Unholy Communion

by Thomas Rumreich

Prímum Mystérium, The First Mystery A chilling message scrawled in blood. A sacred object offered as a cruel Communion. Misleading evidence intentionally left behind. When Washington County investigator Chris Majek is called to the scene of a retired priest's horrific murder, little does he know the emotional chasm it will open. And little does he know that this murder is a portend of more to come. As the investigation unfolds, it reveals terrible secrets—yet the killer's identity eludes and confounds Chris and the team. As an investigator, a husband, and a father, Chis is haunted by questions he does not want to face. How far would someone go to seek retribution for such depravity committed against the innocent? How far will the investigator go to follow his own suspicions, no matter where they may lead? As riveting as it is unsettling, Unholy Communion is ripped from the headlines exposing the scandalous epidemic rocking the Catholic Church today. About the Thomas Rumreich earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Minnesota in 1973. He also holds a master’s degree in psychology. For sixteen years, he served as the forensic odontologist for the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He is trial certified as an expert witness in forensic dentistry. He completed his training in death investigation at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine. Thomas lives with his wife, Ruth, in Scandia, Minnesota. This is his first novel. Profits will be donated to Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

Genres: Fiction, Mystery Thriller

345 pages, Paperback

Published April 7, 2020

Reviews

[Diane Close · Rating 3 out of 5]

A novel review, in 3 parts.

Part I, The first 100 pages: Ah Minnesota, where the women are busty and lusty and know their place, holding employment positions no higher than cashier, waitress, or the occasional nurse. Where all banter between the sexes is interpreted by the men to be of a sexual nature with all the women, married or not, assumed to be desiring all the guys all the time. We are constantly told that the main cop character has a 20 year happy marriage, yet he’s constantly oogling or judging other women by their physical features, and assumes they all fervently desire him because he’s so “manly”. I’d hate to be his wife!

Yup, the treatment of women in this novel leaves a lot to be desired! I would strongly suggest the author leave out females completely from his next novel as none of his women, certainly in the early part of the book, are believable characters. I had to keep checking to see if this novel was actually set in the 1950's (or earlier), but no, the extreme scientific detail of the crime scene analysis, including testing for DNA, put the lie to that theory. That goes double for the book’s only pair of Canadians, whose portrayal is shallow, stereotypical, and abysmal. Totally cringeworthy!

While Unholy Communion is quite graphic at times, the pacing picks up and is pretty good until the perpetrator is suddenly revealed at the half-way point. Up until that point there had been a few good suspects developing and I was looking forward to figuring out the “who dunnit”. Now I’m barely one-third of the way through and all I’m left with is “when are they going to catch him”? I almost threw the book at the wall at that point, but figured I’d stick with it a bit longer.

Part II, the meat of the book: We finally get a woman police officer (although very junior), as well as a terse female scientist who dares to get grumpy and complain when interrupted by mansplaining. The book settles in to a cat-and-mouse chase between the main police officer, the BCA investigator, and the (still unknown to them) perp. Great! The book has been resurrected (you see what I did there?) as a pretty good, well-paced police procedural.

However, with only about one-quarter of the book left, our main cop experiences an-amazing-plot-coincidence by way of a waitress with an eye for fashion that reveals the killer sitting right in front of him. Wow, I am decidedly unhappy about that! I wanted him to get there with actual evidence, actual investigatory results, not for the contrivance of brand and fiber content identification.

Part III, the last quarter tropes: Now that the letdown over the amazing plot coincidence has been felt, and “how do the cops figure out who was linked to the long-ago death” is out of the works, it’s down to “how do they trap this guy”. The answer to that is by skirting the law, and having our to-this-point upright officer of the law bend things quite a bit. It also involves the trope of terminal illness, and asks us to believe that someone planned this meticulously at least 10 years before it actually happened, and not only that it doesn’t make them evil. The author briefly touches on a comment one other character makes about how she sees people who suffer abuse every day but none of them turn into killers or serial killers, but he never actually explores that thread.

In the end our killer is allowed to slip away in a manner of speaking, an ending I found most unsatisfying and a...cop-out (forgive the play on words).

Still the book wasn’t a total loss for me. It appears firmly aimed at a certain blue collar ethic, hunting and fishing male stereotype which is disappointing. If the plot pacing was tightened up, and the writing smoothed out, and the sexism removed, this could’ve been a corker of a police procedural with wide appeal.

[Nellie Siers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a "cozy" read, in that it was sort of a formulaic police procedural/noir mystery - albeit about a serial killer abused by priests. It was a fast read, and it was fun to read street names and places I was familiar with. But dear God, what is with the women in this story? I understand that this book was entirely about men and men who abuse other men, but couldn't there have been one positively written female side character in there? I mean, if there ever was a "men writing female characters" stereotype, this was it. It was distracting from the plot. That being said, I read it in two days and they filmed part of the movie adaptation at my favorite local bar so I'm looking forward to watching that.

[Trevor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. Good pacing from the get-go. Well developed and relatable characters with believable chemistry. The author obviously knows his stuff and put a lot of effort into research. Took me just a few days to finish it. I’ve been reading a lot of Michael Connolly, George Pelacanos, and Harlen Coben lately. Rumreich fits right in with that crowd.

[Carly Kaspari · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ick. Too long police procedural, not enough build up/“who done it” or red herrings before the killer was revealed. Gave too much away too soon so no real tension, as a reader you have all the info and even though the characters don’t have it it’s super obvious they’re going to figure it out. Also some more graphic than necessary descriptions of child sexual abuse and porn. And the line writing sucked!

[Em Bostic (Smith) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly chilling! It’s not often I’m surprised by a book’s reveal, but this one did it for me. While I’m no stranger to violence in media, this did get quite graphic at times. I was definitely sucked into the story very quickly. One thing I wasn’t a fan of was the description of women throughout—that seemed pretty unnecessarily sexual. Overall, however, a great read.

[Linda Edmonds Cerullo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding crime thriller about a series of priest murders and the search for the murderer. Very suspenseful and even though the killer is revealed before the very end, the interaction between the main characters adds an element of intense drama and poignancy at the same time. Literally could not put this book down. A great read!

[Maddy Dolby · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was given to me by a local MN author who I did a story on. He brought me a copy when we conducted the interview & I was not disappointed. The ending was a bit unsatisfying though…. But then again, what mystery/thriller ending isn’t? I really enjoyed this book & I loved all the local connections!

[David B. Albrecht · Rating 5 out of 5]

unholy communion

Enjoyed the book very much. Obviously well researched because the author lived much of it personally. Took him 5 years to write it. That takes perseverance and drive. He was compelled to get the “word” out there. Waiting for the movie…….

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t know what to expect when I started this book it was given to me by a friend. She said just read it and I did. For me it just flowed. It’s one of those book you pick up and you can read in a day. But the plot and the characters will stay with you.

[Liz Burant · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a good murder mystery with a very difficult subject matter. I had guessed the killer before the hints really gave it away, but the “how” was insane. Definitely recommend for those who like murder mysteries.

[Karla Rust · Rating 5 out of 5]

A page-turner. A serial killer murders priest/abusers in revenge.

[denise dzik]

Intriguing and haunting. I read it in one sitting. Highly recommend.

[Judie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clever mystery. I gave it 4 stars because there were some parts very difficult to read.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I typically don't read crime, but I saw an interview with this author which made me interested in reading this one. Quick read.

[Kendall Mara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deeply disturbing, however it sheds light on an important and real issue within the Catholic Church. Finished in about 3 hours, it held quite a good pace.

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too violent.

[Betsy Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book. Made more interesting because I live in the community it’s based in.