The Tentmaker

Another clerical snoop takes to amateur sleuthing in this stylish debut from a poet and graduate of Harvard Divinity School who once considered becoming an Episcopal priest. Blake's heroine, Lily Connor, is a ""tentmaker""--an ordained priest who works outside the church. Lily is a spiritual nomad who, as the novel begins, has been assigned to serve as interim priest at Boston's St. Mary of the Garden Episcopal Church after the sudden death of the church's long-time spiritual head, Father Fred Barnes. Lily's faith and authority are challenged immediately: the parishioners seem disinterested in her attempts to help them adjust to Barnes's death; the vestry members are downright hostile to her. When the sexton almost dies in a suspicious fall, Lily begins to suspect Barnes was murdered and assembles an odd trio of investigators: her best friend, Charlie Cooper, a Brother in the Anglican Order of St. Peter; Mrs. Hanlon, the loyal rectory cleaning woman who revered Father Barnes; and cop Tom Casey, whose mother is a friend of Mrs. Hanlon. After discovering that Barnes had damaging information about a parishioner and hoped to use it as a lever for change within the church, Lily's attention is drawn to wealthy Dan Talbot, the vestry's conservative leader, whose 16-year-old son has disappeared. Although the novel frequently sags under the weight of its intricate plot, Blake's writing is graceful, often elegiac, and her characters hum with humanity. In addition, her examination of the divisive issues facing an influential religious organization in a fast-changing society gives a rich background to an entertaining mystery. (Sept.) FYI: Blake is married to novelist Dennis McFarland.