No Greater Love

July 3, 2000
The radical changes set in motion in the 1960s by the Second Vatican Council continue to reverberate in the Roman Catholic Church and the lives of its adherents--including Father Robert Koesler, in his 21st novel (after The Greatest Evil). Retired but by no means inactive, the Detroit priest, now in his 70s, retains an active interest in his former parish of St. Joseph's. At the behest of Bishop Patrick McNiff, Father Koesler has taken up residence at St. Joseph Major Seminary to help out. An aging priesthood, closed or much smaller seminaries, "folk" masses, an increasingly conservative seminary faculty, female seminary students and the desire of some of them to become priests--these are a few of the issues Kienzle explores as he shows how the friction among seminary students and faculty build up to murder. Kienzle's grasp and detailing of church problems is impressive. Well-conceived characters--such as Patty Donnelly, a young woman determined to be a priest; Andrea Zawalich, another woman confident she can become a priest in all but name; and Bill Cody, a zealot determined to make his only son a priest--add depth to the conflicts. And the structure of the book is unusual: in a prologue, Koesler is meditating by a coffin, and the rest of the novel consists of a long flashback leading to the body within. The plot thus plays itself out neither as whodunit or a whydunit, but as a tragedy and morality play that develops slowly and inevitably to a violent climax. Mystery Guild alternate selection; Books on Tape audio.

March 1, 1999
Kienzle's twenty-first Father Koesler novel is distinguished by a unique twist that will appeal to seasoned mystery fans tired of prefabricated formulas and timeworn plots. In a break with traditional whodunits, the epilogue precedes the main body of the story, inviting readers to speculate as to the identity of both the murderer and the victim; in fact, the more compelling mystery proves to be which of the many possible suspects will turn out to be the corpse. Lured out of retirement by his old friend Bishop Patrick McNiff, Father Koesler, the former pastor of an urban parish in the heart of downtown Detroit, moves into St. Joseph's Seminary on the pretext of counseling students and teaching a class or two. His actual assignment is to attempt to bridge the ever-widening gulf between conservative and liberal faculty members and students. An experienced veteran with a decidedly open mind, Koesler seems to be the ideal candidate for a difficult job until he gets sidetracked by a chilling chain of events that culminates in tragedy. ((Reviewed March 1, 1999))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1999, American Library Association.)