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 Esther Beasley, an elderly member of both Saint Clare's and the historical society. She claims that her grandmother worked as Father O'Connor's housekeeper and took a bottle from his bedside table containing the last thing the priest drank before he died. He also asks if she can meet with Father Tom soon, since she has something important to tell him.But before Tom can meet with Mrs. Beasley, she's found dead in her home, the victim of an apparent robbery-gone-wrong. Strangely enough, the only thing stolen was Father Liam's bottle. 

The missing bottle is odd, but then Mrs. Beasley's daughter mentions an old family story to Father Tom. According to it, Father Liam didn't die in his sleep of natural causes. Tom comes to believe her death is related to the missing bottle, but Helen's unconvinced.

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.