A Gripping Tale with Depth

Tina Beattie's "The Good Priest" isn't your average whodunit. Sure, there's a creepy mystery at the center, with a priest, Father John, caught in the middle. But this book digs deeper, exploring the darkness that can hide beneath the surface of everyday life, even within the walls of a church.

Beattie paints a believable picture of life in a Catholic parish, from the familiar rituals to the hidden struggles. Then she throws a curveball – a mysterious visitor in the confessional sets off a chain of events that throws Father John's life into turmoil. He's not just dealing with a murder; he's forced to confront his own past and the complexities of faith in a world that's far from black and white.

Here's the thing, this book isn't just a quick thriller. It takes its time, letting you ponder and explore the characters and themes. Some folks might find it slow, but it allows you to really get under the skin of the story. And speaking of themes, "The Good Priest" dives into some heavy stuff – think abuse, prejudice, and the weight of guilt. It's not for the faint of heart, but it's honest and thought-provoking.

So, who should read it? If you're up for a suspenseful story with some real depth and you're not afraid to delve into some religious themes, "The Good Priest" is worth checking out. Just be prepared to slow down and get ready for a wild ride.

I had high hopes for this book and actually tried to read it twice but, I just wasn't a fan of the writing. I ended up abandoning this unfinished.

This was an intriguing murder mystery tale. It drew so many story lines together, so many different controversial and earth shattering events that have rocked our world in the last fifty years or so. And Tina Beattie manage to accomplish this feat with great skill and competence. In it we learn of the abuse by priests of unsuspecting minors, we learn of the impact of 9/11, we embark upon a murder investigation and we witness a priest, Fr. John, grapple with the roles and responsibilities that come with the collar worn in priesthood. Often so many storylines would sink a ship so to speak but here that didn't happen. The tale was well told. It was intriguing and held my interest through out.

Father John is the local Catholic priest in Westonville he is beloved by his parishioners. He is visited by a dark soul from his past in confessional. When the murders start Father John will find he cannot escape the past. He will need all his faith and love of family and parishioners to lead him through dark times. Will he be able to keep how sacred the confessional is with both police, press and public turning against him. This is a rollercoaster ride of a story which keeps you hooked till the end.

This was a fascinating book, not least because of the murders and the investigation into them.
The murder investigation almost takes a second seat to the struggle that Father John has with his faith, his sexuality, his role in the church and his past coming back to seemingly haunt him as well as his need to support his congregation.
Switching back and forth between his current life and his memories of his days in the seminary this book gives a great insight into the working of the church and the life of a priest, all the while with the bodies piling up- apparently because of John.
I questioned many times if John was going mad and if the events unfolding around him were actually of his own doing and was kept guessing right to the very end.
A really interesting read, heavy on the religious symbolism and practices so perhaps not quite what I was expecting but a great read nonetheless.

I am in charge of our Senior School library and am looking for a diverse array of new books to furnish their shelves with and inspire our young people to read a wider and more diverse range of books as they move through the senior school. It is hard sometimes to find books that will grab the attention of young people as their time is short and we are competing against technology and online entertainments.
This was a thought-provoking and well-written read that will appeal to young readers across the board. It had a really strong voice and a compelling narrative that I think would capture their attention and draw them in. It kept me engrossed and I think that it's so important that the books that we purchase for both our young people and our staff are appealing to as broad a range of readers as possible - as well as providing them with something a little 'different' that they might not have come across in school libraries before.
This was a really enjoyable read and I will definitely be purchasing a copy for school so that our young people can enjoy it for themselves. A satisfying and well-crafted read that I keep thinking about long after closing its final page - and that definitely makes it a must-buy for me!

I was swept along by the central character for the first half of this book - It is nice to read a story where a Christian isn’t belittled, written with irony or with an underlying sneer. For Father John to read Psalms, to read Bible passages and not to mock them, as a Christian that was the first time in a long time I have felt like that with modern literature.
However, it was too long. I think you could have cut 20% of the pages and not lost anything from the story. There was a lot of repetition (the feel of the cat on the bed!) and whilst that demonstrates the ordinariness of Father John’s day to day life, it was used too often.
I recognised many of the characters from everyday life as a churchgoer, and a volunteer in different organisations, and they were well written. Some characters started to feel a bit unreal the further I got into the book – I had so many questions about the ‘mystery’ part of the story – where was the Cardinal living, how did he leave no trace wherever he went?
I think this worked better as a snapshot of a parish than as a mystery / crime fiction, which seemed to stutter along. The ending was quite abrupt, and a bit rushed. It gave closure of sorts but wasn’t really that effective.
The last few sentences sound a bit negative – I don’t mean to be, hopefully it is constructive because as a whole I really enjoyed reading the book and think the writer has a lot of promise.

I absolutely loved this book. Father John's angst, compassion and loving spirit were portrayed throughout the novel. Although there was a mystery , I think I enjoyed the portrayal of his parish life more compelling. I followed the lives of his parishioners with great interest and rapidly turned pages to find out what happened to them all. It is a story of redemption of the human spirit and I found it most uplifting. I would definitely recommend this book. Thank you

Father John is the local Catholic priest in Westonville he is beloved by his parishioners. He is visited by a dark soul from his past in confessional. When the murders start Father John will find he cannot escape the past. He will need all his faith and love of family and parishioners to lead him through dark times. Will he be able to keep how sacred the confessional is with both police, press and public turning against him. This is a rollercoaster ride of a story which keeps you hooked till the end.
I was given an ARC of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

An amazing book!! I couldn't put the book down. Great characters especially the Priest in the title. The storyline just gets better and better as you read.
There are some gory bits and some sex too but it's all just part of the tale and isn't at all gratuitous.
I enjoyed the religious aspect in the book even though I'm not a churchgoer myself. These parts interested me and I think that I learnt from them too.
All in all a fantastic read. YOU need to read it now!!

I was really looking forward to reading this, however I was not expecting so much bible excerpts, found myself flicking past pages just to get back on track, story was great, the characters, brilliant, just not for me.

I'm not religious, but enjoyed this overall. It's an interesting mystery which is well-written. I really liked the main character, who is interestingly complex, and obviously wants to be a good person. The author is obviously talented, and except for the long religious passages, this is well-done.

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was very intrigued by the ideas in this book, but the narrative, writing and characters just did not suck me in. I will look out for the authors next one because it seems like there’s some heavy stuff kicking around in that brain – but this one’s execution just left me all meh.

The writing style was not to my liking--an overuse of florid adjectives was very distracting. I did not finish the book.

SPOILERS

This raises some very interesting points on the Catholic church,the one that hit ho.e the most for me was the confessional.
You can't stop a murderer because you've taken a vow not to reveal what is said in confession?
There were times when the stream of villagers going into confession felt a bit dull,but I know it was just setting the scene for village life.
There were times when I wondered if John was mad and imagining the Cardinal,and other times when I wondered if he was mad and killing people himself.

As the whole story unfolded ,it made less sense to me,that someone would risk everything like this for revenge... but revenge isn't logical is it?

Thank you NetGalley and Matador for the eARC.
This is a difficult book for me to review. In the one hand I liked the main character, Father John, the parish priest, who is a good man trying to be the best priest and man he can be, on the other hand I found the passages relating to religion fairly tedious, not being a religious person. I felt great empathy for Father John, who wrestling with feelings for men, while trying to serve God and his congregation as best he can. He knew he was gay since being a boy, but his love for God was greater, so he chose a life in the church.
While listening to confessions, he is visited by a dark presence telling him of the dark deeds he is about to commit. It seems it's a Cardinal from his past, who was supposedly killed on 9/11. Subsequent murders point to a serial killer on the loose, acts that make Father John's life a living hell.
Father John's mental struggles are terribly sad, the only happiness he finds is in God, his family, the comfort of his cat, Shula and the benign presence of the ghost of a little girl. In the meantime he tries to comfort his flock and attend to a dying nun.
There are many beautiful passages that affected me deeply, but the many religious chapters made me impatient, which is the reason I can only give THE GOOD PRIEST 3.5 stars.

The author wrote a thriller that started with a bang and just kept going! The twists kept coming, so I couldn't put it down. I cannot wait to read more from this author!