THE ARCHBISHOP IN ANDALUSIA: A Blackie Ryan Novel
Andrew M. Greeley
Forge Books
Mystery
ISBN: 9780765315908
Blackie Ryan is back, wearing, when pushed, the purple accoutrements of Archbishop-hood as is his right as Adjutant Archbishop of Chicago. The short, portly Irish priest has come a long way from the small neighborhood parishes of younger years, and still prefers black jeans and a t-shirt, a Chicago Cubs jacket and a Bulls baseball cap. His penchant for keen observation during crime investigations, which he sadly has been witness to in the line of his priestly duties, has led to a widely admired reputation for solving murders.
When a conference on American Philosophy is scheduled in Seville, Cardinal Sean Cronin, Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago, dispatches our favorite frocked detective to the sunny shores of Andalusia to attend in his stead due to failing health. He urges Blackie to stay with his old friend, Cardinal Diego Sanchez y Romanos, Archbishop of Seville.
Shortly after his arrival, he and his niece and her fiancé, also in Seville as missionaries, are invited to a dinner where they are introduced to the bewitching Doña Teresa Maria Romero y Avila, Duchess of Seville, and her beautiful daughter, Maria Luisa. Doña Teresa is widely considered to be the crown jewel of Spain because of her ties to the former royal family. They are, however, virtual prisoners in their ancestral villa. Her aunt and self-appointed duena, Doña Inez, and her husband, a retired General from Franco’s regime, have tied up her considerable fortune under an antiquated Spanish law that dictates she cannot have access to her inheritance until three years after her husband’s death.
Blackie begins to suspect that there is more to his visit to Seville than a stuffy conference and discovers that the Archbishop of Seville has told his friend, Archbishop Cronin in Chicago, that he fears for the ladies’ lives. He feels certain the Aunt and Uncle mean to harm, even murder, the Duchess so that they can inherit the estate.
Meanwhile, Blackie learns that his sister, who is mother to his nephew, Joseph, has an ulterior motive for seeing to it that her son and fiancé Peggy are in Seville at the same time Blackie is there. They have been engaged far too long, in her eyes, and she wants him to intervene to encourage the couple to set a wedding date.
The widow Doña Teresa also has a lover, which in Spain is neither unusual nor frowned upon, except by the same arcane law that has tied up her estate --- she cannot marry until the proscribed time has passed.
It all falls on the little Padracito Negro (which translates into “that cute little priest called Blackie) to uncloak the potential murderers, unclog the Spanish courts, hasten the romances of Peggy and Joe, save the life of La Doña Teresa and help her get married to the dashing Don Leandro Santiago y Diaz. Only Blackie could bring about such miracles.
A rather surprising note casts light on the prolific author, Father Andrew Greeley, whose many, many mystery books have thrilled readers for decades. Has he become prescient?
Check this out. In Chapter I, paragraph 3, in which he describes proper Spanish forms of address, he discusses how to address people with titles, such as kings, princes of the Church and heads of state. Don Juan is the formal method of address to one of such stature, which he explains thusly: “One would hardly address the Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago as Don Sean or even Don Juan Patricio. It would be thought a pretentious affectation, much as if one referred to the putative president of our own republic as Don Barack.”
Say what? As a reviewer, I was reading the hardcover edition of the book weeks before the general election, and Blackie was assuming that the president would be Barack Obama? This so grabbed my attention that I rushed to my Random House Unabridged Dictionary to look up “putative” to make sure I was reading this right. Okay. Putative does mean “reputed” or “supposed” or “commonly regarded.” Wow!
Better check with Blackie on the Cubs and the Bulls next season!
--- Reviewed by Roz Shea
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.
© Copyright 1996-2009, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
