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Celt and Pepper
Ralph McInerny Book Review

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Plot Summary of Celt and Pepper
"

St. Martin's, Dec 2002, 22.95, 240 pp.
ISBN: 0312291175

Everyone on campus during the winter break is shocked with the death of visiting Irish poet Martin Kilmartin. The South Bend police rule that the ailing Martin died from a heart attack while in the office he used while visiting the University of Notre Dame.

Professor Roger Knight met the poet once, enjoying the discussion and Martin's works. He immediately finds discrepancies at the crime scene that he feels should not be sneezed away as the ramblings of an obese academia amateur. With the help of his professional sleuth sibling Phil, Roger investigates what really happened to Martin. Instead of a simple case, he soon finds university backstabbing, politics, and dispute over establishing the post of Director of the Malachy O'Neil Center of Catholic Literature, an assignment Roger thought Martin was perfect to lead. Did one of these individuals with motive actually pepper the deceased Celt's phone causing the sneeze that killed Martin?

The investigation is fun, but take a back seat to the university that stands out in this exciting amateur sleuth tale. Fans will enjoy the satirical look at professors acting more like Ali-Frazier (either sex) and kissing the butt of a donor. Additionally, the intriguing look at the football stadium during the season (especially with the Fighting Irish in the top ten) brings home a further taste of the school. Still the who-done-it is nothing to sneeze at as Ralph McInerny ironically pokes fun at his own previous work in the series with a delightful Notre Dame University mystery.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Celt and Pepper
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 50%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%




Tone of story - very upbeat
How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story: - present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 60%
Murder of certain profession? - students/teachers
Kind of investigator - amateur citizen investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - life in that culture
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - scholar
Age: - 40's-50's
How much violence does he/she use? - none
Ethnicity/Race - Russian
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - quite fatty

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - scholar
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - jealousy
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Midwest

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 1
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
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