Rating: 
Summary: Great debut!
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The main character, Lily, is strong and likeable, the plot line interesting. Lily is an episcopalian priest - and the story gave an interesting insight to inside the church - without (over) emphasizing it in such a way that it would turn off a reader. I look forward to her second book.
Rating:
Summary: Great debut!
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The main character, Lily, is strong and likeable, the plot line interesting. Lily is an episcopalian priest - and the story gave an interesting insight to inside the church - without (over) emphasizing it in such a way that it would turn off a reader. I look forward to her second book.
Rating: 
Summary: Thoughtful book explores many mysteries
Review: In addition to being a "good read," The Tentmaker uses the mystery genre to explore more than just the suspicious death of a rector who serves an affluent Boston congregation. It also inquires about the religious mysteries clerics face in the modern world, the mysteries each of us face as we come to terms with our relationships to religion, ourselves ,and the evils that looom behind the exquisitely carved doors. I look forward to other Michelle Blake mysteries.
Rating:
Summary: A fine start
Review: In addition to being a "good read," The Tentmaker uses the mystery genre to explore more than just the suspicious death of a rector who serves an affluent Boston congregation. It also inquires about the religious mysteries clerics face in the modern world, the mysteries each of us face as we come to terms with our relationships to religion, ourselves ,and the evils that looom behind the exquisitely carved doors. I look forward to other Michelle Blake mysteries.
Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful book explores many mysteries
Review: In addition to being a "good read," The Tentmaker uses the mystery genre to explore more than just the suspicious death of a rector who serves an affluent Boston congregation. It also inquires about the religious mysteries clerics face in the modern world, the mysteries each of us face as we come to terms with our relationships to religion, ourselves ,and the evils that looom behind the exquisitely carved doors. I look forward to other Michelle Blake mysteries.
Rating:
Summary: An intelligent story from a real insider's perspective
Review: Lilly Conner is a refreshing character to see inhabiting not only a mystery but also a priest's collar -- passionate, occasionally insecure, as opinionated as she is committed, but always searching for a closer relationship with the God who fuels her commitment. And Charlie! His character alone was worth the price of the book. Lilly and Charlie's conversations and sluething bring to light some very real controversies facing the church today. As a Boston/Cambridge resident, I also appreciated Blake's careful attention to physical details -- a small but important part of bringing authencity and life to the story.
Rating:
Summary: AN ADMIRABLE DEBUT
Review: She's willful; she's prayerful. She is by turns disdainful, compassionate, frightened, or resolute. She is Lily Connor, crime solver [come] Episcopal priest, introduced in poet Michelle Blake's assured and satisfying debut novel, The Tentmaker. As we learn a tentmaker is "an ordained priest who works at a trade outside the church, sometimes serving as interim priest for parishes in search of full-time rectors." That is precisely what native Texan Lily is called to do. Although, 36-year-old Lily in her jeans, boots and clerical collar does seem an incongruity at St. Mary of the Garden, a decidedly upscale Boston church. Upon arrival she finds a cool welcome, and a wounded parish. So, she prays: "She prayed for compassion, she prayed for insight, and she prayed, if it was anywhere in the scope of God's will, for release from this job, which was driving her crazy." Initially, Lily attributes the parishioners' indifference to their grief over the sudden death of their rector, a beloved figure who had served the church for many years. Deeming her position "babysitting rich people, " she shares her reservations with Charlie Cooper, a friend from her seminary days, and now an Episcopal monk. He had encouraged her to take the position and now counsels her to be patient. Before long a series of unexplainable events take place which lead her to believe that there is something more to deal with at St. Mary of the Garden than aloofness and pain. With the blessing of an ally in the church, Bishop Spencer, Lily begins to look into the decidedly dark doings at the church. When a prominent family accuses the late rector of seducing their young son, Roy, the water is muddied even further. Lily is drawn into a vortex of ignominious happenings when she discovers an almost fatal accident in the church basement, then is confounded by the sudden appearance then disappearance and near death of Roy. In a stunning denouement she finds herself alone with a murderer who despises her. Yet, it is during this confrontation that she comes to realize in part what her priestly vows should mean. Lily's search for answers has been as much for herself as for the parish, as she struggles with her own crisis of faith. Ms. Blake has pulled off quite a coup with The Tentmaker and her creation of a protagonist who is both human and humane, as Lily gives vent to emotions, fights temptation, and bridles at what she considers to be the exclusionary practices of the Episcopal church. Thus readers are not only entertained but enlightened, and left eagerly waiting for the next Lily Connor adventure. - Gail Cooke
Rating: 
Summary: I would give it ZERO stars if I could
Review: The REAL mystery here is why Amazon would reccomend this. The characters and plot are truly unimagenative. Indeed, the book seems to me to be less of a mystery and more of a way for Blake to further a theology that is pro-liberal, and pro-homosexual.
Rating: 
Summary: Mild-mannered Mystery
Review: The Tentmaker is not a happy read. Oddly bleak and oblique, the clues are well-hidden--too well hidden to make this a suspenseful or gripping story. The story develops slowly through the eyes of a mildly feminist priest, Lily Connor, serving as interim rector in a strait-laced Boston church following her predecessor's death (which turns out might not be wholly accidental). Although it includes a whodunit and several love stories, the book also makes an introspective examination of the challenges confronted by a modern priest. While the Boston locations are right--the tony corner of Beacon Hill--there's little atmosphere beyond a pervading gloom, best expressed by Lily herself: "her whole life looked dismal and forbidding" (the story, weather, and parishioners in a nutshell). No joy in this Beantown! I found myself more puzzled than puzzling, wondering why Lily was finding fearful omens in ordinary events, ones that might be expected in a new parish posting. There's lots of talking and comings-to-realize among the characters rather than any active sleuthing, especially by Lily who is also wrapped up in soul searching over degrees of guilt and points of doctrine. I was confused about the issues in the story (or was that part of the author's intention, her way to make the story more mysterious?). The focus is on Lily's thoughts rather than the workings, or machinations, of an active parish. Resolution and Confession finally just happen and then Lily explains the loose ends. The prose is competent and occasionally intense, but there's not the least hint of vibrant Bostonian accents in the dialogue, adding to the depressing sameness of tone. This is the first in a series (Earth Has No Sorrow is next).
Rating:
Summary: A Complete Waste of Time
Review: This book was a complete waste of my time. The list of the books faults are too numerous, but here are a few: The characters lacked dimension. The outcome was predictible. It was less a mystery than a tyrade on why gays should be ordained. I should have known better when Bishop Sponge's book was so highly praised.
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