Appointed to Die: A Book of Psalms Mystery

Cathedral Close and its diverse collection of inhabitants illuminate the third Book of Psalms mystery (after The Snares of Death) featuring artist Lucy Kingsley and solicitor David Middleton-Brown. The clerics and laity of Malbury Cathedral, all with a full measure of human frailty, have managed to coexist uneasily until the appointment of a new dean (``a real shit,'' according to David), who throws the little community into a turmoil that culminates in death. The benign old bishop, his earth-mother wife, a young American theological student and beloved Canon Kingsley, Lucy's father, join forces with Lucy and David to solve the mystery and save the Cathedral. Disappointingly, Charles lays her groundwork too well. Three-quarters of the way through the narrative, all is revealed to the alert reader, who must then slog through nearly 100 more pages until the heretofore sharper sleuths figure things out. Author tour. (Nov.)