Monstrance I Objet D'Art

Hardback - Second Edition MONSTRANCE I: Objet D'Art Mystery Novel - Based in part on on true crimes and real eventsSecond edition printing includes sample chapter from Monstrance II: Jake Maris III (Chapter 1: Charleston Maris) See excerpt below.DESCRIPTION: MADE OF PURE PLATINUM AND ENCRUSTED with over 900 precious jewels, the million-dollar Jackson-Bonet Monstrance of the Virgin Mary is a rare and spectacular religious relic designed to exhibit the Holy Eucharist for the adoration of the faithful.In 1995, when Penney Johansen, the acting curator of the Maris-Sewell Museum discovers it is stolen from a small Catholic monastery and college in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, state and federal law enforcement converge on the peaceful Oklahoma campus. Initial suspicion falls on the museum's former curator, a handsome Benedictine monk named Brother Michelangelo Covington, who is living a secret double life as a high-priced escort.EXCERPT: PENNY WALKED THROUGH THE OPEN-AIRED COURTYARD OF THE MUSEUM, but she did not hear the sound of the waterfall. Nor did she hear the gentle sounds from the steel wind chimes in the crisp autumn air. All she heard was the pounding of her heart and the words Monstrance! Monstrance! Monstrance! playing over and over like a raging mantra in her brain.Excerpt From Monstrance II: Jake Maris III (Chapter 1: Charleston Maris)AS THE CASKET OF CHARLESTON MOULTRIE MARIS was rolled out of the hearse in front of Christ the King Catholic Church in Nichols Hills, Oklahoma, Archbishop Thaddeus Richter sprinkled generous amount of Holy Water onto the dark mahogany coffin of his dear friend as he recited in Latin: "Si capax ego te absolvo?." Stella Morrow Maris, Charleston's widow stood like a saint in an elegant and under-stated black dress. A sheer black veil draped over her lovely, aging, grief-stricken face as a gentle Oklahoma wind blew her veil in fluttering folds. She was thankful for gentle winds on this most sorrowful day. She was to lay her husband to rest after 17 years of marriage.