The Reluctant Rector: The Father Tom Mysteries Books 1-3 - J. R. Mathis & Susan Mathis

The Reluctant Rector: The Father Tom Mysteries Books 1-3

By J. R. Mathis & Susan Mathis

  • Release Date: 2021-10-25
  • Genre: Mystery Short Stories
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 196 Ratings

Description

The Reluctant Rector  is a boxset of the first three books in The Father Tom Mysteries. Meet Father Tom Greer and Detective Helen Parr, former lovers reunited after twenty years, as they solve crimes old and new--and explore the profound mysteries of the human heart.

The Penitent Priest (Book 1)--My wife died in my arms, the victim of a nameless killer's bullet. I should have died with her. But God had other plans for me. 

Fifteen years later, I'm back where it all happened. I just want to forget, but the past won't leave me alone.

Now, I'm asking a woman who I left broken-hearted twenty years before to catch my wife's killer.

I'm Father Tom Greer, a Catholic priest, and I'm playing with fire.

The Framed Father (Book 2)--My wife's killer finally caught, I was content to leave Myerton to serve in the isolation of the same monastery where I found my call to the priesthood. The temptations of the past still occupy my mind, but behind these walls I'm safe from them.

A call from the Archbishop sends me back to Saint Clare's, to find out if a young priest has broken his vows. Confident I'll find nothing wrong, I'm content to return.

Then a young woman is murdered, and the priest stands accused. Helen is on the case, and I must work with her again to find the truth. 

But the feelings we left unspoken before are harder to avoid, and I find my heart struggling with my head.

Can I save a young man's life without risking my soul?

The Redemptive Return (Book 3)--My faith lies in tatters after the events of the summer. I've neglected my prayers. I've avoided my priestly duties.

I am questioning everything about myself--except my feelings for Helen.

When my estranged sister goes missing, I fly home to look for her--with Helen surprising me on the plane.

My sister's dead when I arrive. I'm too late to save her. But I swear to find her killer.

But emotions are fragile things, and in the depths of my despair, my love for Helen bursts forth in a grief fueled frenzy of passion and longing. 

In coming home, what have I found--my damnation, or my redemption?

Reviews

  • Charming page-turner, as usual!

    5
    By manzanitaca
    I love these Father Tom stories! The relationships are honest, and I’ve enjoyed every one!
  • Um.. I haven’t read it yet but…

    1
    By whatthepeoplewant:)
    So I am hearing it’s a soap opera and I’m just randomly coming across this and I’ll read it to see if I like it or not. I just read one sentence and I hate it! I mean, I got bored immediately. And I just read it more because I thought maybe it gets good. (BIG mistake). If you truly want to make a terrible book, I would’ve just watched a movie.
  • Soap opera much?

    3
    By inveterate reader
    The stories have a lot to recommend them, but the soap-opera-like constant lamenting by Tom and Helen that they cannot be together as lovers felt layered on top of an otherwise good mystery story. I read the preview for the next book and the titles of the next books in the series and decided I did not need to spend any more money. Too bad - like I said, the mysteries themselves are good, light reading.