Her Secret Christmas Agent

Starred review from July 4, 1994
Owen Keane was studying in his preparation for the priesthood when he roamed the back roads of the midwest in Faherty's excellent 1993 The Lost Keats . Met again here, in 1978, he's a seminary drop-out and self-styled sleuth working in a Boston liquor store. At the 10th reunion of his class at Our Lady of Sorrows High School in New Jersey, Owen stumbles across--and solves--a mystery dating from senior year that left one classmate struggling hard with nightmares of drug use and duty in Vietnam. A leap ahead to 1988 finds Owen tending bar in Atlantic City and still addicted to finding answers, this time to questions about the recent death of that same classmate. Investigating in his laid back and largely cerebral manner, Owen uncovers further secrets shared by his old classmates. As one woman remarks, Owen's gift is that much that appears to escape him actually doesn't. He's a rare bird in crime fiction and while this tale sprawls and rambles in parts, its rewards are rich and surprising.