Synod of Sleuths

In this collection of original essays, several prominent writers and critics of the genre examine the interface of theology and detection. Edward D. Hoch discusses Roman Catholic sleuths; James Yaffe discusses Jews in detective fiction; Marvin Lachman discusses the use of religious cults as mystery story backgrounds; co-editor Breen writes of Protestant religious mysteries and on Mormonism in the mystery; and four authors of mysteries about religious detectives—William X. Kienzle, Ellis Peters, Harry Kemelman, and Sister Carol Anne O'Marie—respond to a series of questions about their work.

Jon L. Breen bProfessor/Librarian at Rio Hondo College in Whittier, CA, is the author of four novels, most recently Touch of the Past (Walker, 1988), and a double Edgar winner in the biographical/critical category for What About Murder? and Novel Verdicts (Scarecrow, 1981, 1984). Martin Harry Greenberg, Professor of Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, is the editor of hundreds of short story anthologies, most of them in the science fiction or mystery fields. Breen and Greenberg's previous essay collection for Scarecrow is Murder Off the Rack: Critical Studies of Ten Paperback Masters (1989).