Yeah, yeah, I know. Stories about ancient parchments that were stolen years ago from some equally ancient church or monastery have always been my favorites. I fall for the trick every single time! :-)
But sadly, the parchment, in this case the only letter written by Christ that had been stolen from the Vatican many centuries ago, serves only as a backdrop to the novel. The letter is found by a well-known academic, Dr. Jonathan Lyons, in a safe in the walls of an ancient church that's being razed to the ground. Though Jonathan is pretty sure about its authenticity, he shows it to some experts to gain a second opinion, or perhaps two! Little does he know that it's going to cost him his life.
Jonathan is found dead in his own library and the only suspect seems to be his wife, Katherine, who is suffering from Alzheimer's. Though the police initially look at the possibility that Katherine could have been framed, they have little choice but to arrest her when the investigation doesn't turn up any other suspect. It is soon discovered that the house of the Lyons' next-door neighbor, a lawyer, has been robbed of his wife's precious jewellery. Did whoever rob the Scotts get a look at whoever killed Jonathan? Who has the parchment? What has happened to Katherine's weekday caregiver Rory? Who killed Jonathan? And will the Lyons' daughter Mariah be able to achieve the Herculean tasks of retrieving the parchments, finding her father's killer and getting her mother out from behind the bars?
Clark has deftly kept the needle of suspicion pointed at everyone involved in the story - Jonathan's girlfriend Lillian as well as his friends - Richard, Albert and Michaelson. Hell! At one point I even suspected the priest! But then she spoils all the fun by making Greg simply too good to be true. Any fan of detective novels worth his or her salt knows that in almost 99.9% cases the most innocent person turns out to be the perp! :-)
But sadly, the parchment, in this case the only letter written by Christ that had been stolen from the Vatican many centuries ago, serves only as a backdrop to the novel. The letter is found by a well-known academic, Dr. Jonathan Lyons, in a safe in the walls of an ancient church that's being razed to the ground. Though Jonathan is pretty sure about its authenticity, he shows it to some experts to gain a second opinion, or perhaps two! Little does he know that it's going to cost him his life.
Jonathan is found dead in his own library and the only suspect seems to be his wife, Katherine, who is suffering from Alzheimer's. Though the police initially look at the possibility that Katherine could have been framed, they have little choice but to arrest her when the investigation doesn't turn up any other suspect. It is soon discovered that the house of the Lyons' next-door neighbor, a lawyer, has been robbed of his wife's precious jewellery. Did whoever rob the Scotts get a look at whoever killed Jonathan? Who has the parchment? What has happened to Katherine's weekday caregiver Rory? Who killed Jonathan? And will the Lyons' daughter Mariah be able to achieve the Herculean tasks of retrieving the parchments, finding her father's killer and getting her mother out from behind the bars?
Clark has deftly kept the needle of suspicion pointed at everyone involved in the story - Jonathan's girlfriend Lillian as well as his friends - Richard, Albert and Michaelson. Hell! At one point I even suspected the priest! But then she spoils all the fun by making Greg simply too good to be true. Any fan of detective novels worth his or her salt knows that in almost 99.9% cases the most innocent person turns out to be the perp! :-)
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