by Jane Langton
First published 2016
Homer Kelly trades his professor's desk for a church pew when parishioners start dying at an alarming rate. The former Middlesex County detective and current Thoreau scholar finds himself stationed at a small New England congregation where the mortality rate has spiked beyond coincidence. Kelly must separate genuine deaths from deliberate murders among the faithful. The congregation presents itself as pious during Sunday services, but Kelly discovers these same churchgoers abandon their moral principles once they leave the sanctuary. As bodies accumulate, Kelly works to identify which deaths result from natural causes and which stem from human malice. The investigation forces him to confront the gap between religious devotion and actual behavior, revealing how easily people compartmentalize their beliefs and actions.
Genres: american-fiction, mystery, crime, detective, academic
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water
Setting: New England, Thoreau
Period: 20th-century
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