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Criminal Intent by William Bernhardt Rating: •• (Mildly Recommended)
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Renegade Priest Mystery fans will appreciate that William Bernhardt has reprised attorney Ben Kincaid to defend another client accused of murder. Bernhardt’s new novel, Criminal Intent, finds its setting in St. Benedict’s Episcopal Church, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Father Daniel Beale, whose short temper and contentious opinions infuriate parishioners, has been accused of murder. Who comes to his rescue? None other than Ben Kincaid, whom Father Dan had helped when Ben was a troubled twelve year old. Some familiar characters return, including Mike Morelli and of course, Christina McCall, former Kincaid assistant, now full-fledged lawyer. Here’s an excerpt from the beginning of Chapter 2: “Ben watched from a distance as the various white-coveralled technicians back-and-forthed over the crime scene. To an untrained eye, it might seem like chaos in action, so many different people criss-crossing one another’s paths in the tight, enclosed space of Father Beale’s office. To Ben’s more practiced eye, however, it was like watching scores of ants passing through the many-tiered tunnels of a complex ant farm, each drone performing his unique and specialized task. The fingerprint team scanned and dusted, the hair and fiber team scrutinized every surface with magnifying glass and tweezers, the serology team scraped, the coroner’s team sniffed, and the detective’s team interrogated. From the sidelines, the videographers recorded everything. And beside the body, supervising every one of these complex and multifaceted operations, was Major Mike Morelli, Tulsa PD’s top homicide detective, not to mention Ben Kincaid’s former brother-in-law. More than an hour after the police arrived, Mike left Beale’s office for the first time (‘Isn’t there any coffee in this church?’) and Ben was able to grab his ear for a few moments when he stepped outside for some fresh air. ‘Congratulations, Ben,’ Mike said, once he finally had come caffeine in him to calm his nerves and amplify his wicked sense of humor. ‘Once again, you’re in the middle of some major nastiness. And on the side of the nasty.’ Ben ignored the gibe. ‘Any word on the cause of death?’ Mike strolled down the sidewalk parallel to the parking lot. Most people would be drawn to the prayer garden, particularly lovely this time of year when the flowers were blooming. But Mike avoided it. Too many unsettling memories, Ben supposed, of the last time he’d been to this church – also to take charge of a corpse. ‘Oh, you know how coroners are. They don’t want to say anything useful until they’ve had three weeks to write reports and run every test known to man.’” Bernhardt continues to provide what readers expect: a good plot; typical twists in which suspects are the likely perpetrators; and momentum in narrative that encourages active page-turning. Unfortunately, Bernardt continues in Criminal Intent some of the characteristics of his writing that disappoint: inadequate character development; weak dialogue and poor imagery. Steve Hopkins, September 10, 2002
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