Archive

  1. Death of a Scholar

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    Father Gabriel spends a few days of relaxation at his old Cambridge College, the guest of friend Arthur Kingsley from his student days. Kingsley is now a respected scientist and a Fellow of St. Stephen’s College, but after an enjoyable evening dining at High Table, Gabriel receives the shattering news that Daphne Silverton, Kingsley’s brilliant young protégée, has been found dead in her laboratory after what appears to have been a tragic accident. Daphne was universally loved, but Gabriel’s instincts tell him that her death was a little too perfectly staged to have been an accident.

    After an emotional reunion with the parents of his late wife, Gabriel seeks the truth about Daphne’s demise. His investigations lead him to the Peace Union and its Ban the Bomb campaign, another member of Daphne’s laboratory is found dead. Gabriel struggles to lay aside his personal loyalties and confront the possibility that there are dark secrets lurking behind both deaths.

    This fourth book in the popular Father Gabriel series examines the moral minefield of the complicity of scientists in the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction. It also reveals more about Gabriel’s past.

     

    Praise

    “Catholic writer Fiorella De Maria deserves a wide audience.”
    — Publisher’s Weekly

    “It’s hard to believe that a story which is this much fun could be this good for the soul! So good that I’ve been using this novel as lectio divina. There’s real theology here. And Fiorella De Maria gets the English Benedictines exactly right.”
    — Fr. Augustine Wetta, OSB, Author, Humility Rules

    “This detective story draws you in with a familiar English coziness and the historic setting of Cambridge but leads to a fascinating exploration into the depth of human complexity in a broken postwar world. Father Gabriel’s humble insight makes for an unassuming but perceptive detective who understands the staggering weight of secrets and sin.”
    — Christy Isinger, Co-host, Fountains of Carrots Podcast

    “Evocative of the golden age of detective fiction. Like Lord Peter Wimsey, Inspector Morse, and Hercule Poirot, Father Gabriel shows us why we should avoid Great Britain’s crime-ridden universities. This intriguing murder mystery provokes and entertains while exploring the legacy of war and the need for justice and reconciliation.”
    — Rhonda Ortiz, Author, In Pieces

  2. See No Evil

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    In this third title in the Father Gabriel Mystery series, the detective priest is less than pleased to find himself the reluctant guest at a wealthy local family’s Christmas party. Only the excellent – and probably black market – food softens the horror of meeting the odious Victor Gladstone, a veteran reporter, an ardent anti-clerical and the only witness to a wartime massacre no one wishes to hear about. When Victor is found dead on the Martin estate the next morning, the apparent victim of an unfortunate accident, Gabriel is drawn into the mystery of who among the family’s chattering guests could have wanted the old man dead.

    Gabriel quickly realizes that Victor Gladstone, like any good reporter, had a nose for rotten behavior, but as Gabriel’s investigation moves towards its tragic conclusion, he faces the not one but two serious questions: Who is guilty of Gladstone’s murder? and Is anyone truly innocent?

    This mystery focuses on the issue of indirect involvement in evil, particularly buying and selling property stolen from victims of the Nazis and witnessing Nazi crimes.

     

    Praise

    “Catholic writer Fiorella De Maria deserves a wide audience.”
    — Publishers Weekly

    “Once again De Maria presents to us a world worthily reminiscent of the post-war phase of the golden age of mystery fiction but illuminates it with her own special flair.”
    — Eleanor Nicholson, Author, A Bloody Habit: A Novel

    “How can we forgive others for crimes of which they are guilty? How can we forgive ourselves for crimes in which we are complicit? Is it easier to turn a blind eye than to turn the other cheek? These questions, and their answers, are at the heart of De Maria’s latest Father Gabriel mystery.”
    — Joseph Pearce, Editor, the Ignatius Critical Edition series

    “Set in bygone England, this involving murder story addresses important moral questions and, in places, moves the reader with its evocation of war-wounded Europe and the impact of mass violence on the consciousness of a generation.”
    — Sally Read, Author, Annunciation: A Call to Faith in a Broken World

    “In See No Evil De Maria takes on the country house murder mystery and imbues it with moral seriousness. Neither the author nor her hero Father Gabriel are willing to ignore the privations and the social inequalities of 1940s England to revel in the glamour of the privileged.”
    — Dorothy Cummings McLean, Author, Ceremony of Innocence: A Novel

  3. The Vanishing Woman

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    In this next book in the mystery series by the popular British author, Fr. Gabriel has been sent by his Abbot to assist at a church in a small town where the parish priest, Fr. Foley, is recovering from a heart attack.

    Enid Jennings is the most hated woman in town, a retired headmistress and embittered war widow, who has a talent for causing conflict and distress wherever she goes. When Enid’s downtrodden daughter, Agnes, sees her mother vanish into thin air virtually in front of her, she is widely assumed to have been mistaken or to have lost her mind – her story is simply too far-fetched to be believed. Enter Fr. Gabriel, working on the principle that some stories are too strange to have been made up, who sets out to discover the whereabouts of Enid Jennings, the cause of her seemingly miraculous disappearance, and the person or persons responsible.

    With help from the town’s physician and hostility from the irascible Inspector Applegate, Fr. Gabriel delves deeply into Enid Jennings’ tragic past, searching for any clue that might lead him to find her. But one mystery only leads him to a darker, more inexplicable disappearance from the days of the Phony War, when invaders lay in wait across the Channel and crimes were just a little easier to hide…

     

    Praise

    “The cast of characters in the mystery stories of Fiorella De Maria are almost invariably civilized people, even if some of them are guilty of very uncivilized crimes. This is one of the reasons that her books are such a delight.”
    —Joseph Pearce, Editor, Ignatius Critical Editions series; Author, Catholic Literary Giants

    “At its best, fiction both entertains and enlightens. Fiorella De Maria’s latest installment of the Father Gabriel mysteries does exactly that. De Maria continues to honor the traditions of the mystery genre while exploring new ground.”
    —Michael Richard, Author, Tobit’s Dog: A Novel

  4. The Sleeping Witness

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    In this unusual murder mystery, the tranquility of Saint Mary’s Abbey is shattered by the discovery of a gruesome crime in a cottage on the abbey grounds. A foreign artist and war hero seeking refuge from the world has been murdered. Marie Paige, the frail, sickly wife of the village doctor, lies beside him beaten into a coma.

    The police arrest Marie’s husband, convinced that they are looking at a crime of passion. But Dr. Paige finds himself with an unlikely champion: Fr. Gabriel, a blundering but brilliant Benedictine priest who believes in his innocence and feels compelled to search for the truth.

    In a country struggling to come to terms with the devastation of the Second World War, even a secluded English village has its share of secrets and broken lives. It is not long before Fr. Gabriel and his companions find themselves embarking on a dangerous journey into the victims’ troubled war histories and a chapter of Europe’s bloodiest conflict that is almost too terrible to be acknowledged.

     

    Praise

    “Catholic writer De Maria deserves a wide audience.”
    — Publishers Weekly

    “This exciting murder mystery set in a peaceful English village has a satisfyingly tangled story, and its uncannily perceptive detective, an aging Benedictine monk, is always one step ahead of the police.”
    — Lucy Beckett    , Author, A Postcard from the Volcano

    “This marvelous mystery is not a formulaic reworking of an established genre but a wonderful work of detective fiction in its own right. I hope that this lovable Benedictine detective might have many more mysteries to solve in the future. More of the same please!”
    — Joseph Pearce    , Author, Literary Converts

    “De Maria’s clear and confident writing produces a ‘can’t put it down’ effect. This story will stay with you for a long time.”
    — Michael Richard    , Author, Tobit’s Dog