Masses & Motets: A Francesca Fruscella Mystery

In DeShell’s uneven sequel to 2013’s Expectation, Det. Francesca Fruscella investigates the shooting murder of Fr. Andrea Vidal inside a Denver cathedral’s confessional booth. Andrea was the former secretary to the priest who founded the scandal-ridden Legion of Christ, known for its sexual abuse of children. The only clue Francesca has to work with is a wallet dropped outside the booth that could belong to the killer. An emissary from Rome, Signelli , arrives to minimize bad publicity for the church and to retrieve Andrea’s journals. Francesca and Signelli, with their competing interests, end up in conflict. Flemish composer Pierre de la Rue’s four-part choral writing, as noted in an introduction, provides the template for the novel’s four-part structure: Francesca’s murder inquiry, passages from Andrea’s journal, Signelli’s story, and an account of priests’ sexual abuse of children. The journal excerpts slow the main plot, and the passages concerning sexual abuse aren’t well integrated into the narrative. Still, readers will want to see more of the intriguing Francesca. Those interested in issues facing today’s Catholic Church will best appreciate this one. (Oct.)