Title: A few interesting characters, but weak plot (plots).
Product review: I sometimes enjoyed this book. Ed McBain creates some interesting characters and settings: plots are weak, but who reads McBain for his plots. It would be beating a dead horse to say how unreal, how utterly implausible is the actual murderer of the priest. Nice to see Carrella throw some barbs at religion (sarcasm by me) McBain writes books that can be speed read or skimmed. Actually, one positive: EM does try to get some "thinking" into some of the characters. By the way a black would never buy dope from a white guy in a white guy's neigborhood--neutral ground at the minimum. Glad a certain person died at the end: gave the book a tinge of grit. I feel strongly that the sweetest town in Nebraska would have more interesting problems and crimes than in EM's N.Y. Satanic leader was well-developed, as a character, and Satanic "altar" was a nice touch.
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