Sign of the Cross: A Mystery

Darleen R. Golke is a high-school teacher-librarian in Abbotsford, B.C.

Father Brennan Burke, a “bright, talented, complex and exasperating”
choir school director at St. Bernadette’s in Halifax, Nova Scotia,
stands accused of murdering two women who had ties to his parish.
Criminal defence lawyer Monty Collins agrees to defend the priest.
Secretive about his past and intolerant of interference in his personal
affairs, Brennan presents Monty with a monumental challenge in mounting
an effective defence.

During the trial, Monty manages to inject reasonable doubt until
Brennan insists on taking the stand in his own defence, a lawyer’s
worst nightmare. Unfortunately, he has not always been an obedient and
exemplary priest, and the prosecutor quickly targets his misdeeds and
shreds his credibility. To Brennan’s horror and despair, the jury
convicts him of murder. Monty launches an appeal, secures Brennan’s
release, and sets out to find the real killer. Over the course of his
investigation, he comes to respect the musically gifted, complex,
worldly priest.

Anne Emery is a Halifax lawyer. Her entertaining debut novel features
well-developed and appealing main characters, an effective supporting
cast, a well-structured plot with interesting twists, snappy dialogue,
and a strong sense of setting. Monty’s first-person narrative allows
readers to vicariously experience the nightmare of being an innocent
person accused and convicted of murder.