Becky Wooley said she's not practiced at the art of killing preachers, but she's a quick study.
Her husband, Bruce, minister at Brainerd Church of Christ, is not worried. Not yet, anyway.
Mrs. Wooley, 62, recently had her first book, a clerical mystery titled "Non-Prophet Murders," published by Resource Publications.
"The genre has always been a medium of sharing what needs to be said," she said. "Christian (crime) authors have used it to point out good vs. evil -- something beyond the puzzle of the mystery."
Mrs. Wooley said "Non-Prophet Murders" turned out differently than she expected.
"I did not know what I was writing," she said. "This is not what I set out to write."
The result, Mrs. Wooley said, is a good mystery but is "very biting" and "very satirical," so much so that it sent her to her Bible for answers. What she found, in Ezekiel 43:10-12, in which God calls his people into a new covenant with him, gave her solace.
Her book, she said, as in Ezekiel, emphasizes -- with bite and satire -- the importance of grace rather than the law.
Clerical crime writers such as G.K. Chesterton (Father Brown mysteries), Ralph McInerny (Father Dowling mysteries) and Harry Kemelman (Rabbi Small mysteries) always "say what they want to say" about religion, Mrs. Wooley said.
William David Spencer, author, editor, pastor and professor of theology and the arts at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary's Boston Center for Urban Ministerial Education, said in the book's forward said its reader will be "informed, amused, edified and healed."
GET INVOLVEDBecky Wooley will sign copies of "Non-Prophet Murders:* Sunday, Feb. 28, 11:45 a.m.-2:45 p.m., at Brainerd Church of Christ, 4203 Brainerd Road.* Friday, March 19, 5 p.m., at Rock Point Books, 401 Broad St.The book may be ordered from any book store, Amazon.com, Christianbooks.com or from the author at beckywooley@hotmail.com.
"By consciously selecting Christian protagonists," he said, "Becky Wooley takes us on a sacred quest to root out some of the evil that keeps God's reconciling work incomplete. The solution exposes corruption so that those who fight for good can right their world. The journey might be rough for some of us on the inside, but the destination is worth the buffeting, because there's no doubt about it -- no one can critique the faithful like a true believer."
John J. Wright, minister at Cardinal Drive Church of Christ in Rolling Meadows, Ill., and a college classmate of the Wooleys, said he enjoyed the book's plot and found it to be "a real page-turner." He said it should be especially appealing in Southern religious circles.
"I enjoyed it," he said. "I read it almost straight through, although I had to get in it a bit before I was gripped by it."
As the wife, daughter and niece of men who preach or preached either full- or part-time, Mrs. Wooley knows her way around a church. Eight years as a secretary at her husband's church furthered her knowledge, though she is quick to point out nothing untoward in the book is based on members of Brainerd Church of Christ.
Plus, she said she's always been a mysteries fans, preferring the more cerebral variety rather than the slasher/horror type. Among favorite writers, she said, are Dorothy Sayers and Ellis Peters.
Yet, it was trip several years back to her native Indiana, where Mrs. Wooley and her husband of nearly 39 years picked up several stacks of mysteries being sold cheaply by a library, that convinced her she might have what it takes.
"I can do that," Mrs. Wooley remembered remarking after pouring through the books.
She said the book should appeal to "any thinking Christian, anyone who has examined their faith and come out on the other side." For mystery fans, she said, her "quirky murders" may be appealing because she's never read of ones being committed like those in her book.
The wide variety of characters, in age, race and culture, also give the book wide appeal, Mrs. Wooley said.