SummaryWhen Fred Neville of the Notre Dame athletic department
winds up dead under mysterious circumstances, amateur
sleuth and academic Roger Knight, and his brother, Phil, a
P.I., investigate the apparent murder. The trouble: no
suspects. No suspects, that is, until the day of Fred's
funeral, when several likely candidates suddenly appear at
the poor man's wake. First, Mary Schuster, daughter of a faculty widow, shows up
at the event dressed all in black, with the startling
announcement that she and the deceased were secretly in
love. Then the controversy doubles when another woman
arrives with a huge diamond ring on her finger, claiming to
have been Fred's intended. Could it be that unassuming Fred
Neville was actually involved with two women, in secret and
at the same time? Roger thinks not, and finds a notable
piece of evidence to back up his hunch when a secret stash
of Fred's poetry turns up, clearly written with a single
woman in mind. Unfortunately, the object of Fred's intense
love remains unnamed in his verse. Suddenly, both women are
suspects in a vicious crime. But it's up to Roger to plug
into the campus gossip grid and, with a little help from
Phil, not to mention his vast knowledge of just about
everything that happens on campus, determine the exact
chain of events that led to murder. Set against the backdrop of an exciting Notre Dame
basketball season, Irish Coffee will delight fans of both
Notre Dame lore and of Ralph McInerny's impeccably plotted
mysteries.
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