The Gathering

In this new entry, we revisit Koesler's adolescent and teen years, to a time when young Catholic men and women were encouraged, even expected, to become priests and nuns, whether or not their vocation was real. We meet his group of six young aspiring religious (four men and two women) who underwent the rigors of the seminary and the convent together. We learn of their individual struggles with their faith, their mentors, and their commitments to difficult choices. And we painfully discover how one member of this group is inflicted with undeserved guilt by an unspeakably cruel superior and how this dooms his life. Now in their seventies, the group gathers together, a reunion of sorts, that is cut short when one of their number is found dead. Suspicions arise, and once again Father Koesler's acumen is called on to solve the puzzle. Bill Kienzle's mystery series has a faithful audience who has bought his books in hardcover and paperback for a combined total sale of more than 2 million copies. Nearly all Father Koesler mysteries have been Main Selections for the Mystery Guild; all have been sold to Books on Tape. In spring 2000, the Chicago Sun-Times named William X. Kienzle's first book, The Rosary Murders, one of the top twenty-five mysteries of the twentieth century.