At the promising start to a new detective series by the author of the Jill Smith mysteries, a young priest is found hanged in particularly compromising circumstances in his parish church in Phoenix, Ariz. To determine whether the death was suicide or murder, the diocese's bishop calls upon Kiernan O'Shaughnessy, a young medical examiner turned private eye. Kiernan runs into obstacles at every turn, not the least of which are the cremation of the priest's body before an autopsy could be performed and her name forged on his false death certificate. While struggling with her own painful memories dredged up by the case, Kiernan uncovers a clan of hostile mountain villagers, a bizarre castle, a hidden shelter for abused women, and the diocese's plan to build an elegant retreat-resort in the nearby White Bone Mountains.
Kiernan O'Shaughnessy, M.D., former California medical examiner, now detective for hire, is choosy about her cases. But finding out if the hanging of a handsome young priest in a Phoenix, Arizona, church is suicide -- or an accident -- is one she can't refuse.
The Church and the ambitious Bishop Dowd in particular want to bury the case along with the body. A suicidal priest is shocking but a priest who may have been playing erotic games is a scandal. And hiring O'Shughnessy could be their biggest mistake. She'll use her top forensic skills to uncover the facts, but her greater talent is for exposing the truth and... in the case of the passionate priest... the truth may be murder.
The Church and the ambitious Bishop Dowd in particular want to bury the case along with the body. A suicidal priest is shocking but a priest who may have been playing erotic games is a scandal. And hiring O'Shughnessy could be their biggest mistake. She'll use her top forensic skills to uncover the facts, but her greater talent is for exposing the truth and... in the case of the passionate priest... the truth may be murder.
Kiernan O'Shaugnessy, former California Medical Examiner, investigates the hanging of a parish priest. was it an accident, suicide, or MURDER???
"Susan Dunlap is the leading proponent of gutsy, non-traditional women who nimbly tread in the he-man territory." Washington times
