A Stain upon the Robe Book Review Summary

Putnam, Oct 2003, 24.95, 295 pp.

ISBN: 0399151087
In Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Judge Barbara Pitt presides over the
headline news criminal case in which Father Cornelius Xavier Dooley is
accused of sexually assaulting twenty-three boys. However, as Her Honor is
in the media spot light, she asks her former law school lover criminal defense
attorney Sheldon Gold to subtly investigate. To insure political correctness by
balancing the female non-Catholic judge, Legal Research Services sends a
male Catholic clerk Charles Vareika to assist Barbara. She confesses to Shel,
his legal secretary, and his associate that she slept with the clerk who has
since vanished. She fears for her reputation, but also the impact on the trial.
Shel and his team, including a private sleuth, make inquiries by interviewing
associates of the missing person, trial fanatics, and the Catholic priest on
trial. As they dig deeper, Barbara seems more unsavory by the moment and
Dooley appears quite deranged, but Charles remains missing.
Though the key cast members, especially the Judge and the priest, speak
stilted English that feels artificial rather than normal free flow conversation,
fans will appreciate the honesty, perseverance, and temerity displayed
throughout by Shel and his team. The story line moves forward at quite a clip
as the trial plays an intriguing backdrop and enhancer to the missing
person's investigation. The insight into the mean streets of Beantown and
the close look at the Suffolk County legal system add depth to this actionpacked novel. Fans of legal thrillers in which an exciting investigation
supersedes the court room drama will enjoy A STAIN UPON THE ROBE.
Harriet Klausner

Terry Devane

Jeremiah Healy is the creator of the John Francis Cuddy private-investigator series and the author
(under the pseudonym "Terry Devane") of the Mairead O'Clare legal thrillers. Of his eighteen novels
and three collections of short stories, fifteen have either won or been nominated for the Shamus

Award.
A former sheriff's officer and military police captain, Healy is a graduate of Rutgers College and the
Harvard Law School. He practiced law in Boston before teaching for eighteen years at New England
Law--Boston.
Healy's first novel, BLUNT DARTS, was published in 1984 and introduced Cuddy, the Boston-based
private eye who has become his best-known character. Moral, honest--and violent, when need-be-Cuddy focuses on solving cases that have fallen through the cracks of the formal judicial system.
Healy is currently at work on the fourteenth Cuddy novel.

Jeremiah Healy, a graduate of Rutgers College and Harvard Law School, was
a professor at the New England School of Law for eighteen years. He is the
creator of the John Francis Cuddy private-investigator series and (under the
pseudonym "Terry Devane") the Mairead OClare legal-thriller series, both set
primarily in Boston.
Healy has written eighteen novels and over sixty short stories, fifteen of
which works have won or been nominated for the Shamus Award. Healy's
later Cuddy novels include RESCUE, INVASION OF PRIVACY, THE ONLY GOOD
LAWYER, and SPIRAL. His O'Clare books from Putnam/Berkley are
UNCOMMON JUSTICE, JUROR NUMBER ELEVEN, and A STAIN UPON THE ROBE,
the last optioned for feature film in December, 2003.

Jeremiah Healy (1948-2014) is the creator of the John Francis Cuddy privateinvestigator series and the author of several legal thrillers. A former sheriff's
officer and military police captain, Healy is also a graduate of Rutgers
College and the Harvard Law School. He practiced law in Boston before
teaching for eighteen years at the New England School of Law. His first
novel, Blunt Darts, was published in 1984 and introduced Cuddy, the Bostonbased private eye who has become Healy's best-known character. Moral,
honest--and violent, when need-be--Cuddy makes his living solving cases
that have fallen through the cracks of the formal judicial system. Healy has
continued to feature the character in shorter fiction. Of his thirteen Cuddy
novels and two collections of short stories, fifteen of Healy's works have
either won or been nominated for the Shamus Award.
Healy has served as the president of the Private Eye Writers of America and
the world-wide president of the International Association of Crime Writers. He
has chaired committees for both the Shamus and Edgar Awards and has
served twice on the National Board of Directors of the Mystery Writers of

America. Healy has spoken on crime-writing at the Sorbonne in Paris, the

Smithsonian Institution's Literature Series and the Boston Globe Book
Festival, and at conferences around the world. You can find his website at
this link.
Healy looks ready to join the honors class of private eye writers. - USA
Today
A terrific series. . . . Healy's prose grows increasingly eloquent. - New York
Times Book Review
[Healys] gifts include an unerring eye and ear that invest all the characters
with life. - Publishers Weekly
Tags: Jeremiah Healy