The Grass Widow

Father Dowling #8

by Ralph McInerny

Clare O'Leary comes to see Father Dowling claiming that she has run away from her husband because he was planning to kill her

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

185 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1983

About the author

Ralph Matthew McInerny was an American Catholic religious scholar and fiction writer, including mysteries and science fiction. Some of his fiction has appeared under the pseudonyms of Harry Austin, Matthew FitzRalph, Ernan Mackey, Edward Mackin, and Monica Quill. As a mystery writer he is best known as the creator of Father Dowling. He was Professor of Philosophy, Director of the Jacques Maritain Center, and Michael P. Grace Professor of Medieval Studies at the University of Notre Dame until his retirement in June 2009. He died of esophageal cancer on January 29, 2010.

Reviews

[EuroHackie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really didn't like this book. Only one of the four murders mentioned on page is actually solved, the others consigned to the bin of unsolved mysteries. The murderer who was "caught," so to speak, doesn't actually feel anything about his deeds. His reasons were twisted, and he seems to believe he's been absolved and will get off with an insanity plea. Talk about an incredibly disappointing ending!

The whole story was like that, though, right from the start. As the summary suggests, Clare O'Leary visited Father Dowling and told him that she'd left her husband because he wanted to kill her. Her husband, a radio DJ, regularly "jokes" on air about hiring a hitman to kill her. He's also having an affair with his (female) lawyer, and Clare has actually witnessed them together. She leaves and promptly ends up dead, and no one believes her story, not even Father Dowling.

What the actual fuck! This book came out in 1980, but was this author seriously trying to peddle the line (from Mr O'Leary's ridiculous excuse for a priest) that Clare was an unfulfilled woman because she didn't have any children, and was thus mentally unbalanced and making shit up about her husband?? I was absolutely appalled by this, and it went on for the vast majority of the book. Even in the end, no one believes that she's anything other than a scorned woman who probably deserved to end up dead. All of the male characters, even the regulars, have horrible attitudes about women and especially "women's liberation," ugh.

This book is a slim 185 pages, and what's missing is the philosophical discussions that I'd previously enjoyed. Dowling is on the fringes of the story, not willing to believe Clare killed herself and yet also not willing to believe her husband wanted her dead, in spite of his words and deeds. He does quite a few stupid things and hides more than usual from his BFF Captain Keegan, with the result that Keegan is mad at Dowling for most of the book. It was like visiting a bizarro version of the world previously crafted by this author.

This is barely 1/3 of the way through the novel series and it's already going off the rails. I dearly hope there's a course correction in sight, because the first five books were way too good to be followed up by this dreck.

[Dr. Kaaren Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twists and turns, and not everything tied up in a neat bow at the end.
Written in the 80's, it now reads like historical fiction, with references that some might take offence to, but were totally consistent with the time when it was published.
I wanted to read a Father Dowling Mystery because I had seen the TV version, and wow, one of the only things that was consistent was the fact it was in Illinois. The original Father Dowling is Roger (not Frank), does not have a side-kick (sorry Sister Steve). His parish is in Fox River (not Chicago), and it is St. Hilary's (not St. Michael's). The only character that does the crossover is the housekeeper, Marie Murkin. And his best friend, Phil Keegan, Captain of Detectives, has been in his life since they were kids.
I'm up to reading a few more to decide if I want to recommend any to my book group.

[Michael Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not remembering other Father Dowling stories favorably -- or possibly misremembering them -- I started reading this one with no expectations. And perhaps that's the best way to read anything.
At any rate, I have now read this one twice. It's that complex, and it has a large number of individual and differentiated characters.
As a former journalist, I got a special kick out of his "news" reporter characters, and especially loved the line from one who said getting his degree in journalism was like getting a ticket on the Titanic.
That was published in 1983, quite a while before so many daily papers either just folded completely or at least cut back to as few as three days a week.
And before I got my own first job at a daily.
But the "news" people are almost side characters, and the main focus is on the doers and solvers, and I have no hesitation at not only recommending "The Grass Widow" by Ralph McInerny but in promising to read more of his work.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my least favorite Father Dowling. I love Ralph McInerny, but this novel just felt incomplete.

[Maris C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Catholic propaganda with a heavy dose of sexism. Not a particularly intriguing mystery either, but I guess it was good enough that I wanted to finish it.