Unholy Death in Princeton

By Ann Waldron

     McLeod is a reporter doing research at the Princeton Theological Seminary on Elijah P.Lovejoy, the editor of the Alton Observer (1836-37), who is called the first American martyr to Freedom of the Press. Mr. Lovejoy attended the seminary at Princeton, and some of his personal papers are stored there. He was murdered by a pro-slavery mob in Alton, Illinois, for publishing anti-slavery editorials and supporting the Anti-slavery Society of Illinois. He and 20 supporters were gathered in a warehouse to guard a printing press when the roof was set on fire. Mr. Lovejoy was leaving the building when he was shot 5 times. There is a 100-foot memorial on his grave near Mississippi River Lock and Dam #26 in Alton.

http://www.colby.edu/education/activism/stories/lovejoy.html

     This is the third book in the Princeton Murders series. From this book by itself I get no sense of McLeod as an individual beyond being a lucky busybody and a gourmand. The characterizations were light, with most of the focus being dialogue set on educating McLeod about seminary life and concerns. The dialogue was easy to read and gave clarity to the both sides of many fuzzy subjects.

     The author has done considerable research in the lives and concerns of seminary students and the broad-based issues troubling church members. From personal experience, I know she got the tenor right. This book encouraged me to think outside my normal space; however, packing so many controversial issues into a cozy-length novel doesn't do any individual subject justice. The multitude of esoteric ideas (e.g., Inclusive Language, the Historical Jesus, Inspired Scripture, the Dead Sea Scrolls, etc.) and the passion with which they were debated served to stereotype the Princeton seminarians as eccentric and eclectic, and that helped make the story resolution more plausible.