Happy Are the Oppressed (A Father Blackie Ryan Mystery)
In addition to his manifold duties as rector of Holy Name Cathedral and as able assistant to Sean Cardinal Cronin, Bishop Blackie Ryan is a crackerjack detective with an uncanny ability to uncover both the spiritual motives and the temporal means for murder. Approached by Chantal Cardin, a wealthy and elegant Catholic matron who firmly believes her life is in grave and immediate jeopardy, Blackie must reach into a bygone era and untangle a previously unsolved crime in order to prevent a contemporary homicide. As he researches the infamous curse of the Cardin family, he discovers that each succeeding generation of that unfortunate clan has been beset by inexplicable tragedy. Intrigued by the letters of a young Irish housemaid who served in the turn-of-the-century Cardin mansion, Blackie pieces together a puzzle that breaks the cycle of anguish and furnishes the key that unlocks the current mystery. Greeley adeptly interweaves past and present, providing a complex, multilevel thriller with a nifty historical twist.Margaret Flanagan