A great story with an interesting intertwining of plots. The 4 stars is bc Ms Gresham used some unnecessary profanity. BUT - there wasn’t a lot of it and she didn’t blaspheme Jesus Christ or drop the f bomb at any point. She didn’t succumb to graphic violence and she kept it sexually clean. All in all, I recommend this book & would read her work again.
The Preacher's First Murder
by K.P. Gresham
He was a good cop until he ran into a bad one. Then, to save what was left of his family and his sanity, Michael Hogan, Jr., entered the Fed's Witness Protection Program and became Pastor Matt Hayden. Just out of seminary, Matt takes a church in rural Texas, expecting peace, quiet and a good dose of humility. What he finds is a town ruled by the past and an old woman murdered. To make matters worse, the dead woman's daughter, Angie O'Day, runs the town's Ice House and is truly an angel by day and a devil by night. Matt might be a man of God now, but he is still a man. When the second body is discovered and accusations are levied at the innocent Angie, Matt has to put on an old hat--his cop's hat--and discover the buried secrets of Wilks, Texas.
Reviews
An intriguing read
Excellent Story
I enjoyed this story very much. The author took the many strands of characters' lives weaving them and presenting them in a story about family pride and the secrets that shatter the illusion of perfection that the family wants others to see.
Compelling
This stand-alone is easy to and difficult to put down. No editing errors, gratuitous violence or drag-you-down drama.
Intriguing storyline with descriptive writing that draws the reader into each scene. Lent6 of twists to keep the guessing. Very subtle religious overtones. Flexible procedures, actions and reactions. Believable dialogue and characters with distinct personalities.
I may re-read this book and look forward to other works by this author.
Love Pastor Matt!
Love the characters and all their flaws in this first of hopefully many murder mysteries! Well written, fast-paced, funny, sad, and of course mysterious, the sheer pleasure of reading a mystery without foul language, sex, and political correctness is so very much needed! Thank you KP!
The Preacher is no Wimp
The new preacher in town makes his name known as he deals with criminals. I enjoyed the main character. He is no wimpy pastor. The plot is believable and is a thoroughly enjoyable read. I'm going to read other novels in this series.
Main Story is Pretty Good, But...
Overall, this is a fairly good read. However, I was ready to put it aside near the beginning due to the ridiculous scene when Angie slaps and then punches the preacher in the gut(!!!) for ABSOLUTELY no reason. And then he falls for such a maniac? She is actually shy???? She has a complete reversal of character and becomes all sweet and caring? Really, K.P. Gresham, I hope you read these reviews because - what were you thinking? This part is really bad writing. Maybe you shouldn't aim for romance because you are embarrassingly weak in writing about it.
Wonderful!
The protagonist is an ex-cop who is now in witness protection. His new identity as a minister leads to some interesting situations.
Perfect Series of Mysteries
I throughly enjoyed getting to know the character of Matt, and enjoyed watching how he could solve crimes as a Lutheran pastor.
It reminded me of another series where a Lutheran pastor, as former CIA, ends up in thrilling situations.
