The Eye That Is Divine
A Willi Gallagher Mystery

By Kat Goldring

     A Buddhist retreat on a secluded island with no cell phones, no TV, no computer : idyllic nirvana for some people, terrifying nightmare for others. Part-Native American Texas high school English teacher Willi Gallagher welcomes it as an opportunity to expand her spiritual horizons and help her friend Mackenzie Francis escape the frightening attentions of a stalker ex, hilariously named Jerry Fartleberry Cormack. An added bonus: Willi’s lover Quannah Lassiter, as devoted to his undercover work as a Texas Raanger as he is to his Native American Lakota spiritual beliefs, journeys to the island to lead trail rides and the Inipi sacred ceremony. Or so it seems. But the monks on the island—Jamyang, Samdup, Rimshi and Rabten—have hired Quannah to protect their most revered spiritual figure, The Eye That Is Divine. Someone wants him badly enough to commit murder.

    With all this going on, can anyone expect Willi, a.k.a. “Miss Marple of the Range,” to meditate in silence rather than investigate. There’s plenty to consider: dueling Navy veterans, the insidious presence of Jerry Cormack; a love triangle involving a possessive preacher, his wife, and a Japanese businessman; to say nothing of the Japanese businessman’s colleagues—one of whom turns up dead, then miraculously reappears alive.

    And just what are feudin’ cousins Banjo Joe Skeeter and “buxom,” pulchritudinous Doretta Cameo looking for every morning during their pontoon boat rides? Could it be treasure? Perhaps the same as the Japanese businessmen seek?

   To answer the riddle, ponder what Buddha says: “Hatred does not ever cease in this world by hating, but by love; this is an eternal truth. Overcome anger by love; overcome evil by good. Overcome the miser by giving; overcome the liar by truth.”

   This is akin to the koans and mysteries Willi and company ponder, such as this verse from Master Basho, an ancient sage and poet: “The old pond. A jumping frog—Plop!”

I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery, the spiritual depth of the writing, and the multi-dimensionality of the characters. I have an urge to go meditate and solve mysteries on a Buddhist island. But what’s that cell phone doing here?