Confession Can Be Murder

by Patricia O’Neil

Father Ambrose Granchelli hasn’t been late for Mass at St. Jude’s in fifty years. The congregation, understandably concerned, is horrified when he finally appears, toppling out of the confessional with a bloody bandage around his head and a screwdriver sticking out of his neck!

The city’s Chief of Detectives has his own suspicions and at the top of the list is Shane Hawley, an ex-soldier with PTSD who doesn’t have an alibi for the time of the murder. Father Leo Quinn, St. Jude’s pastor, is Hawley’s uncle. With assistance from his niece Rosie and an ex-Scotland Yard detective, Father Leo embarks on a quest to both clear his nephew’s name and avenge Father Granchelli’s murder—uncovering a mountain of secrets, lies and skulduggery along the way.

270 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2023

Reviews

[Russell Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Patricia O’Neil’s Confession Can Be Murder is an entertaining, sturdy murder mystery in the time-honored style of Agatha Christie, where the amateur sleuth(s) uncovers evidence and then gathers the suspects in a room to force a confession or reveal the killer. O’Neil does all this quite well, keeping me guessing until the final reveal. She populates her novel with many, many characters, giving us a lot potential murderers to choose from. My biggest disappointment in the book was that she sets her novel in Cape Breton. Her actual city is fictional, but, having bought the book while on vacation, I would have liked it to have more local color. Even using a fictional city, I feel the author could have had more descriptions that would have evoked the area I visited and where I purchased the book. But that’s minor quibbling. O’Neil set out to write a murder mystery that delivers, and it certainly does!

[Barbara Horn · Rating 5 out of 5]

While parishioners await the beginning of morning Mass, all “hell” breaks loose when the body of their beloved priest falls out of a confessional prompting the start of confusion and plot twists as the murder is investigated. Patricia O’Neil weaves a plot laced with false accusations, hostility, many possible motives, wrong turns and 2 more murders. It falls upon Father Quinn, his niece and a newcomer to sort out the real facts of the case that the police continually miss. I couldn’t put this book down.

I purchased this book from the author in Sydney NS at the pier where my cruise ship was docked and enjoyed a lovely chat with her. I look forward to reading more of her work.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a mystery, this certainly works! That the mystery is actually solved by the members of the community rather than the gruff Chief of Police who locks up a suspect and feels he’s finished the job felt like vindication for those who wanted justice, not just a suspect who has signed a confession under coercion. There’s also a bit of a love story developing by two of the characters that may become the basis of the next book.

[Andrea SapphireBlueSky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read. Good story line.
Hoping for a sequel.