Murder At The Rectory

Death Invades the Rectory Werewolves and vampires whispered to the young man that he had to kill someone before one o'clock in the afternoon or he would be killed. With this delusion in his mind, 20-year-old Douglas James Comiskey entered the St. Leander rectory in Pueblo, Colorado, and stabbed to death priests Tom Scheets and Louis Stovik. The August 1996 murders would leave the town residents stunned and grieving while police searched for the murderer. About the Authors Death Invades the Rectory is the eleventh book co-authored by Betty L. Alt and Sandra K. Wells. Sandra K. Wells has a Ph.D. from Colorado State University in Fort Collins and retired as Chief Investigator from the Pueblo, Colorado, District Attorney's Office. Betty L. Alt has an M.A. in history from Northeast Missouri State University. Currently, both authors are teaching classes in the Sociology Department at Colorado State University - Pueblo.

When the Parson declares rather carelessly 'Anyone who murdered Colonel Prothero would be doing the world at large a service !', he does not realise his words will come back to haunt him. From several potential murderers, Miss Marple must find the real killer

Private Investigator Mackenzie Scott and his family attend a picnic at the church where his AA meetings are held. During the presentation of the awards for the potato salad contest, the Associate Pastor, Rev. John Bee falls off the stage clutching his chest. When the Medical Examiner declares his death a homicide, his widow begs "Mac", as he is known, to investigate.

In New Brunswick's Hopewell Cape courthouse a sensational turn-of-the-century trial put young, handsome Tom Collins in the prisoner's dock, charged with the grisly murder of Mary Ann McAuley, housekeeper to the parish priest. Author Kenneth Saunders focuses on this story to present a vivid picture of New Brunswick rural society in the early 1900s. Looking at the events of the murder and the trial through the eyes of farmers, tradesmen, clergy, town officials, police and the notorious hangman Jon Radclive, Saunders makes their voices sound so real, so genuine that they seem to be with us still. The Rectory Murder presents a vivid portrait of a grisly crime, and of its widespread effects on an otherwise peaceful rural community.

Lucy and Robert's joy in christening their new daughter, surrounded by extended family and loved ones who have gathered in the village of Kurland St. Mary, is only enhanced when Robert's aunt Rose — now the second wife of Lucy's father Ambrose — announces that she is with child. However, not everyone is happy about the news, in particular Rose's adult daughter Henrietta and her husband, who fear for their inheritance.

The "unfortunate" and "coincidental" deaths of Rev. John Avery and a local village fellow do not excite any suspicion in locals until Inspector Pointer gets involved in the case! Excerpt: "The rector got up from his writing table and laying his pipe down, stood a moment as though collecting his thoughts. A distinguished-looking man of around forty was John Avery, with his tall spare figure, his clever, scholarly face. He was frowning as he absent-mindedly straightened a yellow china jar on the corner of the mantelshelf. Then he returned to his knee-hole table, and, taking an apple from a plate which always stood on the corner, began slowly to eat it, still with a look of abstraction on his face, still with some inner discomfort marking a frown on his fine forehead. The apple automatically disposed of, he drew out his watch and looked at it. Four o'clock. His sister-in-law would probably be in her own sitting-room."

Murder casts a dark shadow over the christening of Lady Lucy and Major Sir Robert Kurland's daughter Elizabeth—even more so when Lucy's own father, the rector, falls under suspicion for the crime . . . Lucy and Robert’s joy in christening their new daughter, surrounded by extended family and loved ones who have gathered in the village of Kurland St. Mary, is only enhanced when Robert’s aunt Rose—now the second wife of Lucy’s father Ambrose—announces that she is with child. However, not everyone is happy about the news, in particular Rose's adult daughter Henrietta and her husband, who fear for their inheritance. Following the christening, Rose’s disagreeable son-in-law Basil Northam threatens to turn afternoon tea in the rectory into an unsightly brawl. The next morning, he is found in the rector’s study, stabbed through the heart with an antique letter opener, clutching a note that appears to implicate the rector himself. As the local justice of the peace, Robert has an obligation to remain unbiased in his investigation of the ghastly crime, even though his prime suspect is a man of the cloth and his wife’s father. But Lucy is under no such obligation. As snow traps the members of the christening party in Kurland St. Mary, she vows to clear her father’s name and bring the cold-blooded culprit to justice. Someone had better start saying their prayers . . .

In New Brunswick's Hopewell Cape courthouse a sensational turn-of-the-century trial put young, handsome Tom Collins in the prisoner's dock, charged with the grisly murder of Mary Ann McAuley, housekeeper to the parish priest. Author Kenneth Saunders focuses on this story to present a vivid picture of New Brunswick rural society in the early 1900s. Looking at the events of the murder and the trial through the eyes of farmers, tradesmen, clergy, town officials, police and the notorious hangman Jon Radclive, Saunders makes their voices sound so real, so genuine that they seem to be with us still. The Rectory Murder presents a vivid portrait of a grisly crime, and of its widespread effects on an otherwise peaceful rural community.

Grace Church is once again in turmoil. First Father Robert is displaced from the old rectory by a thrift store, then a young man volunteering at the shop is shot dead while on duty. Though well-loved, Nick had a criminal past. Did his past catch up with him? When an explosion and vandalism follow, the priest and his staff can't help but wonder: will the killer strike again?