“The Body and the Blood,” by Michael Lister. Five Star. 330 pages. $25.95
BY PHILIP K. JASON Special to Florida Weekly
Do you enjoy mysteries with religious themes and characters? Forget Father Dowling. Forget Rabbi Small. Catch up with Michael Lister’s “John Jordan Mystery” series.
A former policeman now working as a prison chaplain in Florida’s panhandle, John Jordan wrestles with the conflict of justice and mercy on the one hand, and justice and vengeance on the other. Mr. Lister’s Jordan becomes a flawed everyman whose determination to become a better person and a spiritual counselor to others is constantly tested as he struggles to balance the demands of his chaplaincy with his work as a crime investigator.
In “The Body and the Blood,” the latest book in this series, something that seems completely impossible has happened at the Potter Correctional Institution: Justin Menge, an inmate just short of being paroled, is murdered inside his locked cell. Most peculiarly, the pool of blood spreading under the cell door is no longer in proximity to the bloodless corpse lying on the cot — a cot whose sheets are almost clean.
How can this have happened in a prison with multiple levels of security? And what does it mean that the danger to Menge had been suggested in two different ways? First, a sister who hasn’t seen him in years voiced concern that Menge might be in danger. Second, a mysterious handout appeared imitating an announcement for a prison worship service, but with wording that warned of such a crime.
While Jordan and the state prison system’s chief investigator, Tom Daniels, explore the locked door part of the mystery, they come up with a variety of suspects on the basis of motive — perhaps too many plausible suspects for a jury to find anyone guilty “beyond a shadow of a doubt.”
Daniels has a vested interest in the case because Menge was about to testify against Juan Martinez, an escaped and recaptured convict who raped Daniels’ wife. John Jordan has a complex relationship with vengeanceminded Daniels in that Jordan is working hard to rebuild his fractured marriage to Daniels’ daughter, Susan.
Suspicion falls on corrupt prison guards, on a female prison psychologist for whom records show improper time markers for entering and leaving Menge’s section of the prison, and on another prisoner, Chris Sobel — known to be Menge’s boyfriend. Since Sobel and Menge are very similar in appearance, it even seems possible that they might have switched identities at some point or been mistaken for one another, further confusing the permutations of motive.
As the investigation plot twists and turns, so does the story of John Jordan and Susan, complicated now by two additional factors. Susan, who has become uncharacteristically seductive, reveals that she is pregnant, a piece of news for which John is not prepared. Still, he is committed to making the best of the obligations he has taken upon himself. This means, however, that he must put an end to his relationship with Anna, a beautiful colleague on the prison staff who has thoroughly won his heart.
In both Jordan’s professional and personal life, he feels a current of failure undermining his commitment to the moral high road. He feels himself slipping away from faith and from the standards he had set for himself.
Mr. Lister’s sensitive, convincing development of this side of Jordan’s character is one of the more engaging and original features of “The Body and the Blood” and of the entire John Jordan series. The author keeps the reader sympathetic while Jordan struggles on to unexpected outcomes in the overlapping personal and professional sides of his life. The denouement of the novel is provocative and potent.
Another original aspect of this series is Mr. Lister’s gritty, disturbing portrait of life inside a large, rural penitentiary. His experiences as a chaplain in prisons similar to the imaginary Potter Correctional Institution allow him to portray the environment and dynamics of this microcosm with authenticity and power.
Not far from Panama City is a small town named Wewahitchka where Mr. Lister makes his home. It is also the home of the Gulf Correctional Institution. You do the math. Mr. Lister does the literature. And he does it very, very well.
— See www.michaellister.com for more on this highly original talent.
1 comment:
Well, Michael,
You really shouldn't just lift this review of your book. It's not your property. However, an excerpt with a link to its appearance in Florida Weekly would be appropriate.
Post a Comment