Dead Wrong

In the 15th Father Koesler mystery, Kienzle ( Body Count ) sets the sleuthing prelate treading timeworn plot paths in unwilling investigation of an unsolved 33-year-old murder case. Aging millionaire Charles Nash asks Koesler to intervene in the adulterous affair between his married son Ted, an ostentatiously pious land developer, and Koesler's foster cousin Brenda Monahan. Brenda's job in the archdiocese chancery gives her access to information profitable to the Nash empire; if the affair goes public, the company will suffer significantly. Koesler's questions lead him to the middle of everybody's family secrets, including those of his own family. The predictable solution rests on unwanted pregnancy/foundling/surprise-parentage devices, complete with altered birth certificates and incriminating baptismal papers. Even those readers snared by ecclesiastical details and bureaucratic tangles will unravel the twists well before the characters do. (Apr.)