Father Gilbert finds himself involved in another murder mystery. Given his background as a policeman before becoming a priest, it seems quite natural. The priest travels to a religious meeting in another town. While eating his breakfast the next morning he opens the newspaper and reads of a local prostitute found dead. Before his meal is over he sees the spirit of the female victim floating in front of him. This spurs him on to solve the crime, leading him into many evil and dangerous places.
I applaud the author for addressing the social problem of sex trafficking. He does a wonderful job of tackling the problem without being graphic or coarse. It is a horrible reality of our times that most know little about. Mr. McCusker is a skilled mystery writer and can definitely keep your attention.
I was disappointed in the book because of the strong demonic, supernatural, thread that ran throughout. I found the book to be very disturbing. I definitely do not think it can qualify as Christian reading material.
I received a copy of this book from Kregel publications in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have stated are my own. ( )

A second adventure with Father Gilbert. In this book he is visiting a town on the English coast for a religious conference, at the insistence of his bishop. However he becomes involved in the murder of an Asian prostitute when the woman apparition appears to him. He soon learns that the entire town is steeped in the evil of human trafficking with ghosts from previous centuries appearing to him. The detective on the case is a old friend from his days at Scotland Yard and an additional complication is the presence of his uncle, whom he had believed for years to be his father. Does Gilbert's compulsion to involve himself in detective cases mean that the clergy is not his true vocation? And why is he, and one other character, able to see supernatural presences invisible to others? ( )

The premise here is interesting and the book itself is not unenjoyable. There's a lot of telling where there should be showing, though, and a lot of moralizing where the reader might be better left to draw his or her own conclusions. (Most readers, for instance, can probably discern that human trafficking is bad on a number of levels without having it spelled out beyond the facts presented.) In this iteration Father Gilbert comes across as ill-suited for and frankly bored by his chosen profession: he has a clear choice between attending to his responsibilities as a priest and inserting himself into a police investigation, and he wholeheartedly, deliberately, and repeatedly chooses the latter, and so the central question is not how the mysterious underworld of the sex trade operates, but rather why this person has chosen to stick with a profession that simply doesn't suit. He's not a priest who gets sidetracked, he's a cop who's changed his uniform but hasn't moved on and he's not getting drawn in to murder cases, he's actively seeking involvement in this book. That fact seems to be in danger of overwhelming the series and undercutting the premise. Still, it's a quick and diverting read. I'm not sure I'll keep following the series, however. ( )

This review was written for Library Thing Early Reviewers.
Death in the Shadows is part of the Father Gilbert Mystery Series. It is the only book in the series that I have read. Father Gilbert is an Anglican priest who had a previous career as a police detective. He is attending a religious conference in the English town of Englesea. A murder occurs and Father Gilbert becomes involved in the investigation partly because the local police detective is a former colleague, but also because he sees the ghost of the murder victim. The book is an easy read with the Father Gilbert character being well-defined and believable. He has many talents and many flaws. As the story evolves, we learn that the town is part of a human trafficking ring. Not only does Paul McCusker inform his readers about the inhumanity and degradation associated with human trafficking, he also provides some follow up information and websites at the end of the novel. The story unfolds with a variety of characters who intersect with the mystery and who may or may not be involved. McCusker keeps the reader guessing until the end. My only concern is the supernatural aspect of the book. Father Gilbert sees murder victims, as well as a vision that he calls the Shadow Man. I'm not sure what these visions add to the story and to a great extent, the story would evolve the same way with or without these visions. In conclusion, enjoyed the book and would recommend it to any one who enjoys a good mystery. ( )

I received this from Library Thing to read and review. As mysteries go, this rates as a pretty good one. However, in addition to this book being a mystery, it delves into one of the current social problems, sex trade. Father Gilbert, who sees “visions” of ghosts intermittently, which he cannot fully understand, is at a religious conference in an English seaside town. Once a detective, Father Gilbert left that profession and became an Anglican priest after the death of his wife and some gruesome cases. Though he is no longer a detective, the detective in him refuses to be silent. Thus, Father Gilbert is pulled into a murder mystery in the seaside town, when a young girl is found murdered. As I read the book, I got the impression that the conference Father Gilbert was attending really was not important but was merely a setting. The whole episode could just as easily have occurred during a vacation/holiday Father Gilbert was having. As he assists the local constable investigating the crime, Father Gilbert is pulled deeper and deeper into the whole story of the town’s past and its role in the sex trade business.

The story was well done. The mystery was interesting enough to hold my attention from start to finish, as I watched and waited for the good priest to work his way through the many twists and turns and sift through the myriad of clues in the book, while deftly touching on the social issue of the sex trade as well as on many others related to or alongside this heinous crime. I really enjoyed the main character, Father Gilbert. He was pious enough to make him a good priest, yet had retained enough of his detective persona to make him a solid and valuable member of the investigation, without taking it over completely. I also like the way the author portrayed him in such solid human terms and did not make his character to overly pious because of his vocation. Father Gilbert was the consummate priest: holy, gentle, wise, not condemning of a sinner, easy to get along with, etc. There were also strong, underlying themes relating to definite social problems in today’s world, but they managed to work out evenly with the mystery. I have not read the first book in the series, but will now look for it. I think anyone who enjoys a good mystery will enjoy this one as well as anyone who is interested in the myriad of social problems related to and because of the sex trade. ( )