For years, the priests of San Redempto, a decrepit monastic order in the heart of Rome, were so busy indulging their private vices they failed to notice that thieves had been systematically plundering the monastery of its treasures. But when someone makes off with six paintings from a ghastly series of martyrdom studies executed by the 17th-century master Nicolas Poussin, the prior reluctantly orders the Rev. Brocard Curtis, the archivist of the order, to find the culprits. That fatal decree invites a maelstrom of violence that may finish off the dirty old monks and doom San Redempto to oblivion.
Magnificat refers to Luke 1:46-55, popularly called Mary’s Song of Praise, specifically the verses: He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. The humor and clever turns of these books reveal the hypocrisy of those in power that is brought to light by those they so readily scorn.
From 1966 - 2001, Robert Stefanotti wrote and published three Murder Mysteries (brought together as Magnificat) under the pen name T.C. Van Adler: St. Agatha’s Breast; The Evil That Boys Do; and Demise of the Mystics.
Robert Stefanotti has re-edited these mysteries for their twentieth anniversary. Given changes not only in his own life but also the world, he is happily using his own name.
Taking inspiration from those overwrought scenes of religious ecstasy beloved of the Baroque painters, T. C. Van Adler has written a morbidly funny debut mystery in ST. AGATHA’S BREAST.
Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times
There are times when I laughed out loud at some turn of phrase or the incredibly comic situations that murder, mayhem (and religious life) can sometimes effect…[Stefanotti] has a finger on the pulse on much of religious life, those things-mainly dealing with sexuality and human relationships-that many communities are not very willing to engage.
Brian, Dignity Newspaper
St. Agatha’s Breast isn’t for every taste, but for fans of the cerebral mysteries such as Umberto Eco’s classic The Name of the Rose… will be fascinated with this.
The Portland Oregonian
