Liturgical Mysteries Series by Mark Schweizer
Liturgical Mysteries #1
Liturgical Mysteries 01 The Alto Wore Tweed
Mark Schweizer
Liturgical Mystery # 1: The Alto Wore TweedHayden Konig is the police chief in the small Appalachian town of St. Germaine, North Carolina. His part-time job, however, is serving as the choir director and organist at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, but he’s also determined to write the next great hard-boiled mystery novel a la Raymond Chandler — a liturgical mystery novel with no real plot, but enough bad prose to make the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest look like the Oxford University Press spring catalog.Chief Konig is also lucky enough to be independently wealthy, which is why he decides that his lack of talent in the writing department can easily be remedied, or at least greatly enhanced, by the purchase of Raymond Chandler’s 1939 Underwood typewriter. He is sadly mistaken, but the results are uproarious! Even as Hayden works on his opus, he must deal with other, more pressing, problems — a new priest at St. Barnabas, a Christmas feud between the Rotarians and the Kiwanians and, more importantly, a dead body in the choir loft. It’s a good thing that Hayden keeps a loaded Glock under the organ bench!As Christmas approaches, the tension (and hilarity) rises to a fever pitch. St. Barnabas is introduced to “The Penguin of Bethlehem” and the town’s Nativity feud turns ugly when the Kiwanian’s bagpiper spooks the Rotarian’s camel. A 12 year old wine snob, hedgehogs, Benny (the world-champion thurifer), church antics, and an episode that is just too good to give away, fill out this mystery that will leave you laughing with every page turn.
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Liturgical Mysteries #2
Liturgical Mysteries 02 The Baritone Wore Chiffon
Mark Schweizer
Liturgical Mystery #2: The Baritone Wore ChiffonSt. Germaine’s police chief, Hayden Konig, returns in this hilarious sequel to “THE ALTO WORE TWEED.” He’s beginning to write his second Chandler-style who-dun-it (an effort that is not going as well as he might wish), when he’s called to England to help solve a murder at Yorkminster.As the season of Lent begins, there’s an interim priest at St. Barnabas – a priest with a wife, and she has an agenda. If the “Edible Last Supper” (featuring the Mary Magdalene Coffee Bar), wasn’t enough, Hayden also has to deal with a Clown Eucharist, snakes loose in the church, the Fung Shui Altar Guild, and a dwarf verger named Wenceslas.As Easter approaches, it becomes clear that the murder in York has repercussions far exceeding the borders of England. Two dead bodies and counting. Now Hayden has some real problems.
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Liturgical Mysteries #12
Mark Schweizer - Liturgical 12 - The Cantor Wore Crinolines
Mark Schweizer
Hayden Konig has always been lucky. As a detective, he’s top-notch. As the organist at St. Barnabas Church, he’s been tickling the ivories for close to twenty years. He’s rich, his wife is the best looking woman in three counties, he lives in a big cabin in the woods—he has a dog, a gun, a CD collection, and a truck.Yet he is not content. He has one dream left to realize. He longs to be a noir detective writer like his hero, Raymond Chandler. In a desperate attempt to channel some of the master’s wordplay, Hayden has purchased Mr. Chandler’s old typewriter—a 1939 Underwood No. 5. It doesn’t help.Even as Hayden works on his new opus, he must deal with other, more pressing problems. Groundhog Day isn't usually a liturgical holiday, but when the new Anglo-Catholic priest decides that a Candlemas Evensong on February 2nd is in order, what can the choir do but comply? As "St. Groundelmas" approaches, three dead bodies turn up, and the clues point to a trashy murder mystery being read by the Blue Hill Bookworms. Will the St. Germaine PD get everything wrapped up before the groundhog sees his shadow?
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