Secrets

July 18, 2005
Ramsay follows his solid debut, Artscape
(2004), with an even better sophomore effort, in which Picketsville, Va., sheriff Ike Schwartz looks into the murder of church organist Waldo Templeton at the struggling Stonewall Jackson Memorial Episcopal Church. The little congregation's vicar, Blake Fisher, recently appointed by outside authority, is at odds with its entrenched cadre led by the church secretary, Millicent Bass. Millicent is determined not to let Blake have the upper hand even though he's nominally her boss. The normal tensions that might be expected by such an appointment are exacerbated not only by Waldo's murder but by other circumstances that Ramsay skillfully limns as he explores the conflicts and the growths (healthy and malignant) that evolve from it. Schwartz proves as adept at navigating the philosophical/religious waters as he is at handling the more conventional aspects of crime solving. The result is both a thought-provoking examination of serious pastoral issues and a thoroughly entertaining mystery that succeeds on all levels without recourse to bombast or carnage.

August 15, 2005
Picketsville, VA, has barely recovered from the theft of Callend College's fabulous art collection ("Artscape") when the Episcopal Church secretary discovers the church organist's corpse at the altar. Enter series protagonist Ike Schwartz, the laid-back, smarter-than-he-looks sheriff who can't figure out why anyone would want to kill a bad musician. But secret and not-so-secret pasts abound, as further murder testifies. Why, for example, does the FBI have an interest in the deceased? And how can a newly spiritually energized priest overcome the stigma attached to his previous post? Solid plotting and familiar characters make this a pleasant diversion. Ramsay lives in Surprise, AZ.

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