Combine a suspenseful murder mystery with theology (the study and explanation of religious faith, practice, and experience) and you have The Rector–with an allegory of Christ’s ministry!

Martha McRae is a widow living in a small Mississippi Delta town in the 1950s. She’s obsessed with the sudden death of her Episcopal church’s young rector. A murderer could go free if she doesn’t investigate. But Martha is torn. If she pursues the suspect, her Bible study friend’s awful secret could be revealed. It would be devastating, and life-changing. When the new rector arrives, she encounters a new puzzle–one that takes her into Parchman Penitentiary, where she comes face to face with evil.

Michael Thompson offers a tantalizing murder mystery filled with chilling explorations of hypocrisy, true faith, and small-town secrets. It’s about sin and redemption. It’s about the search for truth, in both the physical and spiritual realms. And it’s all wrapped up in a puzzle that keeps even skeptics on their toes. The writing is compelling with a plot that grows ever thicker and offers even ardent mystery fans delightfully unexpected twists and turns. The intrigue is well developed with well-placed clues and cliffhangers. The characters are multidimensional and fascinating. The faith themes are so masterfully woven in that those who aren’t religious should simply find the novel to be top-notch suspense. Diane Gardner, ForeWord’s Clarion Review.

The Editor-in-Chief, Southern Writers Magazine, writes: Michael Thompson is an author who takes you by the hand and leads you down unexpected paths. His ability to create believable characters instantly draws you into their world. You will find yourself rooting for goodness to prevail as you follow the twists he so brilliantly weaves in this story.

Richard L. Pratt, Th.D., Harvard, professor of Old Testament theology: The Rector penetrates the facades of southern cultural Christianity to take us to the true gospel … There is no Savior but Jesus and no salvation from the judgment of God but faith in Christ alone.

Michael Thompson has brought to life the Mississippi of my youth, complete with small town scandals, murders, prison, and the powerful southern female. Sit back, put your feet up, and enjoy a glass of sweet tea and a romping good tale. Carolyn Haines, author of 68 mysteries and the on-going Sarah Booth Delaney mystery series.