Cecilian Vespers

March 2, 2009
At the outset of Arthur Ellis Award–winner Emery’s compelling fourth mystery to feature lawyer and bluesman Monty Collins (after 2008’s Barrington Street Blues
), Monty attends the opening of the Schola Cantorum Sancta Bernadetta, “a kind of choir school for grownups, who would be learning or relearning the traditional music of the Roman Catholic Church,” in Halifax, Nova Scotia. When a controversial participant, German theologian Fr. Reinhold Schellenberg, is found nearly decapitated on the altar of an old church just before evening vespers on St. Cecilia’s day, Monty gets involved in the murder investigation. The suspense mounts as Monty and his friend Fr. Brennan Burke, the school’s head, travel to the Vatican and elsewhere in Europe in search of answers. The large pool of suspects from around the globe helps ensure a challenging whodunit. Readers interested in the history and impact of the Vatican II reforms will be especially rewarded.

Starred review from May 1, 2009
When the body of a controversial German theologian is found on the altar of a Halifax, Nova Scotia, church during Vespers on St. Cecilia's Day, lawyer Montgomery Collins ("Barrington Street Blues; Obit") looks for suspects in the new choir school founded by his friend Father Brennan Burke. Their hunt leads them back to Vatican II and the clash between liberal clergy who want to appeal to a wide public and more conservative priests who believe that the Mass should be offered to the glory of God. Emery, winner of Canada's 2006 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel ("Sign of the Cross"), has written a finely plotted crime novel that incorporates some of the key still-unresolved issues confronting the Catholic Church in 1991, when the story takes place. Readers who enjoy ecclesiastical mysteries by William X. Kienzle and Julia Spencer-Fleming may want to try this one.

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2009
The fourth Monty Collins mystery retains its trademark setting of Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the early 1990s. This time the action is heavily infused with religion, asdefense lawyer Monty comes to the aid of his old friend, Father Brennan Burke, who runs a music school dedicated to historical church music. When one of the schools more well-known students, a German monk, is found murdered in an abandoned church on St. Cecilias Day, Monty unofficially takes on the investigation. Assisted by Burke, Monty plods his way through the suspects, but few leads turn up and fewer pan out. The lack of viable subjects contributes to a slow pace, but Emery continues to imbue her stories with a strong sense of place, using real Halifax street names and plenty of affectionate descriptions of the weather and countryside. Series readers will be pleased with the new story and character developments, as will those looking for a fresh setting.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)