Rating: 
Summary: Frothy concoction -- delicious!
Review: Reading Greeley is like drinking champagne: a frothy concoction that perfectly complements an evening of escape. Here Greeley's customary Irish charm competes with Gallic savoir-faire. We are introduced to the Paris of the protected visitor with translators, tucked-away hotels and famous restaurants. Greeley's series hero, Bishop Blackie Ryan, is on a mission for "Cardinal Sean:" find Jean-Claude, a young Dominican priest who vanished without a trace while conducting visitors around cathedral ruins. Jean-Claude had a popular television program and was much admired by the students and nuns who were his ministry, yet everyone saw him differently, and all agreed he had mysterious depths and a magical smile. Bishop Blackie has a gift for unearthing hidden depths in people as well as clues for his investigation. Befriending a young woman who seems out of place as a Cathedral beggar, he enlists her help in tracing the young priest who often seemed equally out of place as a Dominican priest.
The story line has the fascination of a moderately difficult crossword puzzle, the kind you know you can solve if you just put in the time. It also has about as much action and cliff-hanging action -- and short-term satisfaction as the Sunday crossword. Greeley gives us the world as we would like it to be, where problems are solved by a convenient phone call to Chicago and a couple of FedEx packages, and even the Cardinal benevolently distinguishes the Christian from the Church. As Greeley is careful to note in an afterward, this is a tale of fiction. Unlike many readers, I was surprised by the ending, which fit the clues but seemed highly implausible. I will say only that Greeley gets the chance to share his very politically correct, enlightened views of the Church and the world. And he might encourage us all to beware of reading our own beliefs into situations that are not what they seem. I'm not usually a fan of Bishop Blackie -- but I liked this one!
Rating:
Summary: Frothy concoction -- delicious!
Review: Reading Greeley is like drinking champagne: a frothy concoction that perfectly complements an evening of escape. Here Greeley's customary Irish charm competes with Gallic savoir-faire. We are introduced to the Paris of the protected visitor with translators, tucked-away hotels and famous restaurants. Greeley's series hero, Bishop Blackie Ryan, is on a mission for "Cardinal Sean:" find Jean-Claude, a young Dominican priest who vanished without a trace while conducting visitors around cathedral ruins. Jean-Claude had a popular television program and was much admired by the students and nuns who were his ministry, yet everyone saw him differently, and all agreed he had mysterious depths and a magical smile. Bishop Blackie has a gift for unearthing hidden depths in people as well as clues for his investigation. Befriending a young woman who seems out of place as a Cathedral beggar, he enlists her help in tracing the young priest who often seemed equally out of place as a Dominican priest.
The story line has the fascination of a moderately difficult crossword puzzle, the kind you know you can solve if you just put in the time. It also has about as much action and cliff-hanging action -- and short-term satisfaction as the Sunday crossword. Greeley gives us the world as we would like it to be, where problems are solved by a convenient phone call to Chicago and a couple of FedEx packages, and even the Cardinal benevolently distinguishes the Christian from the Church. As Greeley is careful to note in an afterward, this is a tale of fiction. Unlike many readers, I was surprised by the ending, which fit the clues but seemed highly implausible. I will say only that Greeley gets the chance to share his very politically correct, enlightened views of the Church and the world. And he might encourage us all to beware of reading our own beliefs into situations that are not what they seem. I'm not usually a fan of Bishop Blackie -- but I liked this one!
Rating: 
Summary: An Awesome Mystery Novel!
Review: The Bishop and the Beggar Girl of St. Germain is a very exciting mystery novel. I'm relatively new to mystery novels, but this one was quite an interesting trip. A priest is missing in Paris, and Bishop Blackie Ryan is on a mission to rescue him. The missing priest is the most popular priest in all of France beacuse he is a television star and a hero throughout the nation of France. But his integrity is seriously doubted by the church. Blackie gets help from a hilariously sardonic Cardinal Cronin, and a beautiful begger woman. They discover that the police, as well as the Church don't care about the priest. But despite all this Blackie solves the mystery...in quite an amusing way to say the least. I would tell all of you beginner mystery readers to start with this one. Quite a wild ride! I loved every page of it!
Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable addition to the Bishop Blackie mystery series
Review: This is another of Greeley's Bishop Blackie mystery books. Many of his more recent mysteries have been set in some European city. This installment takes place in Paris. The city visited comes across less clearly than his earlier mystery set in Cologne but still offers a certain charm. His characters are classic Greelely--the innocent but strong ingenue, assorted clerics both sinners and saints, as well as the unassuming Bishop Ryan and his well-connected band of North Wabash Street Irregulars. Though in this book there are no real villans and the action is more psychological than actual. Fr. Greeley's novels follow the formula closely, so you have a pretty good idea of how the story is going to unfold if you've read his earlier works. This books is faithful to Fr. Greeley's adaptation of the mystery story formula. You know he is going to help the ingenue and her beloved. You know he is going to solve the mystery. You know each interview is going to provide you with clues to the final outcome. You know that he is still going to take you on a merry chase with sufficient ambiguous leads to get you confused. Yet, knowing all this it is still fun when he reveals the final twist to the story and you are utterly surprised but also realize at the same time that it makes perfect sense. Now, having read some of the other reviews complaining of the ease of solving the mystery, I must confess that I may be particularly dense. However, I enjoyed the book and was surprised by the ending (it was one of the possibilities I figured might be the answer but I never thought that Fr. Greeley would acutally use that ending). I'll confess that I'm addicted to Fr. Greeley's novels. The addiction can be frustrating. Sometimes the stories fall flat and only serve to develop Bishop Blackie or one of the other standard characters a bit. This book not only adds an element or two to Fr. Greeley's literary universe but is fun to read.
Rating: 
Summary: 3and1/2 stars.Slow moving but packs a punch at the end.
Review: This was my first Bishop Blackie book and I liked it but it did drag in places. The interchange between the bishop and the beggar girl helped to punch it up before I lost intrest. The solution when it comes makes it worthwhile. I certainly never saw it comming. But for those who like strong realisum in mysteries it is pretty far fetched. Such things do not bother me though and I think I will read about Bishop Blackie agian.
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