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A pious family and a suspected cover-up.
The Ziglars were a good, Christian family. So, they knew how to handle their disagreements in a peaceful, godly way.
Or did they?
Dick Ziglar was the husband and father from hell, but a faithful member of the local parish. Did he push his loved ones too far this time or did he manage to cross a complete stranger?
Lottie Ziglar’s confession to Father Joe that rainy Friday evening propelled him to take a closer look at the Ziglar family and to examine a tragedy that their faith-filled community never saw coming in a million years.
Could Father Joe have been responsible for Dick Ziglar’s death?
EXCERPT 1 FROM MURDER IN THE FAMILY
Fifty-year-old Lottie Ziglar weighed no more than one hundred and twenty pounds during the course of her entire thirty-year marriage. But in recent months, she’d managed to effortlessly shed fifteen pounds, as she’d grown more and more disillusioned with her marriage. However, she was determined that rainy Friday afternoon, come hell or highwater, that she was going to unload her troubles onto the broad shoulders of the one man she thought deserved to carry them—Father Joe McCullen.
With a heavy heart, she pulled her long salt and pepper hair into a ponytail and slipped on a plain, sleeveless lavender dress she’d worn a couple of times to church and black low heel slingbacks. It was five minutes past five o’clock when she stepped outside of the two-storey house clutching her umbrella and purse, then quickly headed to her blue sedan parked on the driveway. As she sat behind the steering wheel, a flood of emotions engulfed her and tears gushed from her tired eyes. She hated what she was about to do, and as a good Christian, everything inside her fought against it—almost everything. There was something in there gently nudging at her conscience to do what she hoped was the right thing, regardless of whom she hurt or what anyone would think of her after the deed had been done. She needed to be free since for too many years, she’d allowed herself to be silenced by her own husband whom she loved and fiercely resented at the same time.
Failing to hold back the cascade of angry tears she was relentlessly wiping away with the back of her hands, her mind wandered back to that fateful night when Dick had left the house for the final time in his prized white Cadillac—only minutes later to crash and burn after the vehicle veered off and struck a utility pole. She remembered the feelings she had when she heard the news from two young police officers who appeared at her door a little more than an hour after Dick had left. She’d not told a soul about how she really felt—not a single soul—not to this very day. It was something she’d only felt safe enough telling God, and still confessing such a thing to Him was one of the most difficult things she’d ever done. But today, she was going to share those feelings she’d kept under lock and key with their beloved parish priest, Father Joe McCullen.
As Lottie reversed away from the house she’d called home for twenty-two years with tears still streaming down her sunken cheeks, a myriad of distressing thoughts continued to pierce her soul.
EXCERPT: 2
Lottie Ziglar was next in line at the confessional at her home church of Saint John’s Cathedral. She had converted to the faith decades earlier at the prompting of her husband, Dick, while they were still engaged to be married. After having tied the knot, they had been blessed with three children—Dolly, Josh and Tricia—and their lives were strictly centered around faith, family and community.
Old George Scrivens exited the confessional booth and gave Lottie a gracious smile and a nod as he passed her by. She returned the pleasantry before proceeding to enter the same booth.
Carefully kneeling on the step in front of the latticed opening behind which she knew Father Joe was seated, Lottie felt her heart racing—more like thumping out of her chest—for she realized that the moment of truth had finally arrived. It had only been thirty days since Dick’s death and for her, keeping such an ungodly secret had been thirty days of hell.
Reverently making the sign of the cross, Lottie uttered, “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been five weeks since my last confession.”
Father Joe listened.
“In my heart, I have been harboring great resentment and hatred for another human being. I know it’s wrong, but I can’t seem to let go of it.”
Joe was mildly taken aback by such an admission from Lottie. He’d always known her to be a quiet, unassuming, faithful parishioner—one of those persons he felt exemplified and embraced true Christianity evident by her humility, generosity and the fact that she was a good wife and mother. To him, she was as close to an angel as any human could possibly get.
“Please explain, my child,” Joe replied.
Her tears started to flow again…and now Lottie struggled to compose herself. Seemingly out of nowhere, anger became the domineering emotion; guilt, sorrow and shame having taken a back seat.
With fingers interlaced near her waist and her head slightly lowered, she said, “The hate and resentment I have been harboring, Father… are towards you.”
If you’re not familiar with my popular Joe McCullen Mystery Series, start here:
“Father Joe is an amazing character. This was a very fun fast read. The story kept turning in ways that kept my interest to the end – which I did not expect!” – Amazon customer
“Another Series I love.” – Amazon customer
“I really enjoyed reading this first book in the series because it reminds me of the Father Brown Mysteries.” – Amazon customer
Father Joe McCullen is no ordinary priest.
He has a heart of gold, but he’s no pushover. Very little passes his ears or his eyes and he can smell a “rat” from a mile away.
The community of Old Providence is held by higher standards by the beloved priest, yet “skeletons” still manage to creep out of the closets of his faithful parishioners every now and then, and oftentimes are not headed anywhere in the direction of the confessional.
Join Father Joe McCullen on the most extraordinary, eyebrow-raising adventures of mystery, suspense, a bit of humor – and surprise after surprise!
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