Two popular priests are murdered and a third is attempted. They are found with the Bible open to the story of the last supper in the book of Matthew, chapter twenty-six. Each of the murders had twelve stab wounds, and was done viciously. What is the killers' motive? What kind of message is the killer trying to send? Who else is being targeted and why? Can detectives Detective Chris Coleman and his partner, Rick Russell, solve this case before the secret lives of priest and bishops are made public? Can they prevent any other murders from happening?

From this beginning of At The Last Supper I was hopeful that another twisting mystery involving all sorts of signs, symbols, and sneaky messages would be delivered. Alas, it was not so.

As I read this book, the urge to edit was quite overwhelming. The story is not full of spelling or grammatical errors. The issue is the story structure itself. The author could not decide whether it was a mystery, a story of redemption, or a theological discussion.

Stories that try to slip in some ideological ideas are often dismissed by the reader, and for good reason. No one likes to be preached to. If the writer is determined to slip in their beliefs, it must be shown rather than told. Those beliefs should also be part of the stories' background. The only way it might have worked was if the murder was done specifically because of a certain theological conflict.

The multiple points of view were not handled smoothly and I was forever thinking, "Who is this and why am I reading about them?" Even after their ‘chapter’ was finished and at the end of the book, I was left feeling confused about why these various people were given such predominate roles that never fleshed out.

Multiple character points of view can be successfully used, but needs to be done in a way the reader is sure they are still reading the same story. What is more, the reader needs a reason to care. The main characters were two dimensional figures, barely more than shadows while other characters such as Bishop Steele with his pragmatic faith, or Pete Nowell with his mental instability that, none the less, could see the truth far more clearly than the average man. These are the two characters I wish the story had more of. Indeed if they had been the investigators to solve the crime, the book would have been utterly fascinating to me.

In my judgment, this book was not ready for printing or the public. It should have had strong editing and restructuring to read well. A lot of the philosophy of the Catholic Church as it should be is in line with my own ideology. The theology presence is so strongly represented that it detracted from the over all story making me wonder if this was a murder mystery or a theology book trying to use a murder mystery to preach the writer’s ideas to the masses.

The one really good thing about At The Last Supper was I did not guess who the murder was till the last chapter. So in that, I say there is still good hope for the writer.

Reviewer: Nancy Louise
© February 2006