Labeled “Book One of the Ashland Grail Cycle,” this is a stunning debut novel in the modern thriller genre, complete with sex and violence. It is hard to imagine that an orthodox Catholic could have achieved such a thing without disgracing herself, but Debra Murphy seems to have pulled it off. Not since Flannery O’Connor have the workings of grace in a fallen world been so well and realistically reflected. Set in modern Milwaukee (which may seem strange to some, given the hint of a Grail connection on the cover), the story concerns a gifted young Shakespeare scholar who becomes the suspect in a series of horrible murders. Once started, it is hard to put down, but you finish the book uplifted rather than depressed. Leonie Caldecott describes it as “a true metaphysical thriller, covering every aspect of the culture of death.” See the publisher at www.idyllspress.com and the author at www.debramurphy.com for more information.

Stratford Caldecott, Second Spring Journal, 2007

The Mystery of Things, by Debra Murphy

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