About Sinner's Prayer
Sinner's Prayer (A Dan Randolph/Greg Zhu Mystery)
2nd in Series following Plausible Deception
Settings - Primarily Louisville, Kentucky, along with southwestern Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston
Publisher: Maison Laide Press
Publication date: March 25, 2026
Print length: 328 pages
Paperback
ISBN-13: 979-8218702953 / ASIN: B0GT28D7W6
Digital
ISBN-13: 979-8218704353 / ASIN: B0GTC9G4C6
The remains of a highly regarded church member who disappeared without a trace almost forty years earlier are found buried in the basement of Parkvale Presbyterian Church in Louisville. Almost immediately after the discovery, another much-beloved former member dies by suicide at a lonely scenic roadside overlook. Are the two deaths related?
Presbyterian minister Dan Randolph is pondering his legacy as retirement nears. Now, he's got to deal with the murder, too, which hasn't just dug up bones, but also long-held secrets of misconduct, sexual abuse, and scandal-along with angry demands for his own ouster, with some claiming he's mishandled the situation.
SINNER'S PRAYER is the second in a series of mysteries featuring Dan Randolph and his violin-making husband Greg Zhu. As the mystery unfolds, readers get an engaging, humorous, sometimes frustrating, and often touching look into their very different personalities and their unique relationship. At the same time, the book examines serious issues of not only the underlying murder, but suicide, sexual abuse within the church, homophobia, and the changing social realities of living as one's authentic self, told through a series of flashbacks from present time to 1985.
Follow Dan and Greg as the mystery makes its way through southwestern Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston as well as their hometown of Louisville. Who killed the man in the basement-and why?
Click to Purchase!
About Dwain Lee
DWAIN LEE is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA). He is a graduate of Penn State University and Trinity Lutheran Seminary. Before entering the ministry, he was an architect in private practice for many years, mostly in Columbus, Ohio. He and his husband currently live in Louisville, Kentucky, where he works, writes, supports the arts, and is active in various forms of social justice advocacy. He has two daughters he is immensely proud of, enjoys travel, gardening, home repair, camping, and yoga, and is a member of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels.
Review
Sinner's Prayer is the second book in author Dwain Lee's Dan Randolph/Greg Zhu Mysteries and takes the series in a more serious, grittier direction than the debut, as a 40-year-old disappearance becomes a murder case. When Parkvale Presbyterian Church must make repairs to the plumbing under a mid-1980s renovation, workers find more than a water leak; they also uncover human remains buried under the foundation. Working on the theory that the victim is someone associated with the church, the police turn to Pastor Dan Randolph for information that might lead to the corpse's identification. They soon discovered the victim was a very active former parishioner but a divisive figure among the rest of the church family at that time: some of whom weren't shedding any tears over his demise.
Told via a dual timeline, the events leading up to the actual murder are set in 1985, with the eventual discovery of the body occurring in the fall of 2024, in the days leading up to the presidential election. In the 1985 storyline, readers are introduced to the figures involved in the traumatic circumstances of ongoing sexual abuse of kids in the youth group by a trusted leader. This earlier timeframe paints a picture of what the LGBT community faced at that time. AIDS was an epidemic, with rampant misinformation, fear, and death everywhere, and many gays and lesbians remained closeted rather than being able to live their lives authentically.
In 2024, Dan is neck-deep in shepherding the church family through the discovery of what was going on right under everyone's noses and the feared ramifications of a second Trump term for the LGBT community. Just as the nation was divided, so were the members of Parkvale Presbyterian, and emotions are high. Within days of the discovery under the church flooring, a long-time, much-beloved church member loses her adult son, a young man fondly remembered by the parishioners but with a traumatic history with the dead man, to suicide. Dan becomes a target of some of the frustration, and he wonders whether he's helping anyone at all as his second career as a minister approaches retirement. Peeks into Dan and Greg's daily life reinforces what a strong, loving partnership they've found and nurtured. Along with Greg's business and craft as a luthier, a musical thread is woven throughout the story, with a curated playlist of songs to introduce each chapter as well as musical numbers that were featured in the events of the plot.
This second outing is built on tough, possibly triggering topics for sensitive readers: sexual abuse, spousal abuse, religious institutions' historical responses to allegations of such, acceptance of LGBT parishioners, and the religious beliefs regarding suicide. While the plot involves a complex cold-case murder, most of the story's suspense and tension center on these issues. Their impacts are pivotal, with paralyzing moral and ethical struggles that prevented much-needed action.
While not a cozy mystery nor a typical cold-case
investigation, SINNER'S PRAYER has elements of both and will appeal to mystery
readers looking for a serious, grittier tale, especially those interested in
historical settings and church- or LGBT community-based stories.
Tour Participants
GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!
Have you signed up to be a Tour Host?
Click Here to Find Details and Sign Up Today!
Want to Book a Tour?
Hi, thanks for spotlighting my latest book! I hope folks will check it out and enjoy it - and of course, leave a review for it in the usual places. 🙂 I'd also be happy to answer any questions folks may have about the book. Thanks!
ReplyDelete