Less a mystery and more of a psychological portrait, this book must have been startling when it was written because a quiet, gentle ma turns out to be a killer. In our more jaded time, this isn't as surprising.

A priest who hears the murderer's confession and the police figure in discovering the murderer and learning his background. I particularly liked the picture of working-class New York that Davis painted. I also liked her priest and how deftly she handled the line between what he could and could ot say without breaking the seal of the confessional.

A Gentle Murderer by Dorothy Salisbury David is an excellent choice for a Library of Congress Classic. While the book was originally published in 1951, the story stands the test of time and can be enjoyed by the contemporary reader.

A highlight from this edition published by Poisoned Pen Press, is that each section has footnotes that explain obscure slang or Catholic references that the reader might now inherently know. This allowed for smooth reading.

Readers will enjoy following the priest and detective's investigations as they try to track down the perpetrator of a terrible crime.

crime fiction, law enforcement, Library of Congress Crime Classics, Catholic clergy, murder, procedural, murder investigation, mid 20th century, reissue, psychological, NYC****

The publisher's blurb gets the reader into the mood of the story. It is a crime study of a time past, but there are some things about it which could easily be contemporary. It is also a character study of the characters involved. I got a lot out of the foreword, introduction, and references to other books by this and other notable authors of the time.
I requested and received an EARC from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley. Thank you!

"A Gentle Murderer" is a mystery that was originally published in 1951. Father Duffy investigated the killer's past to try to track him down in the present. He learned that the killer's father was an abusive drunk while the mother was "too affectionate." I'm still not sure if that simply meant that she babied him or if she molested him. Duffy found plenty of reasons to believe the killer would kill again, but he didn't feel like he could share his knowledge with the police because it started out in a confessional. He's determined to find the man and convince him to turn himself in. At the same time, the police (mainly Detective Goldsmith) processed the crime scene, questioned people, and otherwise tried to identify and track down whodunit. He did a fine job even without Duffy's knowledge, and their paths converged at the end.

We know whodunit from the start, though, as the final point-of-view character was the killer. Women took one look at him and wanted to mother him, giving him (often free) room and board so he could pursue his attempts at writing poetry. He killed women he felt were leading other women astray or who were having affairs, so he seemed to feel that they deserved it. But he did know killing was a sin, thus the confession. His choices fed his desire to murder as he was often a temptation to lonely women. There was this weird "I want to mother him and have sex with him" vibe going on with his potential victims. Anyway, knowing he was close to killing again did add suspense, but I think I would have liked the mystery better without his viewpoint.

There was some bad language. There were no actual sex scenes. Any violence was minimally described, so it wasn't gory. Overall, I'd recommend this mystery to fans of "golden age" mysteries.

A priest and a murderer…intrigue and mystery…secrets…red herrings…good detective work…this novel, written by a talented author, is a cannot put down mystery…curl up in a comfy chair and spend an afternoon escaping, while trying to discern the ending. Good luck with that. This book was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review.

Father Duffy's last confession of the night is from a man who admits to committing murder. Father Duffy believes the man will turn himself in once he leaves the confessional. Next morning, he discovers the man did not turn himself in and begins to look into the man's background, using the information revealed in the confessional booth. Meanwhile, Homicide Sergeant Goldsmith is looking into the murder victim's life and her connection to the murderer. While both men are busy with their investigations, the murderer's day to day life is revealed. As more is revealed, will the murderer be caught before he kills again?
#AGentleMurderer #NetGalley

Detection And Suspense…
Another engrossing reissue from the Library of Congress Crime Classics. When Father Duffy hears an alarming confession he urges the confessor to go to the police. When the confessor flees so begins a desperate search and, at the same time, an investigation. The chase begins. A solid novel of detection and suspense with a tense storyline and an often insightful narrative.

This was really worthy of the "one of the best detective stories of modern times" it was what I was hoping for from a detective novel. I enjoyed the way Dorothy Salisbury Davis wrote this and loved the way the characters were written. I was invested in the mystery and it did everything it needed to. This was such a well written story.

"He watched them run around the stone house to the back door. A cocker spaniel crawled out from beneath a clump of bushes and shook himself. He trotted a few feet after the youngsters and then stopped to look back. The priest whistled softly and the dog came to him, wriggling with friendliness."