The Tears of Things (1996)

You don't have to go to church to worship mystery lovers' esteemed Father Dowling, the parish priest whose investigative work never begins until after the last rites are administered. This time, in Ralph McInerny's The Tears of Things, a murder occurs almost literally on his doorstep: The body of retired financial analyst Mitch Striker is discovered in the parish parking lot. Is it merely coincidence that Jerome Winegar has recently turned up again — 20 years after Striker drove him out of town for fathering his daughter's illegitimate child? An absorbing mix of murder and morality, with nicely drawn minor characters, including Dowling's friend and mirror image, Detective Phil Keegan, the wan-nabe priest who just can't master Latin. B+