’s The Day of the Lie), the prior of Larkwood Priory near Sudbury, England, hands Anselm, who has made a reputation for himself as a detective, a typed anonymous letter, which obliquely accuses Peter Henderson of murdering his disabled wife, Jenny Henderson, two years earlier. The letter’s author may be Jenny’s father, former Army captain Michael Goodwin, who’s bent on taking revenge on his son-in-law, who’s about to be released from prison. Anselm uses his skills as a former barrister along with the assistance of Mitch Robson, a criminal he worked with in the past, to begin the search for justice, but what could have been an engaging investigation becomes mired in tangential essays regarding the morality of mercy killing and confusing threads that have little to do with the central plot. Anselm identifies the killer long after it becomes obvious to the reader. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

UK Test 2 12/9/16

The Weekly Standard

 Praise for The Sixth Lamentation: “It’s indeed rare to find such a masterful blending of sharp suspense and literary resonance as we see in The Sixth Lamentation. Brodrick has produced a truly compelling novel.” —Jeffery Deaver “Engrossing . . . An intricate mystery of both the mind and the soul.” —USA Today “A cat’s cradle of a mystery with the interwoven stories pulled as tight as a piano wire.” —Martha Grimes 

From the Publisher