The Book of Kills

Notre Dame #4

by Ralph McInerny

A series of pranks prompts Notre Dame's administration to turn once again to brothers Roger and Philip Knight. They appear to be related to a eccentric scholar's claim that the land on which the university stands was stolen from the Indians. The pranks turn serious: at a football game against the FSU Seminoles, one stunt is aired on national TV, and the university president is kidnapped. But before the Knights can get to the root of these malicious acts, the scholar turns up dead, an Indian headdress wrapped around his bloody head.
All in all, it is a delicious installment in a wonderfully crafted series.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

287 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 2000

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

[Glen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strange things are happening at Notre Dame University. A failed PHD candidate is making things hot for the administration by accusing them of various crimes against Native Americans back in the frontier days. The failure winds up dead, and our Nero Wolfe stand ins have to solve the mystery.

It isn't much of a puzzle, and there isn't much good banter. It's like a bargain basement Nero Wolfe.

[Carah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had been looking forward to this book, and the whole series, because McInerny is the author of the Father Dowling books, and this series is set at Notre Dame. I LOVED the Fr. Dowling mysteries that were on TV in the 90s(?) and was really excited to read the actual stories behind them. This wasn't a Fr. Dowling book, but since it was set at ND, my interest was piqued.

I was a bit disappointed, though... It wasn't as well-written as I'd hoped; the characters were not as compelling as they could have been, and the author was rather sexist in many of his remarks! I was surprised to note how many times he referred to women as "inferior" or "in need of a man to take care of them" or weak because they loved certain men... Ick.

So now I *might* look up the Fr. Dowling books, but they are certainly not topping out my list of things to read. Bummer!

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Orion Plant has been studying what Notre Dame University had done to get the land it sits on. When he is summarily dismissed from the graduate program, he begins to work harder to embarrass the University. When the Chancellor is kidnapped, the priest who was to do a wedding is held hostage and a young man dressed as an Indian interrupts a football game. As Orion continues his plans he is found dead on University property and they have to figure out who murdered him.

I read this story because it is set in Indiana. I am still trying to finish reading Cozy Mysteries set in every state of the Union. I found the story fairly interesting, but many times there were moments that I had to reread a section because words were missing.

[Tommie Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

250 books this year. I decided to end the quest with The Book of Kills by Ralph McInerny. It is a classic murder mystery set at Notre Dame. There are only a few of his books out there and i was lucky to score this one (along with Sham Rock and Irish Tenure). I am still looking for On this Rockne and Lack of the Irish. All are out of print do it will entail a lot of searching at thrift stores and library book sales. This year I am looking to read 100 books, but the only ones that will count are either non-fiction or classic literature.

[NK · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had expected this book to be more interesting because of the setting. Unfortunately I could not get into the story or characters. In fact, I had to go back chapters, several times, to determine who some of the characters were as they were all starting to blend together. I lost interest early on but committed to finishing.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fast read. There are a lot of characters and the writing style seemed to skip required elements at times but I think I enjoyed it because of the university setting. Apparently all universities have some commonalities.

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh, did not finish. Whether the casual racism was supposed to be intentional (and somehow the plot was going to revolve around some kind of scapegoaty playacting) or if it just... sucked... I'll never know.

[Michelle Mazzini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Notre Dame Mystery

This book is perfect t for anyone who is a fan of Notre Dame. It was a good read with many plot twists.

[William Darwin, · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great murder mystery set at Notre Dame. Discusses some of the plight of Native Americans.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as part of the Read Around the USA Challenge for Indiana. This book is set at the University of Notre Dame and its academic setting as well as the traditions at Notre Dame added interest to this book. The main characters are two brothers--Roger Knight, an overweight (grossly) professor of Catholic Studies who travels around the campus on a golf cart and Philip, a semi retired private investigator. I would like to read other books in this series.

[Cynthia K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've become a lazy reader. This book felt like it had too many characters. Of course, it is the fourth in the series of mysteries set at the University of Notre Dame, so some of my confusion came from jumping into the series at this point.

[Theresa Lange · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good, surprised again!

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

McInerny must have had a bad experience with a librarian once upon a time....

[April · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't really like this one...a mystery set in University of Notre Dame with characters that were hard to read and not very interesting to me.

[Amber Berry · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mystery set on the University of Notre Dame campus! - of course I was curious. Set in winter, in snow. Okay beginning. Not a good read.

[Debby Plummer · Rating 2 out of 5]

For some reason I found this particular entry into the Notre Dame series very difficult to follow. Lots of people, lots of names.

[Heather Fuller]

Kinda hard to get into but it was okay.