Now Available!! Chant of Death, a Father Malachi mystery

PRLog (Press Release) - Aug 15, 2010 -
In Chant of Death, the traditional Seven Deadly Sins, are fleshed out in a complex, unfolding narrative of suspicion, darkness, and deceit.

When a sudden murder breaks the ordered, prayerful sequence of the monks’ dedicated days, Father Malachi finds his powers stretched to the limit in an effort to protect the innocent and identify the killer. Lives and philosophies conflict, setting off deadly sparks—where pious faith and ancient superstition often mingle seamlessly.


PRAISE FOR CHANT OF DEATH
DARRELL BOURQUE, Poet Laureate of Louisiana: "Chant of Death is a remarkable piece of storytelling: grounded in the real and the observable but connected as well to the magical and the ineffable. Diane Marquart Moore and Isabel Anders are rare intelligences in the world of mystery writers. They have woven a tale that is at once a traditional mystery with nods here and there to the best of the writers in the genre. But they have also written a thoroughly contemporary work that explores the medieval church as well as the challenges faced by the post-modern church, the vagaries and varieties of every kind of love imaginable, the consolations of both philosophy and modern psychology, the lures and temptations of both monastic life and life on the outside. This work is engrossing and satisfying, a tapestry one can more easily enter than leave behind. Rich, expansive, masterfully plotted to please the broadest spectrum of readers."

SUSANNA METZ, Dir. of Center for Small Churches, School of Theology, University of the South: "Who would ever suspect that a monastery where a group of monks make glorious music could be anything less than heaven!  But their successful CD, Godspeak, brings them more than wealth, it opens up what can only be imagined as the gates of hell.  Don't pick up this mind-grabbing mystery unless you want to be transported into a world of intrigue, psychological fear, and the dark side of human nature.  Does goodness win?  You find out!"


EXTENDED SYNOPSIS
Everyone acknowledges that Fr. Paul, the handsome and disciplined ascetic choirmaster at St. Andrew’s Abbey, is the genius behind the meteoric success of the monks’ first commercial album of chant recordings, Godspeak. Not only has this enchanting music satisfied deep longings for spiritual communion with God—it has leaped to the top of the popular music charts, going Gold, and bringing the Abbey staggering, unprecedented wealth, far beyond their traditional bread-breaking enterprise.

But perhaps Fr. Paul has gone too far in his modern innovations, flouting the traditional simplicity of plainchant’s seven-note purity, honed through centuries of sincere devotion and prayer? Are the menacing acts of sacrilege plaguing the Abbey a sign they’ve lost God’s favor and proceed toward destruction—as the possibly mad, enigmatic monk Eli-Jah claims? Or is it all part of a network of evil bred in dark corners and darker hearts, spreading to include even murder within the hallowed sanctuary?

Fr. Malachi, the community’s Abbot and a former psychiatrist before taking orders after his wife’s untimely suicide, is clear-headed and idealistic. He has seen the accumulation of sordid, destructive acts poisoning the atmosphere of his beloved Abbey, and is determined to root out the murderer among them before the devil can get his due.

Set in Louisiana Cajun country, where pious faith and superstition often mingle seamlessly, Chant of Death challenges minds and hearts nearly to the breaking point—until the tangled understory powering these malicious acts is revealed.

For more information, visit: http://www.pinyon-publishing.com/

Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/10861061/1