The Rosary Murders was one of the first real adult suspense thrillers I ever read. In fact, as a teenager, when I brought it to the check-out counter at my small hometown library, the librarian called my father to get permission to check it out to me. Still makes me laugh to this day. My dad's response to the librarian? He'd rather I read murder mysteries than bodice ripper romance novels with half naked people on the front. I found that funny because the book cover has a dead woman in a bathtub.....it doesn't show anything vital, but the naked is implied. I guess dead naked people are acceptable, while half naked women contemplating sex with rogues is less so. :)

But I digress......I remember that I thoroughly enjoyed the novel. And the movie with Donald Sutherland (even though it made significant changes). But for whatever reason, I never returned to read more of the Father Koesler series. I was a teenager....who knows what I was thinking. :) There are several series that I started when I was younger and never finished....I've decided to backtrack and read them! The Father Koesler series is one....and the Dana Fuller Ross Wagons West! series is another. Just to mention two.....there are more, but I will never get to the review for The Rosary Murders if I keep rambling.

Back on task.....

The basics: Father Bob Koesler is a priest in Detroit. A killer is targeting priests and nuns in the city. Killing them brutally....then draping a black rosary around each one's hand before leaving the scene. Koesler works with the police to try and catch the murderer. They struggle to investigate as more killings occur. The case heats up when one victim lives long enough to scrawl a clue in her own blood, and then Father Koesler has a frightening run-in with the killer inside the confessional. Koesler cannot reveal what the killer said to him in the confessional. He struggles to aid the investigation without breaking the seal of confession. It all builds to an exciting conclusion!

Although it can't be much of a surprise that a story centered around murders of Catholic priests and nuns would contain a lot of details about the Catholic church, for non-Catholics some of the details and situations in this book might be a bit confusing, or at times, even boring. There are many details about church politics, conflicts over Vatican II changes, Catholic practices and the duties of priests and nuns. I grew up Catholic so I didn't find it tedious. Others might though. I rewatched the movie starring Donald Sutherland as Father Koesler after I finished the book. The movie made a lot of changes to the story, but some were obviously made to keep the focus on the murder mystery, rather than Catholicism. As usual though some changes between the book and film versions seemed arbitrary and ridiculous. For instance one murdered nun in the book is middle-aged and a religious coordinator for a church in Dearborn, but in the movie she is young and beautiful, preparing to renounce her vows to get married. I guess they wanted to add a little extra drama? *eyeroll*

Kienzle wrote so well about the Catholic church, its inner issues, politics and drama because he was a priest from 1954-1974.He left the priesthood over doctrinal differences.

I'm so glad I re-read this novel. This time I didn't have to get parental permission. ha ha. I'm going to read more of this series (there are 24 Father Koesler books). I'm interested to see how Koesler's character develops throughout the series.





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This is a mystery written in the 70's that I got for my Kindle. The main character is Catholic priest that enjoys mysteries. Then a serial killer starts killing religious and priests in his diocese. The priest figures out the killer's motivation and which leads to him being apprehended. I think it is a pretty good story with well developed and interesting characters. It is dated - but accurate in it's situations and descriptions of the Catholic church in the times soon after Vatican II. I enjoyed the story and the reminiscing about , in far more ways than years, time long past. ( )

This is the first book in the Father Koesler mysteries. It was originally published in 1978 and there are 23 books in the series. For those of you who like reading books that were turned into movies, this book was made into a film starring Donald Sutherland in 1987.

I had some trouble occasionally while reading, as I'm not Catholic. The author would use terms I'm not familiar with and he didn't explain them. But it didn't take away from the story a great deal.

The book was slow to read. There were whole scenes in it that I feel could have been cut and not hurt the story. I found myself doing some "speed reading" to get through some of this.

Aside from that, the main story was good. The descriptions of the murders and murder scenes were chilling, but not overly graphic. Father Koesler is a solid main character, though I would have liked to spend more time with him and learn more about him. I assume that happens in the other 22 books.

All in all, The Rosary Murders was just an okay book for me. I didn't like it enough to want to read more books in the series. I can see where it might be something other readers would appreciate more, so if you find the premise interesting, give it a try! ( )

The Rosary Murders, first published in 1978, is coming to readers again. This cozy mystery is fun, easily followed, and easily read. The Rosary Murders was made into a movie, starring Donald Sutherland, in 1987. This book is one of some twenty-four crime novels featuring Father Robert Koesler.

William X. Kienzle spent twenty years in the priesthood after leaving due to a disagreement with policy. He was editor of MPLS Magazine in Minneapolis, then later was director of Center for Contemplative Studies at University of Dallas. His wife carries on his publishing career today.

Kienzle leads us on a merry chase as the seemingly innocuous death of a priest near death in a hospital becomes more important as the first death in a series of murders. Key elements are the joking between colleagues in the police department and the conversations between priests during meals. The trust the Catholic priests and nuns place in their parishioners is important. Not only in real life, but in The Rosary Murders, that trust is what makes priests and nuns so susceptible to danger, especially when working in the less desirable areas. The police wisely pay attention to Fr. Koesler as he offers his help and is open to their suggestions to catch the culprit and solve the crime.

This is a short, easy read. Fun and not complicated. The Rosary Murders makes a good read for a quiet day or to lull to sleep at night. Because the reader may be accustomed to today’s technology, please remember this is an older book. Cell phones are not around every corner.

All in all, I’d give this a 4 out of 5 stars for its ingenuity of the time and the easy writing style.
So what are you waiting for? Go read it!

The Rosary Murders, by William X. Kiengle (read 27 Jun 1998) This is not a good book. The writing is amateurish, the plot is silly and incredible, the picture painted of priests may be realistic but is non-inspiring. The murderer kills four priests and four sisters and there is lots of gore. The book is unsubtle--maybe that is why it is published by a Kansas City publisher I never heard of. ( )