A traditional whodunit turns into an unsettling journey of murder, obsession and a crisis of faith in the skillful hands of British author Hamand (The Rocket Man
). In the middle of vicar Richard Page’s Good Friday service, a man, bleeding from a knife wound to the chest, staggers into Page’s church in the poor London neighborhood of Hackney. As his parishioners rush to the man’s aid, Richard to his shame feels paralyzed, unable to act when faced with real wounds after contemplating Christ’s suffering on the cross. The victim dies soon after in the hospital. While putting the finishing touches on his Easter Sunday sermon, Richard learns from the police that the body has disappeared from the morgue. When a parishioner reports seeing the supposed dead man working as a gardener, Richard begins his own investigation. As he delves deeper, fantasy and reality become blurred, and he questions even his own sanity. A compelling story builds to a chilling conclusion. (Nov.)
