Epiphany

Epiphany is a murder mystery, a love story, and a personal drama all rolled into one. Played against the backdrop of Chicago, it’s a roller-coaster ride with a lot of moving parts, so buckle in.

Epiphany by Nickolae Gerstner.

Father Rockcastle, a priest in Chicago, worries that his efforts to force reality on a delusional parishioner may have driven him to murder. But, is he really a murderer, or is this a twisted cry for attention? He attempts to elicit help from his brother, a lawyer, but inadvertently peaks the curiosity of his reckless niece. The priest is stunned when a mysterious girl, who claims to be his daughter, shows up in his prayer group. He asks his brother to allow her to stay at his home, which leads to a hare-brained scheme by the girls to investigate the murder. These issues overlap with the conflicted feelings he has developed for a divorced woman that he councils. Several sub-plots soon emerge: Is Dominique his long-lost daughter, or is she an imposter? Did the group loudmouth see the real murderer or is he just trying to disrupt the investigation? Will Father Rockcastle act on his feelings for Tara?

I don’t usually read mysteries, but Epiphany was graciously provided as an advance reader copy by NetGalley, so I decided to give it a whirl. I’m glad I did. Overall, I found Epiphany a great story and the writing clearly showed that Ms. Gerstner has a talent for mystery. I loved the sense of humor Ms. Gerstner infused into her characters.

The main characters, Father Rockcastle, Dominique, and Charlene were well developed; they were likable and reacted to situations in a way you would expect (for the most part).

I liked the character of Father Rockcastle the most because I felt he was just the right mix of flawed and pious. His interest in Tara seems authentic, but creates a genuine dilemma for him. He had left the church years earlier to marry, but his wife died tragically and he is legitimately afraid to make that choice again. When Dominique shows up and claims to be the daughter he thought had died with his wife, he wants to believe, but he also questions what this would mean for his priesthood.

I felt a little conflicted about Dominique. While she was forced to care for her disabled mother and never went to school, she has the nerve to pick up and run away to a big city immediately after her death with no resources and nowhere to go. Ok, kids are often fearless, but then she turns into this super-timid sidekick when Charlene starts getting too bold. This creates a little bit of disconnect, and there was really no effort to explain the sea change in her personality.

Charlene, the niece, is part spoiled rich kid and part amateur-detective-in-training. She frequently proves more adept than the police and the private investigator hired by her father, but she made her share of dim-witted moves. I didn’t dislike her, but felt that her antics often overtook the story.

There were many, many supporting characters, but none that I felt invested in. They aren’t deep enough, in my mind, to be memorable, but then I suppose their only real function is to enable the main characters to interact with the story.

I thought this was a great story and had a strong set of main characters. Each chapter had so many twists and turns that it was hard to put down. I confess to a little bit of difficulty staying invested in the supporting characters, mostly because there were just so many. They served their purpose, said their lines, and then exited stage right. Maybe that’s what supporting characters do. They seemed to clutter the story from time to time, but it may be that the mystery genre requires so many walk-ons to fill in gaps. My only real grumble about the book was that once Charlene and Dominique team up, their exploits seem to become the focal point to the story. I was left with a nagging suspicion that this was a test run for some Nancy Drew style series, with the intrepid Charlene haranguing her reluctant sidekick into investigating one mystery after the next. I admit to a strong dislike of the serial book business formula. When I read a story, I want the story to end. I have no real objection to a character showing up in a new book, but it has to feel organic and not contrived. I understand the fiscal logic involved in guaranteeing an audience that will outlive you, but it borders on exploitive to me. I truly hope this isn’t the direction Ms. Gerstner is going in.

One final thing to note: the editing in this book is excellent. I saw very few grammatical or spelling errors, even though it was a self-published book. The continuity was a little hard to judge because it is such an intricate story. On the whole, I saw no glaring discrepancies.

In summary, this a great book with an exciting plot. While I thought the character of Charlene occasionally hijacked the story, Ms. Gerstner provided enough twists and turns to keep you plastered to your seat. If you like murder mysteries, Epiphany is well worth your time.

I liked this book. There were moments of humor but there was intrigue as well. The conflict the priest was in was well done. His life changed twice and his journey was interesting. The murder mystery was fun to follow and guess the who done it. There were several interesting secondary characters that helped build the story. Highly recommend. Given book by NetGalley for honest review.