Deliver Us from Evil: The Lord's Prayer Mystery Series, Volume V (Volume 5)

MWSA Review

This fifth offering by Richard Davidson in the Lord’s Prayer Mystery Series carries a lively plot involving a bizarre double homicide that hits a little too close to home for protagonist, Arthur Blake, a Methodist Minister who moonlights as a criminal investigator. His informal, unofficial team of talented sleuths includes a small town chief of police, a husband and wife tandem of federal agents and Irma Blake, Arthur’s newly-wed wife who brings to the table her special credentials as former Chief Medical Examiner of the Northern Michigan County in which they all reside.   

“Deliver Us From Evil” doesn’t waste any time in grabbing the interest of the reader with a strange confession of homicide by a close professional associate and personal friend of the Blakes. Other related murders ensue which are entwined with the mystery surrounding a stolen, valuable artifact, brought home from the Iraq War; and the quest to learn the true identity of the first homicide victim, who may or may not be still alive.

The interactions of the main characters provide another interesting subplot as Irma fights to find herself in her new marriage by forthrightly insisting that she be a full partner in her husband’s investigations team as well as in her marriage. Sparks also fly between the Alpha male police chief and the private investigator--pastor. 

Davidson writes in a lucid prose which makes for easy reading for adults and teenagers alike.

Reviewed by: Donald J. Farinacci (2015)

Author's Summary

Arthur and Irma's wedding day has finally arrived, but an unexpected interruption leads to their need to investigate a possible murder committed by someone close to them. With the aid of friends and federal agents Penny and Joe Gonzalez, they follow a series of clues, crisscrossing the United States to learn more about the murder, related subsequent events, and the significance of a rare object brought home by a veteran of the Iraq War. A second murder close to Pastor Arthur Blake's church involves them in a new investigation, assisting Police Chief Bobby Andrews. Are these murders and the tracking of that strange object connected? Will marriage deteriorate or improve the relationship between Arthur and Irma? Character flaws in many relationships color the outcome.