The Priest's Pen: A Contemporary Small Town Sleuthing Couple Cold Case Murder Mystery

In his limited spare time, Father Tom has been working on transcribing the diary and letters of Father Liam O’Connor, who served as Saint Clare’s pastor in the late 1920s and early 1930s, preparatory to writing a biography of his predecessor. At Anna’s not-so-gentle urging, he gives a talk on his research to the monthly meeting of the Myer County Historical Society, mentioning that the young priest died suddenly in his sleep.

After his talk, Father Tom is approached by Phyllis Repetti, an elderly member of both Saint Clare’s and the historical society. She claims that her mother worked as Father O’Connor’s housekeeper and told her on her deathbed that Father O’Connor did not die in his sleep, but was murdered. Her mother’s diary has the name of the murderer. Skeptical, Father Tom agrees to meet with her, even though Anna warns him that Phyllis has a reputation for making up stories for attention.

When Father Tom arrives at Phyllis’ house, he finds her dead and the house ransacked.  This convinces him that Phyllis was killed to cover up Father O’Connor’s murder. Helen, on the other hand, is equally convinced that the elderly woman was a victim of a break-in gone wrong.

Then someone breaks into the Rectory and steals Father O’Connor’s papers and Father Tom’s laptop . . .

The Priest’s Pen is the twenty-first novel in The Mercy and Justice Mysteries, a contemporary small town mystery series. The series is a sequel to The Father Tom Mysteries that began with The Penitent Priest and includes the same cast of characters. It features Father Tom Greer, a Catholic Priest who is also an amateur sleuth in the tradition of Father Brown, and his wife Helen Greer, female Chief of Police and detective in the tradition of Kinsey Millhone.