Ralph McInerny Books in Order

Middle-aged professor Matthew Rogerson feels trapped by academic routine, frustrated literary ambitions, and family life. His decision to undermine his own career sparks a series of campus provocations in a comic examination of personal and professional discontent.

Edited by Ralph McInerny, this collection examines Christian philosophy through discussions of Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Whitehead, and Thomism. Essays address freedom, metaphysics, religious experience, and the relationship between philosophy and theology amid questions about renewal and tradition.

Ralph McInerny examines Thomism's place in a period of intellectual and religious renewal. Written for readers beyond specialist philosophy, the book considers tradition, language, and philosophical inquiry while engaging questions about the continued relevance of Aquinas's thought.

Mortimer Ballinger and his wife Clarissa struggle with the death of their child amid an already troubled marriage. Guilt, withheld truths, and religious belief shape their attempts to confront grief and the distance growing between them.

Returning from Rome to an Ohio parish, young Father Frank Ascue enters a church unsettled by social and institutional change. Clerical politics, family difficulties, and conflicting expectations place pressure on his vocation and personal faith.

A retirement community for priests in the American Midwest provides the setting for this novel of Catholic life. Its residents confront the temptations of power and fears surrounding change, aging, and death within their shared institution.

This introduction explains Aquinas's philosophy through its grounding in sensory experience and the concepts formed from it. Ralph McInerny places Thomism alongside modern alternatives while exploring its account of human beings, knowledge, God, and the relationship between philosophy and theology.

A frightened widow seeks Father Dowling's help, then turns up dead. Suspicions involving her greedy children and other possible culprits extend to the priest himself, prompting him to investigate with both compassion and a personal stake.

Spinnaker College's tranquil routine collapses when a visiting author encourages a student protest over an alleged historic land grab. Faculty rivalries, family complications, and campus theatrics turn the improvised movement into a comic academic upheaval.

A killing at Father Dowling's rectory is followed by the kidnapping of Bishop Rooney. As the priest and Captain Keegan investigate, the apparent connection between the crimes raises disturbing questions about why the rectory was targeted.

The last surviving dodo becomes the center of an illustrated fantasy filled with comic situations, puns, and wordplay. Ralph McInerny's story uses its unusual bird to offer playful observations on ordinary life for children and adults.

Scholar Dancey receives a research grant opening the Vatican library to him, only to encounter violence and clerical intrigue in Rome. A monsignor's request to secretly copy valuable material draws him into a dangerous conspiracy.

Father Dowling hopes his annual retreat at Assisi House will provide peace and quiet. When a companion is murdered, Captain Keegan needs his assistance, turning spiritual respite into an investigation that may put the priest in danger.

A wealthy political hopeful is shot while golfing in Father Dowling's parish, drawing the priest and Captain Keegan into the investigation. Numerous suspects and competing interests complicate the case as Dowling tries to protect a vulnerable young woman.

Collectors and scholars descend on Fox River to exploit a deceased local author's papers and reputation. When a body appears amid the competition, Father Dowling must untangle literary ambition, disputed claims, and the possibility of murder.

A stranger is found shot in a truck parked outside Father Dowling's rectory. Working with police captain Phil Keegan, the priest investigates the unsettling death as further violence complicates the search for the killer in Fox River.

Four unexplained deaths leave Captain Keegan unsure whether he is investigating suicides or murders. Father Dowling becomes involved through his parish duties and friendship with the policeman, trying to identify the pattern beneath the ambiguous circumstances.

A woman hiding from her disc-jockey husband is found dead after confiding in Father Dowling. Doubting the apparent suicide, the priest investigates as another killing suggests connections among the town's motel residents, entertainers, and troubled relationships.

Howard Downs is acquitted of murdering his wife, leaving Captain Keegan and Father Dowling facing unresolved questions. The investigation shifts toward people connected with the dead woman as additional bodies turn a seemingly closed case into renewed danger.

A cardinal's assassination in Rome intensifies struggles within the American Catholic hierarchy. As church factions maneuver over his successor, a possible KGB infiltration turns debates about religious authority and political allegiance into a wider conspiracy.

Father Dowling's quiet Illinois community becomes entangled in Latin American politics, terrorism, cocaine, and religious controversy. The priest must make sense of competing interests as violence intrudes on Fox River and complicates the search for truth.

After her husband leaves her for her oldest friend, Vera travels to Rome and confronts her own religious uncertainty. The betrayal unsettles three lives, bringing marriage, abandoned religious vocation, and moral responsibility into painful conflict.

A bungled hired killing leaves lawyer Andrew Broom handling a case in which lovers plot against an inconvenient spouse. Meanwhile, trouble within his own marriage places him at the center of another dangerous scheme in rural Indiana.

A mother leaves her infant in Father Dowling's church and asks him to conceal the child temporarily. His reluctant agreement draws him into a chain of family disputes and violence that culminates in a murder investigation.

Ralph McInerny's essays examine Jacques Maritain's social, political, and aesthetic thought. Presenting him as a committed Thomist, the collection explores how faith and reason connect the philosopher's varied intellectual interests and illuminate his cultural and religious concerns.

An inscribed ring used during a parish magic show catches Father Dowling's attention. The object becomes a crucial clue when a parishioner's brutal murder and a wealthy man's missing wife draw him into another investigation.

Midwestern lawyer Andrew Broom becomes involved in a mystery surrounding Leo Barany's family farm, where bodies have been concealed. The investigation unfolds against crimes already apparent to the reader, creating a contest between hidden wrongdoing and discovery.

Four stories bring Father Dowling into mysteries involving unexpected bodies and troubling discoveries. A corpse at the parish school and an unusual exhumation are among the cases that draw the compassionate priest into investigating secrets behind ordinary requests.

George Arthur's murder on a frozen Minnesota lake seems designed to enrich his wife and her lover. When the expected money disappears and another death follows, their scheme becomes part of an increasingly tangled crime story.

Ralph McInerny introduces Aquinas's life and work, examining his relationship to earlier thinkers including Aristotle, Boethius, and Augustine. The study considers both inherited ideas and independent reasoning, alongside the distinctive features of Aquinas's Christian theological thought.

Ralph McInerny examines the intellectual relationship between Boethius and Thomas Aquinas, challenging the view that Aquinas misunderstood his predecessor. He argues that Aquinas absorbed Boethius's ideas and interpreted them reliably, tracing their connection through close philosophical study.

A farm owner's murder is witnessed by a wandering man who sees an opportunity for blackmail. As the killer pursues possession of the property, Andrew Broom confronts further deaths and the mystery of what makes the farm valuable.

A professor's death at Lyndon Johnson Community College brings NYPD detective James Cable back to his former campus. Faculty power struggles and another killing complicate the investigation, while English professor August Frye pursues dangerous questions of his own.

Poet Howard Webster stages his death and retreats to Italy, then returns to find a detective investigating his family. His attempt to escape an unsatisfying life creates complications surrounding identity, reputation, and the consequences of his deception.

An ex-priest asks Father Dowling to counsel his daughter, who wants to enter a convent despite her parents' public promotion of hedonism. When she is murdered, the request becomes an investigation into secrets surrounding the family.

Edited by Ralph McInerny, this volume gathers papers from a Wethersfield Institute conference on Catholic writers. Its contributors consider literature and religious identity through discussion of individual authors and the traditions informing their work and imaginative vision.

A college chancellor's scandalous resignation leaves professor Matthew Rogerson serving on the committee seeking a replacement. Academic infighting and murder complicate the search while Rogerson tries to prevent his colleagues from selecting him for the job.

Ralph McInerny presents a systematic account of Aquinas's theory of moral agency, drawing especially on the Summa theologiae. The study examines human action and argues that this philosophical framework can answer contemporary objections and questions about ethical practice.

Former showgirl Stacey Wilson receives a life sentence for her husband's murder but insists she is innocent and withholds her alibi. Uncomfortable with the verdict, Father Dowling pursues the truth after the police consider the case closed.

Widow Susan Nebens accidentally kills her difficult father-in-law and decides to hide his body rather than report the accident. Police inquiries and the theft of her corpse-laden car turn her desperate concealment into an increasingly tangled predicament.

McInerny introduces and translates Aquinas's argument against the claim that all people share one separate intellect. The study places the dispute in its medieval setting and explores its implications for human nature, individual thought and the relationship between philosophy and faith.

Ralph McInerny presents an instructional audio course organized around twenty-four steps toward writing a novel. Drawing on his work as a fiction writer, the course addresses the practical task of moving from an intention to write toward a completed novel.

A wealthy parishioner's death leaves her heirs disputing an estate that includes valuable paintings. Further suspicious deaths draw Father Dowling into an investigation involving family history, competing claims to artwork and the secrets preserved in a young heiress's inheritance.

McInerny examines how Christian belief relates to moral philosophy, working within the Aristotelian and Thomistic tradition. He argues that natural law can receive philosophical justification while maintaining that ethical inquiry is best pursued in the context of faith.

A man seeking an annulment is murdered after he and his wife separately consult Father Dowling. Conflicting accusations and a son's confession complicate the priest's investigation as he also prepares for a Church meeting about marriage and family.

Lawyer Andrew Broom questions a proposed sale of riverfront land to outsiders, especially because his rival Frank McGough is involved. The discovery of a human skull deepens his suspicions, drawing him into the troubled affairs of Wyler, Indiana.

A wealthy businessman is found dead on a country-club golf course, disrupting Andrew Broom's quiet summer in Wyler. Defending the victim's son against mounting evidence challenges the lawyer's confidence and threatens the flawless record he has built.

This introduction teaches ecclesiastical Latin through prayers, scripture and other Church texts. Grammar, vocabulary and forms accompany explanations of the readings, allowing beginners to develop language skills while working with material used in Catholic worship and tradition.

Fifteen-year-old Janet meets groundskeeper Gerry while helping at her parish's senior center. Joined by her computer-skilled brother Carl, they assist Father Dowling in untangling an old crime involving stolen electronics, illicit money and thieves who betray one another.

As elderly Mrs. Mortimer's health deteriorates, her relatives become increasingly interested in the wealth she will leave behind. Father Dowling and three teenage helpers grow suspicious, examining whether concern for her welfare conceals a more troubling interest in inheritance.

McInerny revisits Aquinas's account of analogy and challenges distinctions introduced by the later commentator Cajetan. Comparing relevant texts from Aquinas and Aristotle, he explores how misunderstandings of language have shaped interpretations of metaphysics, logic and theological argument.

A retired financial adviser is murdered before giving a lecture at Father Dowling's parish. Suspicion falls on a man expelled from an orphanage years earlier, drawing Dowling into a case entangled with old relationships, revenge and concealed family history.

This collection brings together essays by Ralph McInerny and other thinkers tracing ideas of liberty from ancient Rome to modern America. Its historical perspectives examine the development of freedom across different periods and traditions of political thought.

A billionaire's proposed memorial to football coach Knute Rockne provokes competing interests at Notre Dame. When a trustee is murdered, investigator Philip Knight and his professor brother Roger examine a case whose motives reach beyond an unhappy marriage.

Religious tensions surround a major Notre Dame football game and a campus theological conference when administrator Hazel Nootin is murdered. Brothers Philip and Roger Knight investigate suspects whose personal problems and hidden loyalties complicate an already contentious university weekend.

Archbishop Thomas Lannan faces an accusation from his seminary years while contested papal elections threaten the Catholic Church with schism. Remaining loyal to a controversial pope places him at odds with fellow bishops as scandal jeopardizes his position.

McInerny argues that the Catholic Church's postconciliar crisis arose from rejection of its teaching authority rather than the teachings of Vatican II itself. He examines dissenting interpretations of the council and the obligations he believes its documents impose on Catholics.

Two Notre Dame philosophy professors compete for tenure as an unknown Chesterton story emerges from university archives. When one contender is found dead, Roger and Philip Knight investigate the academic rivalries and personal entanglements surrounding her discovery.

Attempts to disturb a recently buried mobster's grave lead police to an empty coffin. Father Dowling investigates the missing body and the gangster's death, following connections to an Italian poet's manuscript and a complicated romantic rivalry.

A student's murder in a cemetery unsettles Wyler while rival claimants dispute a wealthy benefactor's estate. Lawyer Andrew Broom and his nephew investigate as unusual deaths among prospective heirs complicate the search for the student's killer.

Detective Egidio Manfredi revisits the decades-old disappearance of a professor's poet wife when a graduate student studies her papers. Conflicting accounts, concealed relationships and a more recent suspicious death complicate a case that has remained unresolved for thirty years.

Escalating campus pranks and accusations about Notre Dame's acquisition of its land prompt the university to seek help from Philip and Roger Knight. When the scholar behind the controversy is murdered, their inquiry becomes a hunt for his killer.

In these Gifford Lectures, McInerny examines philosophical obstacles to belief in God and argues for recovering natural theology. Drawing on Aquinas, Newman and Kierkegaard, he considers how reasoning, emotion and personal commitments shape acknowledgment or denial of a creator.

Two former sweethearts clash over a reserved Notre Dame wedding chapel while Roger and Philip Knight investigate stolen rare books in Minneapolis. A death turns overlapping romantic disputes and the missing Newman collection into a more dangerous puzzle.

Reclusive novelist Rosa Subiaco secretly abducts men, but keeping an elderly man with Alzheimer's draws his granddaughter into a frantic search. When a private investigator dies, Detective Manfredi becomes involved in the disappearances surrounding the writer's concealed life.

McInerny challenges accusations that Pope Pius XII failed to help Jews during the Holocaust. Drawing on existing historical studies, he argues that the pope opposed Nazism and supported rescue efforts while fearing public denunciations would intensify persecution.

Father Dowling becomes involved in a rivalry between two older men over a woman's affection. When one becomes a suspect in a lawyer's murder, the priest helps Fox River police untangle relationships complicated by further deaths.

After learning she has incurable cancer, Lucy Flood arranges a deadly assignment through a prison contact. The hired killer's work becomes complicated by two unwanted associates, drawing him into shifting alliances, betrayals and doubts about the task.

Notre Dame poet and professor Martin Kilmartin is found dead in his office rather than traveling to Ireland as expected. Roger Knight questions the apparent heart attack, investigating inconsistencies with his brother Phil and uncovering people with motives to harm him.

Father Dowling travels to an Indiana religious retreat seeking rest, only to encounter a man killed with an axe. A dispute over the order's valuable land complicates his efforts to understand the murder and the competing interests behind it.

The death of Notre Dame athletics employee Fred Neville initially offers Roger and Philip Knight few suspects. Then two women appear claiming to be his fiancée, revealing romantic complications that change the brothers' understanding of the apparent murder.

Eleanor Wygant asks Father Dowling to discourage her niece from writing a revealing family novel. The request draws him into troubled relationships and buried history, where personal resentments and old scandals conceal a murder that demands investigation.

Dwayne Navrone hires two men to kidnap and kill his wife so he can marry his mistress. Their abduction of the wrong woman unravels the plan, pulling unsuspecting people into a crime that rapidly spirals beyond his control.

McInerny blends biography and meditation to explore Jacques Maritain's spiritual and intellectual life alongside his wife, Raïssa. Structured around the daily offices of a medieval book of hours, the study connects faith, friendships, politics and the development of Maritain's philosophy.

Phil Knight encounters a dying man on Notre Dame's golf course, and an autopsy reveals poisoning. The victim, a university donor attending an informal reunion, leaves Phil and Roger to examine old resentments among classmates and more recent conflicts.

Father Dowling hears a confidence about a troubled marriage before a hit-and-run kills someone involved. Suspecting murder while police call it an accident, he must seek the truth without betraying the private information entrusted to him.

Four novellas follow private detective Ishmael Slattery, a hapless investigator approached by clients with few other options. His cases combine fair-play puzzles, wry exchanges and elements of romance as he tries to make sense of the troubles brought to him.

Martha Lynch's search for her birth parents unsettles her adoptive family and prompts a request for Father Dowling's help. When her birth father is murdered, the priest and a lawyer investigate while trying to protect the families drawn into the case.

Missing letters and a diary concerning Father John Zahm's South American travels draw Roger and Philip Knight into a dispute between Notre Dame alumni. A suspicious death complicates their search as competing plans for the documents expose conflicting interests.

McInerny recalls his Catholic upbringing and the path toward a life teaching philosophy and writing fiction. Personal memories connect his scholarly interests, family life and literary work with reflections on faith and changes within the Catholic Church.

Philip Knight investigates threatening letters sent to Notre Dame administrators during a cold South Bend winter. What seems like a prank becomes more serious when a professor's car burns and a body appears, drawing both Knight brothers into a murder case.

A former priest seeks Father Dowling's advice after a woman accuses him of exploiting her years earlier. When a body washes up on Lake Michigan and the man becomes a murder suspect, Dowling must disentangle old relationships and present motives.

As Notre Dame prepares for a football game against Georgia Tech, the university's Civil War connections stir a hostile dispute. Two Southern brothers plan a prank to defend their honor, drawing Roger and Philip Knight into a clash over the past.

Brief portraits explore writers whose lives and work were shaped by Catholic faith, including Chesterton and Robert Hugh Benson. McInerny introduces their different approaches to literature and belief, offering readers a starting point for exploring a varied literary tradition.

A businessman thought to have abandoned his wife years ago is found dead in a family cement mixer. Father Dowling investigates his unexpected return as old friends and enemies converge on Fox River, each carrying a connection to the disappearance.

A man convicted of ending his dying wife's life returns to Fox River and divides Father Dowling's parishioners. Revisiting the case, the priest questions whether the apparent crime and the judgment against it tell the whole story.

Notre Dame's struggling football season brings competing demands from alumni and faculty, each with a different vision for the university. Roger and Philip Knight navigate these institutional battles as the dispute becomes entangled with a murder investigation.

When the revered cloak associated with Juan Diego and the Virgin of Guadalupe is stolen, retired CIA agent Vincent Traeger investigates. Suspects with competing political and religious motives lead him toward a conspiracy threatening Mexico and its faith.

Father Dowling fights plans to close St. Hilary's while murders strike people linked to wealthy parish benefactors. Family secrets and church politics complicate his efforts to protect the congregation and determine who is turning the crisis into an opportunity.

Two senior Vatican figures are murdered, prompting retired CIA operative Vincent Traeger to return to Rome. Suspecting an old Cold War adversary, he follows clues involving the Fatima revelations and powerful interests concealed behind religious devotion.

These short mysteries follow Father Dowling as he investigates murder, betrayal and crimes long concealed in Fox River. His parish housekeeper and police contacts join cases in which understanding human motives matters as much as identifying the culprit.

McInerny reads Dante's poetry through the role of the Virgin Mary, arguing that she is central to understanding the Divine Comedy. The study connects the poem with Catholic theology and introduces moral ideas associated with Thomas Aquinas.

Private detective Phil Knight and his brother Roger investigate cases while traveling from their New York base in a specially adapted van. Eight stories develop their contrasting personalities before the brothers move into the Notre Dame mysteries.

A former Notre Dame student returns to withdraw a donation as a classmate confesses to a decades-old murder. Asked to handle the university's delicate problem, Roger and Philip Knight investigate a disappearance linked to youthful friendship and rivalry.

In this collection of short mysteries, Father Dowling balances his care for St. Hilary's congregation with investigations in a Midwestern river town. The priest brings compassion and curiosity to puzzles that arise among the people around him.