The Gathering

William Kienzle

Jan 2009 · Andrews McMeel Publishing

About this eBook

The Gathering was the twenty-fourth in Kienzle's series of mysteries, featuring Father Robert Koesler as a Roman Catholic priest whose intuitiveness and caring nature have led him to an unusual calling: solving mysteries, mostly of the murderous kind.

In this entry, revisit Koesler's adolescent and teen years, to a time when young Catholic men and women were encouraged, even expected, to become priests and nuns, whether or not their vocation was real. We meet his group of six young aspiring religious (four men and two women) who underwent the rigors of the seminary and the convent together. We learn of their individual struggles with their faith, their mentors, and their commitments to difficult choices. And we painfully discover how one member of this group is inflicted with undeserved guilt by an unspeakably cruel superior and how this dooms his life. Now in their seventies, the group gathers together, a reunion of sorts, that is cut short when one of their number is found dead. Suspicions arise, and once again Father Koesler's acumen is called on to solve the puzzle.

About the author

William X. Kienzle died in December 2001. He was a Detroit parish priest for twenty years before leaving the priesthood. He began writing his popular mystery series after serving as an editor and director at the Center for Contemplative Studies at the University of Dallas. Mystery writer and educator William Kienzle was born in Detroit, Michigan on September 11, 1928. Kienzle is a former Catholic priest who served for 20 years until he left the priesthood in 1974. He has served as director for the Center for Contemplative Studies at the University of Dallas and taught writing at St. Mary's College in Orchard Lake, Michigan. Kienzle wrote The Rosary Murders, a mystery novel featuring Father Robert Koestler, a Catholic priest from Detroit. Koestler appears in almost 20 other books. Kienzle died on December 28, 2001.