Priest by Ken Bruen

This was another Bruen story about the private investigator, Jack Taylor, and even though I’ve been a declared fan of his writing, maybe I liked this one better than all of the others. While it is a crime novel, as is typical of this author, it is more the characters than the plot that moves the story. Taylor, a bad alcoholic (some are worse than others), is actually sober throughout this book, although it is a great struggle to remain so. Bruen uses Taylor to capture the dark alcoholic side of Irish life, and he does it convincingly. Taylor’s just been released from the mad house (Bruen’s phase) where he had a very psychotic experience. He is attempting to adjust to life outside of the hospital when he is given a couple cases to solve, including finding the couple whose baby died a few years earlier while under Taylor’s care. As suggested by the title, a priest is the primary case that has gotten Taylor’s attention, and Bruen has taken on the church’s scandal over pedophilia. The priest in question has been beheaded, a crime that needs to be solved. Also drawn into the drama is the nun who knew what the priest was doing, but said nothing, choosing loyalty to the church rather than loyalty to her flock. In taking on an enormously important subject, the author captures the horror of this scandal from several perspectives. The mystery itself is solved rather quickly, and the rest of the book has to do with the interactions of the personalities involved in this multifaceted tragedy. There was much more to this book than a typical crime novel – a very good read.