"The Phantom Murder" by Roy Lewis

Attorney Eric Ward is facing the finalization of his divorce decree. He and his wife Ann are calling it quits, both plagued by indiscretions and a loss of love. He refuses any part of her sizeable estate or resources; he wants to keep what’s his, including a flat in Newcastle. 

Ann still feels badly that he won’t accept any kind of financial settlement, so she and her current legal advisor, who may also be her lover and Eric’s rival, arrange for a large contract to fall Eric’s way. It’s from a commercial firm with insurance and shipping interests. What Ann doesn’t know, but her legal advisor does, is that the contract is likely to land Eric in trouble. 

The firm asks him to find out why a ship that docked in Newcastle has been “arrested” – what in the U.S. would be called “impounded.” Supposedly a crew member has been caught smuggling drugs, but the ship and the rest of the crew don’t seem involved.  So Eric investigates, puts out feelers through his information sources, talks with the local police, and gradually learns that nothing is what it seems to be.

The investigation takes him into the murky world of piracy, “Phantom” shipping, organized crime on a local and continental basis, and a client who may be up to his eyeballs in trouble. And it also takes him to a potential new romantic interest, who may be as involved as everyone else.

Roy Lewis

The Phantom Murder by Roy Lewis is the twelfth novel in the Eric Ward mystery series by British author Roy Lewis. Originally published as Phantom in 2002, it’s been republished this year as part of reintroducing the series (and author). 

Lewis is the author of some 60 other mysteries, novels, and short story collections. His Inspector Crow series includes A Lover Too Many, Murder in the Mine, The Woods Murder, Error of Judgment, and Murder for Money, among others. The Eric Ward series, of which The Sedleigh Hall Murder is the first (and originally published as A Certain Blindness in 1981), includes 17 novels. The Arnold Landon series is comprised of 22 novels. Lewis lives in northern England.

The Phantom Murder is yet another consistently fine Eric Ward mystery. Lewis keeps the personal story of his hero moving as quickly as the story of the mystery he’s trying to solve. With a thrilling ending and wonderfully drawn characters, it’s a mystery winner.

Related:

The Sedleigh Hall Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Farming Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Quayside Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Diamond Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Geordie Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Shipping Murder by Roy Lewis.

The City of London Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Apartment Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Spanish Villa Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Marriage Murder by Roy Lewis. 

A Cotswolds Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Wasteful Murder by Roy Lewis.

“On Wealth and Poverty” by St. John Chrysostom

The surviving writings of only one early church father – St. Augustine – exceed those of St. John Chrysostom (ca. 347 A.D. – 407 A.D.). Hundreds of his sermons, epistles, and other writings are still read and studied. He’s recognized as a saint in the Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and several other Christian traditions. He’s particularly well known for his sermons.

Born in Antioch in what is now Syria, St. John was initially raised by his mother in the pagan tradition; his father was a military officer who died when John was young. He converted to Christianity in his early 20s and embraced the ascetic or hermit tradition. Eventually ordained as a deacon in the church at Antioch and served there from 386-397 A.D, gaining renown for the quality of his preaching. 

In 397, he was appointed Archbishop of Constantinople. He sermons gained popularity with the common people but unpopularity with the wealthy. His reforms of the clergy also raised hackles with the priestly class. These and other controversies led to a tumultuous period of his banishment, reinstatement, and renewed exile. He died in 407 A.D. and was buried in what is now Turkey. 

In 1869, Longmans Publishing in Britain published four discourses by John on the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, recorded in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 16, using the general title of On Wealth and Poverty. It was the first time these discourses had been published in English. The four were originally part of a related set of seven sermons, but the fifth, on the same parable, addressed different subjects, and the sixth and seventh were first delivered at a different time and were considered repetitious. Thus, Longmans went with the first four. In 2018, GLH Publishing reprinted the 1869 edition, including the introduction by the translator, F. Allen. 

All four discourses used the parable of Lazarus and the rich man as the starting point for addressing an array on subjects.

Discourse 1 discusses drunkards and those who frequent taverns, festal processions in the streets, and the relationship of a teacher and his disciples.

Discourse II concerns the souls of those who die a violent death, future judgment, and charity.

Discourse III is about reading the Scriptures, why pain and troubles come to the just, and why the wicked seem to escape those same troubles. 

Discourse IV discusses conscience, confession, and Joseph and his brothers.

An example of John’s direct and plain-speaking style is what he says about reading the Scriptures in Discourse III: “You do not understand the contents of the book? But how can you understand, while you are not even willing to look carefully? Take the book in your hand. Read the whole history; and, retaining in your mind the easy parts, peruse frequently the doubtful and obscure parts; and if you are unable, by frequent reading, to understand what is said, go to someone wiser; betake yourself to a teacher; confer with him about the things said. Show great eagerness to learn: then, when God sees that you are using such diligence, He will not disregard your perseverance and carefulness…”

On Wealth and Poverty is a solid introduction to a key figure in early Christian history. It also allows the reader the opportunity to see the personal style of St. John Chrysostom, who did not hesitate to speak candidly and pointedly. 

Top illustration: a more recent interpretation of what St. John Chrysostom might have looked like.

Dancing Prince: Anticipating a DNA Study of Vikings?

Some strange things have occasionally happened with the Dancing Priest stories. Strange, as in they anticipated some real news events. Each of the novels has an example of this, to the point where it spooked my wife and even my publisher.

And now comes Dancing Prince, published in July of this year. 

In mid-September, scientists in Denmark and Armenia published a study in Nature that reported on the largest DNA study of Vikings ever done. The Vikings, as it turns out, were a far mar diverse lot that anyone had previously known. Yes, a preponderance of the DNA was associated with the Nordic countries like Sweden and Denmark, but the researchers also found that the Vikings were not a homogenous group. The DNA included connections to southern Europe and Asia.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Dancing Priest. 

Photograph by Steinar Engeland via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Remembering and Honoring a Father: Laurence Fuller and “Modern Art”

I first happened across the film work of British actor, writer, and filmmaker Laurence Fuller through one of those quirky things that happen with the internet. You’re looking for one thing, perhaps or perhaps not finding it, and something else pops up, leading to yet another link. And you discover a diamond in a world too often inhabited by plain rocks.

The film was a short one, entitled “Echoes of You.” It tells the story of a young man who desperately wants to be a concert pianist but is frustrated at every turn. The closest he can get to it is to become a janitor in a concert hall. And there he stays, until the day he finds a homeless boy by the trash bins behind the hall. The film is moving, heartbreaking, and ultimately triumphant. 

Fuller has acted in a number of feature and short films. He originally trained as a stage actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. As a film writer and producer, his first film, “Possession(s),” was produced by ABC Australia. He also has a special project, entitled “The Peter Fuller Project,” an ongoing creation of documentaries, articles, and films about art critic, writer, magazine editor, and book author Peter Fuller.

And, yes, there’s a connection. Laurence Fuller is Peter Fuller’s son.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

“The Boy Between Worlds” by Annejet Van Der Zihl

Waldemar Nods, a native of Surinam, travels to the Netherlands in 1928. He has a half-brother there, and he’s looking to study and make his way in the world. He’s an excellent swimmer, and he brings to the Netherlands his memories of a warm, sunny climate and swimming in the river, sometimes for miles.

Rika Hagenaar-van der Lans is married and the mother of four children. She’s also increasingly dissatisfied with her marriage and life on an island off the Dutch coast, even though her husband has a good job and is rising with his company. She leaves her husband and returns to The Hague. She’s not interested in reconciliation. To make ends meet, she lets rooms to boarders. One of those boarders is Waldemar. 

The year is 1928. In 1929, Rika gives birth to what is clearly a biracial baby. He’s named Waldemar after his father. Her husband initiates divorce proceedings and gains custody of their children. Her own Catholic family is horrified and cuts her off. But Rika seems unaffected, except for the rarely seeing her children. She and Waldemar manage a succession of boarding houses, and Rika learns how good she is at it. They eventually marry. 

Annejet Van Der Zijl

They are managing a large resort-type house facing the beach near the Hague when May 1940 arrives, bringing with it the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands. Little changes after the first year after the invasion. Then everything begins to change, and Rika with her large heart begins to help hide Jews fleeing the Nazis.

The Boy Between Worlds by Annejet Van Der Zihl tells the story of Waldemar, Rika, and their son Waldy. It’s the story of ordinary Dutch citizens and the part they played in the war.  At first, the reader wonders if Waldemar’s black skin will make him a Nazi target; blacks were considered even lower than Jews in the Nazi genetic hierarchy. Surprisingly, that’s not what happens.

Van der Zihl is one of the best-known writers and journalists in the Netherlands. She’s written biographies of Dutch children’s author Annie M.G. Schmidt; Prince Bernhard, the husband of former Queen Juliana; and Gerard Heineken, founder of the beer company. She is also the author of An American Princess, the biography of American socialite Allene Tew. She’s also received several literary awards for her books. The Boy Between Worlds was published in the Netherlands in 2004 under the title Sonny Boy, where it has remained a bestseller, and was translated into English in 2019 by Kristen Gehrman. 

Until Van Der Zihl completed the book, Waldy (by then 75 years old) never knew what happened to his parents. Through extensive research, and interviewing the few remaining survivors who knew what happened, Can Der Zihl found out. The Boy Between Worlds makes compelling reading as it tells a moving and emotional story.

Hands

After Psalm 95

Lifted: our hands wave,

His hand wraps the earth.

Lifted: our hands applaud,

His hands shape mountains.

Lifted: our hands clasp together,

His hands scoop the seas.

Lifted: our hands stretch upward,

His hands sculpt the land.

Lifted: our hands reach.

His hands touch.

Lifted: Our hands fold in prayer,

His hands wrap ours.

Photograph by Akira Hojo via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Saturday Good Reads

A National Congregations Study by two sociologists (from Duke and Notre Dame) took a look at denominations and politics, looking to see which ones were the most politicized. And guess what they found? The most politicized denominations were the mainline Protestant groups, followed by non-Christians (Muslims, Hindu), Roman Catholics, and Black Protestants. Lagging at the rear were those crazy white evangelicals. Not exactly what you would expect from reading the newspapers.

British mystery writer Martin Edwards has been serving as the general editor for the British Library’s Crime Classics series. The series is republishing British mysteries from the Golden Age (1920s to 1940s) as well as the years on either side. They feature a number of forgotten authors and titles that deserve to be kept in print. Edwards has found a few more, and, for CrimesReads, writes about 10 Golden Age detective novelists who deserve to be better known.

I’ve seen recent posts by friends on Facebook, primarily those of a progressive Christian leaning, that evangelical Christians need to set abortion aside right now as an issue for the higher purpose of unity. Of course, it could also work the other way, but that is not usually mentioned. The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has highlighted an inescapable fact: abortion is back as a national political issue, although John Stonestreet at Breakpoint says it never really left. Justin Taylor at The Gospel Coalition considers an additional issue: there are reasons why confirmation hearings have become a politicized circus, and none of them are good. 

More Good Reads

Writing and Literature

Good and Evil in “The Lord of the Rings” – Keith Mathis at Light in Dark Places.

Agatha Christie’s Top 20 Novels – David Kern at Forma Journal.

Life, Love, and Beowulf in the Deep South’s Most Literary Small Town – Laurence Wells at Literary Hub.

A Brief History of the Juvenile Mysteries You Checked Out of the Library Eight at a Time – Keith Roysdon at CrimeReads.

The Age of Innocence: How a US classic defined its era – Cameron Laux at BBC.

Culture

9 Years into Common Core, Test Scores Are Down, Indoctrination Up – Joy Pullman at The Federalist.

The Nemeses of Cities – Edward Glaeser at CityJournal. 

Art

Raphael: Commoner with the divine touch – Michael Prodger at The Critic.

British Stuff

Cromwell’s Revolution: Paul Lay’s ‘Providence Lost’ – Daniel Johnson at Law & Liberty.

Faith

Was the Divinity of Jesus a Late Invention of the Council of Nicea? – Michael Kruger at Canon Fodder.

Of Girl Guides and Gramophone Grooves – Kelly Keller at Story Warren.

Becoming an Old Soul Christian – Jared Wilson at For the Church.

The Market Made Me Do It: The Scandal of the Evangelical College – Eric Miller at Mere Orthodoxy.

Poetry

Walking Each Other Home – Barbara Kingsolver at Literary Hub.

In the Midst of Life We Are in Death – Cynthia Erlandson at Society of Classical Poets.

Pandemic Poetry – Malcolm Guite & Andrew Roycroft at The Rabbit Room.

Lighting Candles by Starlight – Michael Stalcup at The Cultivating Project.

American Stuff

Snapshots Before the War: Saying Goodbye in 1944 – Paul Hendrickson at Literary Hub. 

Iceland – The Land of Fire and Ice

Painting: Man Reading, ink and color on paper, attributed to Qi Baishi (1864-1957).