Ralph McInerny Books In Order

Relic of Time

Five centuries ago, a Mexican peasant was visited by the Virgin Mary. His cloak was marked with the image of the Holy Mother surrounded by roses. It remains a priceless relic in Mexican religious culture. And it has been stolen. Retired CIA agent Vincent Traeger soon realizes that the truth is hidden within a conspiracy that could bring a country and a faith to its knees.

Infra Dig

Consumed by guilt after backing her car over her burdensome father in law, widowed Susan Nebens panics and hides the body in a bag full of grass clippings, thus beginning a bizarre adventure involving two hoods on the lam.

As Good As Dead

One of McInerny’s most intriguing and fast paced novels, filled with sharp plot turns and the urban mayhem he’s famous for.

The Ablative Case

Anthony Award winning author It seemed like such a simple task. Dwayne Navrone wants his wife out of the way so he can marry his voluptuous mistress. He finds two men to stage a kidnapping and murder, which will leave Dwayne free to restart his life with no entanglements. Then the kidnappers snatch the wrong woman, and everything goes downhill from there.

Thou Shalt Not Kill

A collection of mystery stories culled from the pages of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine features the work of John Mortimer, G. K. Chesterton, Ralph McInerny, and others.

Good Knights

These stories represent an intermediate stage in the evolution of the Knight brothers in Ralph McInerny’s fiction. In The Noonday Devil, Phil, in his capacity as private detective, was fairly close to the action, but by no means the major character. Roger, his blimp sized brother, entered obliquely into the story but ended by starring in the finale. Readers liked them, in particular Roger. So McInerny brought them back in Easeful Death, where they are far more central and Roger occupies much space, physically and narratively. And so it might have remained. When McInerny was asked to do a Notre Dame series of mysteries, he decided to bring Roger to South Bend as the Huneker Professor of Catholic Studies, accompanied by the semi retired Phil, who has the full menu of Notre Dame sports to keep him occupied. Prior to starting the series, McInerny wanted to reacquaint himself with the Knights and hit upon the idea of doing a series of Knight brothers stories in Crisis, a magazine he founded with Michael Novak. Before moving them to South Bend, he wanted to see them in action, working out of New York, always driving in the specially designed van, never flying, to the cities were their client lived. Good Knights is the result of putting these eight Knights brothers stories together. Call them finger exercises in character. The response to them in the magazine was gratifying, and with them behind him, McInerny launched the Notre Dame series, with On This Rockne in 1996, thirteen years and thirteen novels ago. But the origins of that successful series is seen here.

St. Thomas Aquinas

This lively and highly accessible introduction to the thought of Thomas Aquinas focuses on his philosophy while making clear its openness to theology as reflection on Revelation.

• Introduces students this great philosopher of the middle ages in one short book.
• Brings together alternative approaches to Aquinas thought.
• Uses key texts to describe the trajectory of Aquinas philosophy and the legacy it left behind.
• This is the first title in a new Polity series, Classic Thinkers.

Aquinas on Human Action

A working of primary Thomistic texts, this volume presents the systematic and unified character of Aquinas’ theory of moral agency as it relates to human action. Focusing especially on the ‘Summa theologiae’, Ralph McInerny argues that Aquinas’ theory of moral action stands up to contemporary needs and remains adequate against contemporary criticism. Intended for both the scholar and the student, ‘Aquinas on Human Action‘ is the first contribution in over 20 years to expose Aquinas’ thought through primary Thomistic texts. In part 1, the author examines the fundamental texts in order to demonstrate the coherence and philosphical sophistication of Aquinas’ doctrine. McInerny points out that this theory of action serves as a link between natural law on the one hand, and human good or ultimate end, on the other. In part 2, he undertakes a discussion of divergent viewpoints and offers a series of relevant debates, so that the reader can place the interpretation provided in part 1 in the ongoing philosophical discussion of Aquinas’ doctrine. It provides a clean line of presentation as well as an acknowledgement of alternative contributions and viewpoints of contemporary scholars.

The Question of Christian Ethics

In the early 1930s, Emile Brehier inaugurated a dispute regarding whether or not true philosophy could have existed during the ages of faith, the assumption being that real philosophers are untouched by faith and are, ideally, non believers. Etienne Gilson and Jacques Maritain, among many others, entered the fray, seeking to clarify what is meant by ‘Christian philosophy’. Both of these philosophers were very much in the tradition of St Thomas Aquinas, and together they might be said to have set the stage for present day discussions of just whether and what such a thing as a Christian philosophy might be. Ralph McInerny, both a Catholic philosopher in the Thomistic tradition and a writer, recounts the historical background of what might be called the autonomy of philosophy in a properly Christian philosophy and moves to his own resolution of the conflict, differing from both Gilson and Maritain. Chiefly concerned with the implications of this debate for moral doctrine, McInerny argues for a conception of Christian ethics that relies on the distinction between the activity of philosophising and the content of philosophy. ‘The Question of Christian Ethics‘ should be a valuable text for scholars working in the area of Aquinas’s moral theory and in the area of natural law theory as well as for professors and students who cover this territory in both undergraduate and graduate courses.

Aquinas Against the Averroists

In the mid 1260s in Paris, a dispute raged that concerned the relationship between faith and the Augustinian theological tradition on the one side and secular leaning as represented by the arrival in Latin of Aristotle and various Islamic and Jewish interpreters of Aristotle on the other. Masters of the arts faculty in Paris represented the latter tradition, indicated by the phrase ‘double truth theory.’ The introduction places the work historically and sketches the controversy to which it was a contribution. Part 2 includes the Latin Leonine text and McInerny’s translation. Part 3 analyzes the basic arguments of Thomas’s work and provides a series of interpretive essays meant to make Thomas accessible to today’s readers.

Let’s Read Latin

At last, a user-friendly introduction to Church Latin using church and scriptural documents themselves, allowing the student to build up knowledge with meaningful texts. All paradigms, grammar, and vocabulary are included, and the texts are explained line by line. A 60-minute audiotape is included to aid in pronunciation. For students of all ages, this work is a boon to home-schoolers too.

Aquinas and Analogy

‘De nominum analogia’ by Cajetan introduces a spurious argument that is not found in Aquinas’s writing. This text traces the source of the confusion to Cajetan’s misunderstanding of a text from Aquina’s commentary on the ‘Sentences’ and shows how misleading that distinction is.

What Went Wrong with Vatican II

Vatican II was supposed to herald a Golden Age in the Catholic Church yet in the thirty years since it ended, chaos & dissension have rocked the pulpits and emptied the pews. Today, theologians rise against the Pope, laymen turn away in dismay and confusion. McInerney cuts through conventional wisdom to reveal the council’s true message a message which, if widely known, would send shock waves through both the conservative and liberal wings on the Church…
and would bring many Catholics back to the practice of the Faith. After Vatican II, instead of enjoying the expected renaissance, the Church seemed to fall apart: priests and bishops rejected Church teachings, convents and seminaries emptied, and laypeople were thrown into confusion. I vividly remember my own dismay when I discovered that although I had entered the Catholic Church because I had come to see with Cardinal Newman’s help the necessity for a teaching authority, large numbers of Catholics were chafing under that authority and yearning for an illusory freedom. This strange rebellion in the post Vatican II Church is examined and blisteringly rebuked in Ralph McInerny’s What Went Wrong with Vatican II. McInerny contends that the problem wasn’t Vatican II itself, which, as an ecumenical council, enjoyed the protection of the Holy Spirit. The problem, he argues, came afterward: with Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI’s restatement of the Church s constant teaching that artificial contraception is immoral. Instead of greeting it with respect and obedience, a large group of clergy dissented publicly from Humanae Vitae and touched off a civil war in the Church as they competed with the Vatican for the obedience of the faithful. In this crucial book, McInerny traces the problem and shows what we must do now to restore the Church.

Characters in Search of Their Author

Is the conviction that there is a God the default position of the human mind? This is the suggestion of Vatican II’s Gaudium et spes, as well as Cardinal Newman and even St. Thomas Aquinas. But however natural it is for human beings to acknowledge their maker, it seems almost as natural to throw up obstacles between man and God. ‘Characters in Search of Their Author‘, the Gifford Lectures delivered by Ralph McInerny in Glasgow in 1999 2000, is devoted to clearing away some of these impediments, mainly those fashioned by philosophers. The first series of lectures traces the progressive dismissal of natural theology by modern and contemporary philosophers. Are all intellectual difficulties intellectual in origin? McInerny invites his reader to consider the ordinary acknowledgment or denial of God as analogous to falling into or out of love. The upshot may be a simple judgment, but the way to it is through the emotions and types of discourse that seldom appear in logic books. The recovery of natural theology is the theme of the second series of lectures. Making critical use of philosophers from Kierkegaard and Newman to Thomas Aquinas, McInerny brings us to the point where the age old task can once more begin.

The Defamation of Pius XII

Eugenio Pacelli, Pius XII, was one of the few unalloyed heroes of World War II. At great personal risk, he saved some 800,000 Jews from extermination by the Na*zis. Jewish refugees were given asylum in the Vatican, swelling the number of Swiss Guards. No Allied leader can match his glorious record. Golda Meir lauded Pius XII after the war, and the chief rabbi of Rome became a Roman Catholic, taking the name of Eugenio in tribute to Eugenio Pacelli. Why then has such a man been vilified and all but accused of being responsible for the Holocaust? Rolf Hochhuth’s infamous play, The Deputy, marked the turning point. The outrageous distortions of this play turned the greatest friend the Jewish people had during World War II into an anti Semite. This book restores Pius XII to the rank of hero, demolishes the ludicrous charges against him, and identifies the true target of this infamous calumny : the Church, the papacy, and the Christian moral teaching which confronts and condemns the Culture of Death.

The Very Rich Hours of Jacques Maritain

‘The Very Rich Hours of Jacques Maritain‘ is Ralph McInerny’s hymn of praise to the spiritual and intellectual life of the great Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain 1881 1973. The structure of this work is modelled on the medieval book of hours, making use of the daily offices, from Matins through Compline, to examine each stage of the life of Maritain and his wife, Raissa. Through this blending of biography and meditation, McInerny creates a portrait of the Maritains, one that reveals a model of the intellectual life as lived by the Christian believers. McInerny’s authoritative work provides an accessible avenue of entry to Maritain’s life and thought. Among the topics McInerny covers are Maritain’s remarkable and diverse set of friends, his involvement in French politics and the development of his views on the nature and future of democracy, the Church and Catholic intellectual life. By interweaving Maritain’s philosophy with anecdotes from his life, McInerny demonstrates what distinguished Maritain as a Catholic philosopher and why he is a source of inspiration for McInerny and others of his generation. This book should appeal to anyone who values the thought of Jacques Maritain and the work of Ralph McInerny.

I Alone Have Escaped to Tell You

With ‘I Alone Have Escaped to Tell You‘, Ralph McInerny distinguished scholar, mystery writer, editor, publisher, and family man delivers a thoroughly engaging memoir. In the course of his recollections, McInerny describes his childhood in Minnesota; his grammar school and seminary education, with his decision to leave the path toward ordination; his marriage to his beloved Connie and their active family life and travels; and his life as a fiction writer. We learn of his career as a Catholic professor of philosophy at Notre Dame, his views on the Catholic Church, his experiences as an editor and publisher of Catholic magazines and reviews, his involvement with the International Catholic University, and his thoughts on other Catholic writers. Part homage to his academic home for the last half century and part appreciation of the many significant friendships he has fostered over his life, McInerny’s reminiscences beautifully convey his lively interest in the world and his gift for friendship and collegiality. Written in his characteristically elegant style, by turns charming, poignant, humorous, and revealing, ‘I Alone Have Escaped to Tell You‘ will delight McInerny’s many devoted readers.

Dante and the Blessed Virgin

‘Dante and the Blessed Virgin‘ is distinguished philosopher Ralph McInerny’s eloquent reading of one of western literature’s most famous works by a Catholic writer. The book provides Catholic readers new to Dante’s ‘The Divine Comedy’ or ‘Commedia’ with a concise companion volume. McInerny argues that the ‘Blessed Virgin Mary’ is the key to Dante. She is behind the scenes at the very beginning of the ‘Commedia’, and she is found at the end in the magnificent closing cantos of the ‘Paradiso’. McInerny also discusses Dante’s ‘Vita Nuova’, where Mary is present as the object of the young Beatrice’s devotion. McInerny draws from a diverse group of writers throughout this book, including Plato, Aristotle, St. Bernard, St. Bonaventure, St. Thomas Aquinas, and George Santayana, among others. It is St. Thomas, however, to whom McInerny most often turns, and this book also provides an accessible introduction to Thomistic moral philosophy focusing on the appetites, the ordering of goods, the distinction between the natural and the supernatural orders, the classification of capital vices and virtues, and the nature of the theological virtues. This engagingly written book will serve as a source of inspiration and devotion for anyone approaching Dante’s work for the first time as well as those who value the work of Ralph McInerny.

The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 1

More than 200,000 words of great crime and suspense fictionEach year, Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg, editors of The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories, have reached farther past the boundaries of the United States to find the very best suspense from the world over. In this third volume of their series they have included stories from Germany, Belgium, and the United Kingdom as well as, of course, a number of fine stories from the U.S.A. Among these tales are winners of the Edgar Award, the Silver Dagger Award of the British Crime Writers, and other major awards in the field. In addition, here are reports on the field of mystery and crime writing from correspondents in the U.S. Jon L. Breen, England Maxim Jakubowski, Canada Edo Van Belkom, Australia David Honeybone, and Germany Thomas Woertche. Altogether, with nearly 250,000 words of the best short suspense published in 2001, this bounteous volume is, as the Wall Street Journal said of the previous year s compilation, the best value for money of any such anthology. The A to Z of the authors should excite the interest of any mystery reader:Robert Barnard Lawrence Block Jon L. Breen Wolfgang Burger Lillian Stewart Carl Margaret Coel Max Allan Collins Bill Crider Jeffery Deaver Brendan DuBois Susanna Gregory Joseph Hansen Carolyn G. Hart Lauren Henderson Edward D. Hoch Clark Howard Tatjana Kruse Paul Lascaux Dick Lochte Peter Lovesey Mary Jane Maffini Ed McBain Val McDermid Marcia Muller Joyce Carol Oates Anne Perry Nancy Pickard Bill Pronzini Ruth Rendell S. J. Rozan Billie Rubin Kristine Kathryn Rusch Stephan Rykena David B. Silva Nancy Springer Jac. Toes John Vermeulen Donald E. Westlake Carolyn Wheat.

The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 2

More than 200,000 words of great crime and suspense fictionEach year, Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg, editors of The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories, have reached farther past the boundaries of the United States to find the very best suspense from the world over. In this third volume of their series they have included stories from Germany, Belgium, and the United Kingdom as well as, of course, a number of fine stories from the U.S.A. Among these tales are winners of the Edgar Award, the Silver Dagger Award of the British Crime Writers, and other major awards in the field. In addition, here are reports on the field of mystery and crime writing from correspondents in the U.S. Jon L. Breen, England Maxim Jakubowski, Canada Edo Van Belkom, Australia David Honeybone, and Germany Thomas Woertche. Altogether, with nearly 250,000 words of the best short suspense published in 2001, this bounteous volume is, as the Wall Street Journal said of the previous year s compilation, the best value for money of any such anthology. The A to Z of the authors should excite the interest of any mystery reader:Robert Barnard Lawrence Block Jon L. Breen Wolfgang Burger Lillian Stewart Carl Margaret Coel Max Allan Collins Bill Crider Jeffery Deaver Brendan DuBois Susanna Gregory Joseph Hansen Carolyn G. Hart Lauren Henderson Edward D. Hoch Clark Howard Tatjana Kruse Paul Lascaux Dick Lochte Peter Lovesey Mary Jane Maffini Ed McBain Val McDermid Marcia Muller Joyce Carol Oates Anne Perry Nancy Pickard Bill Pronzini Ruth Rendell S. J. Rozan Billie Rubin Kristine Kathryn Rusch Stephan Rykena David B. Silva Nancy Springer Jac. Toes John Vermeulen Donald E. Westlake Carolyn Wheat.

The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 3

More than 200,000 words of great crime and suspense fictionEach year, Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg, editors of The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories, have reached farther past the boundaries of the United States to find the very best suspense from the world over. In this third volume of their series they have included stories from Germany, Belgium, and the United Kingdom as well as, of course, a number of fine stories from the U.S.A. Among these tales are winners of the Edgar Award, the Silver Dagger Award of the British Crime Writers, and other major awards in the field. In addition, here are reports on the field of mystery and crime writing from correspondents in the U.S. Jon L. Breen, England Maxim Jakubowski, Canada Edo Van Belkom, Australia David Honeybone, and Germany Thomas Woertche. Altogether, with nearly 250,000 words of the best short suspense published in 2001, this bounteous volume is, as the Wall Street Journal said of the previous year s compilation, the best value for money of any such anthology. The A to Z of the authors should excite the interest of any mystery reader:Robert Barnard Lawrence Block Jon L. Breen Wolfgang Burger Lillian Stewart Carl Margaret Coel Max Allan Collins Bill Crider Jeffery Deaver Brendan DuBois Susanna Gregory Joseph Hansen Carolyn G. Hart Lauren Henderson Edward D. Hoch Clark Howard Tatjana Kruse Paul Lascaux Dick Lochte Peter Lovesey Mary Jane Maffini Ed McBain Val McDermid Marcia Muller Joyce Carol Oates Anne Perry Nancy Pickard Bill Pronzini Ruth Rendell S. J. Rozan Billie Rubin Kristine Kathryn Rusch Stephan Rykena David B. Silva Nancy Springer Jac. Toes John Vermeulen Donald E. Westlake Carolyn Wheat.

The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 4

More than 200,000 words of great crime and suspense fictionEach year, Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg, editors of The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories, have reached farther past the boundaries of the United States to find the very best suspense from the world over. In this third volume of their series they have included stories from Germany, Belgium, and the United Kingdom as well as, of course, a number of fine stories from the U.S.A. Among these tales are winners of the Edgar Award, the Silver Dagger Award of the British Crime Writers, and other major awards in the field. In addition, here are reports on the field of mystery and crime writing from correspondents in the U.S. Jon L. Breen, England Maxim Jakubowski, Canada Edo Van Belkom, Australia David Honeybone, and Germany Thomas Woertche. Altogether, with nearly 250,000 words of the best short suspense published in 2001, this bounteous volume is, as the Wall Street Journal said of the previous year s compilation, the best value for money of any such anthology. The A to Z of the authors should excite the interest of any mystery reader:Robert Barnard Lawrence Block Jon L. Breen Wolfgang Burger Lillian Stewart Carl Margaret Coel Max Allan Collins Bill Crider Jeffery Deaver Brendan DuBois Susanna Gregory Joseph Hansen Carolyn G. Hart Lauren Henderson Edward D. Hoch Clark Howard Tatjana Kruse Paul Lascaux Dick Lochte Peter Lovesey Mary Jane Maffini Ed McBain Val McDermid Marcia Muller Joyce Carol Oates Anne Perry Nancy Pickard Bill Pronzini Ruth Rendell S. J. Rozan Billie Rubin Kristine Kathryn Rusch Stephan Rykena David B. Silva Nancy Springer Jac. Toes John Vermeulen Donald E. Westlake Carolyn Wheat.

The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 5

More than 200,000 words of great crime and suspense fictionEach year, Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg, editors of The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories, have reached farther past the boundaries of the United States to find the very best suspense from the world over. In this third volume of their series they have included stories from Germany, Belgium, and the United Kingdom as well as, of course, a number of fine stories from the U.S.A. Among these tales are winners of the Edgar Award, the Silver Dagger Award of the British Crime Writers, and other major awards in the field. In addition, here are reports on the field of mystery and crime writing from correspondents in the U.S. Jon L. Breen, England Maxim Jakubowski, Canada Edo Van Belkom, Australia David Honeybone, and Germany Thomas Woertche. Altogether, with nearly 250,000 words of the best short suspense published in 2001, this bounteous volume is, as the Wall Street Journal said of the previous year s compilation, the best value for money of any such anthology. The A to Z of the authors should excite the interest of any mystery reader:Robert Barnard Lawrence Block Jon L. Breen Wolfgang Burger Lillian Stewart Carl Margaret Coel Max Allan Collins Bill Crider Jeffery Deaver Brendan DuBois Susanna Gregory Joseph Hansen Carolyn G. Hart Lauren Henderson Edward D. Hoch Clark Howard Tatjana Kruse Paul Lascaux Dick Lochte Peter Lovesey Mary Jane Maffini Ed McBain Val McDermid Marcia Muller Joyce Carol Oates Anne Perry Nancy Pickard Bill Pronzini Ruth Rendell S. J. Rozan Billie Rubin Kristine Kathryn Rusch Stephan Rykena David B. Silva Nancy Springer Jac. Toes John Vermeulen Donald E. Westlake Carolyn Wheat.

Murder Most Medieval (By:Martin H. Greenberg)

Here are thirteen deadly tales, all set within the dramatic turmoil of medieval Europe. Murder mystery fans and history buffs alike will be riveted by the selections offered by master anthologist Martin H. Greenberg and Nebula Award-winner John Helfers. You’ll meet Peter Tremayne’s seventh-century Celtic detective, Sister Fidelma, in ‘Like a Dog Returning;’ discover Clayton Emery’s take on Robin Hood in ‘Plucking a Mandrake;’ learn about Brother Cadfael, soldier-turned-sleuthing-monk, from the wicked pen of Ellis Peters; and many others-all in the service of investigating crime in the Middle Ages, from the misdeeds of commoners to the felonies of kings.

Murder Most Medical (By:Martin H. Greenberg)

A collection of fifteen stories of crime in the medical world from authors including Lawrence Block, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Dorothy L. Sayers take readers through operating rooms, hospital hallways, an anatomy theater, and autopsy labs in search of killers.

Murder Most Irish (By:Martin H. Greenberg)

This is an anthology of Irish crime and detective fiction. The book includes work by Sean O’Faolain, Peter Tremayne, Edmund Crispin, Freeman Wills Crofts, Mary Ryan, Michael Jahn, Morris Hershman, and more modern writers, such as Clark Howard, Bill Crider and Wendi Lee.

Murder Most Delectable (By:Martin H. Greenberg)

What a grand love affair people have with food. It is the only thing that can simultaneously delight all five senses. Some people’s appetite for food is only exceeded by their appetite for crime. As our demand for creative dishes has increased, so has the opportunity for evil epicureans to combine their talent for wickedness and their love of good food and drink to lay their victims low in one fell swoop with nothing more than a well cooked meal or specially concocted libation. This menu of eighteen stories of culinary crimes and death beckons everyone. Readers must quiet any hunger pangs before turning the pages; the meals described are often worth dying for. As an added bonus, a recipe pertinent to each story’s flavour is included. The courses served are: ‘The Last Bottle in the World’ by Stanley Ellin ‘Takeout’ by Joyce Christmas ‘The Case of the Shaggy Caps’ by Ruth Rendell ‘The Cassoulet’ by Walter Satterthwait ‘Tea for Two’ by M. D. Lake ‘The Second Oldest Profession’ by Linda Grant ‘Connoisseur’ by Bill Pronzini ‘Gored’ by Bill Crider ‘Day for a Picnic’ by Edward D. Hoch ‘Guardian Angel’ by Caroline Benton ‘The Main Event’ by Peter Crowther ‘The Deadly Egg’ by Janwillem van de Wetering ‘Dead and Breakfast’ by Barbara Collins ‘Recipe for a Happy Marriage’ by Nedra Tyre ‘Death Cup’ by Joyce Carol Oates ‘Poison Peach’ by Gillian Linscott ‘Of Course You Know That Chocolate is a Vegetable’ by Barbara D’Amato ‘Poison a la Carte’ by Rex Stout Tuck in your napkin, polish your knife and fork, and dive into this eighteen course feast of Murder Most Delectable.

Murder Most Divine

From medieval torture in a bishop’s baseme*nt to slain angels, Murder Most Divine is a creepy collection of murder mysteries set in the dark shadows of the holy church. Within these 18 suspenseful tales are characters that range from wholesome priests to immoral clerics to sleepwalking nuns and of course there are plenty of murderers mixed in too. You will soon be thanking heaven that these tales are just fiction. Stories include:’The Second Commandment’ by Charlotte Armstrong’Holy Living and Holy Dying’ by Robert Barnard’The Wrong Shape’ by G.K. Chesterton’Brother Orchid’ by Richard Connell’The Monk’s Tale’ by P.C. Doherty’When Your Breath Freezes’ by Kathleen Dougherty’State of Grace’ by Loren D. Estleman’Jemima Shore’s First Case’ by Antonia Fraser’The Witch’s Tale’ by Margaret Frazer’Murder Mysteries’ by Neil Gaiman’The Bishop and the Hit Man’ by Andrew Greeley’The Sweating Statue’ by Edward D. Hotch’The Stripper’ by H.H. Holmes’The Base of the Triangle’ by Ralph McInerny’Conventional Spirit’ by Sharan Newman’Miss Butterfingers’ by Monica Quill’In the Confessional’ by Alice Scanlan Reach

Murder Most Romantic (By:Martin H. Greenberg)

This collection of contemporary never before published romantic mysteries looks at the dark side of love, where every decision is life or death and the smallest mistake could kill you.

Murder Most Postal (By:Martin H. Greenberg)

Homicidal Tales that Deliver a MessageSpecial Delivery indeed! This collection of twenty one stories by masters of mystery including Evan Hunter, Ellery Queen, Gordon R. Dickson, and more is about purloined postage, lethal letters, and cold blooded correspondence. From Edgar Allan Poe’s nineteenth century classic ‘The Purloined Letter,’ which tells of a missive gone astray and cunning way in which it is retrieved, to Matthew Costello’s very twenty first century chat room intrigue, ‘Someone Who Understands Me,’ these tales are first class examples of just how dangerous getting in touch can be.

Murder Most Feline (By:Martin H. Greenberg,Ed Gorman)

When law meets paw…
The result is this delightful anthology of seventeen courtroom tales by top notch mystery writers. Cats and mysteries go hand in hand, no doubt. After all, what other animal is as mysterious as the common yet never ordinary house cat? What lurks behind that smug expression? What hidden secrets belie that indifferent stare? Always dignified, cats are quick to deal out their own justice with a claw or bite, and so it is only natural we find them in a variety of roles in these feline mysteries. Cats take the stand in their own defense to pounce on criminals, provide evidence, and turn the legal system on its collective ear all in the name of justice. From a private eye who goes to bat for a cat’s inheritance to a common mouser who turns out to be quite a bit more during a high profile murder trial, these tales of crimes are as crafty and cunning as kitties themselves and just as entertaining! Stories in this clever anthology include: ‘The Witness Cat’ by Parnell Hall ‘Justice Knows No Paws’ by Jon L. Breen ‘It’s In the Bag’ by Bill Crider ‘Animal Sounds’ by Dulcy Brainard ‘Blue Eyes’ by Janet Dawson ‘Cat, The Jury’ by Catherine Dain ‘The Memory Pool’ by Tracy Knight ‘The Lawlessness West of the Pecos’ by Jan Grape ‘Statute of Limitations’ by Morris Hershman ‘Catnip’ by Dick Lochte ‘Hoskin’s Cat’ by Shirley Rousseau Murphy ‘Missing the Cat’ by Mat Coward ‘Prints’ by Ann Barrett ‘Mr. Biggles for the Defense’ by Matthew Costello ‘Family Ties’ by Richard Chizmar and Barry Hoffman ‘For the Benefit of Bootsy’ by Jeremiah Healy ‘In the Lowlands’ by Gary A. Braunbeck

Murder Most Confederate (By:Martin H. Greenberg)

Amidst the tension and drama of a war that pits brother against brother and father against son, the dark side of men and women can reach a boiling point. Here are stories of betrayal, murder and malevolence in a world already marked by besieged honor, drenched in blood and death. These stories masterfully conjure up the sights, sounds and smells of a lost era and therein spin tales of terror and treachery such as ‘Blossoms and Blood,’ ‘The Cobblestones of Saratoga Street,’ and ‘A Woman’s Touch.’ This chilling collection is perfect for those who like a little suspense with their history.

Death Cruise: Crime Stories on the Open Seas

‘Death Cruise’: Crime Stories on the Open Sea, edited by Lawrence Block, is a collection of murder mysteries with settings aboard cruise ships and written by several members of the International Association of Crime Writers, including Agatha Christie, Nancy Pickard, Piet Teigeler, Edward D. Hoch, Ralph McInerny, John Mortimer, and Carolyn Wheat.

Murder Most Catholic

The murder mysteries that make up this unusual anthology all have one thing in common: the hero or hero*ine who solves the crime is a Catholic cleric. Perhaps that should not be surprising, for since the time of G. K. Chesterton those who have explored stories with a religious belief or background have tended to place them in the Middle Ages. And during that time most Christians were in one way or another connected to the Catholic church. From Chesterton’s classic priest turned detective Father Brown to Peter Tremayne s historical Celtic nun and lawyer, Sister Fidelma, religious men and women put aside their professional duties for a moment to take up an altogether different vocation for a short time that of detective and solver of crimes unspeakable. The stories in this collection of Catholic clerical sleuthing includes:

‘Whispers of the Dead’ by Peter Tremayne ‘Bless Me Father, For I Have Sinned’ by Ed Gorman ‘Death by Fire’ by Anne Perry and Malachi Saxon ‘The Arrow of Ice’ by Edward D. Hoch ‘The Rag and Bone Man’ by Lillian Stewart Carl ‘Divine Justice’ by Charles Meyer ‘Cemetery of the Innocents’ by Stephen Dentinger ‘Veronica s Veil’ by Monica Quill ‘Lowly Death’ by Margaret Frazer ‘Ex Libris’ by Kate Gallison ‘A Clerical Error’ by Michael Jecks ‘Through a Glass, Darkly’ by Kate Charles ‘The Knight s Confession’ by P. C. Doherty ‘The Shorn Lamb’ by Ralph McInerny