In this unique collection, eighteen of today's best-loved authors have woven together the most riveting elements of mystery and faith into a joyous and haunting tapestry that is as thought-provoking as it is compelling.

Series:
Reverend Collins' Visit (William Monk, x.5)
Volo te habere... (Dame Frevisse??, an early intro to Joliffe?? It is set in 1404.)
Amish Butter (Caroline Canfield, x.5)
Dunne Deal (Father Dowling, x.5)

The Stories
Anne Perry- “Reverend Collins'” Visit was an echo of Agatha Christie as Henry Rathbone observed the passage of society outside his sickroom window putting two and two (and two) together to solve the truth about the Reverend Collins' thefts.

Rochelle Krich- “Widow's Peak” a look at the upheaval caused by the Holocaust when wives could not find their husbands nor husbands their wives.

Nancy Pickard- “Speak No Evil” - Joseph Owen tracks a serial killer by stalking a young woman two years into a five-year vow of silence. She witnessed the murder, but refuses to speak of it.

Margaret Frazer- “Volo te habere”- takes place during Bishop Beaufort's early years and a simple case of murder and legitimacy in 1404 when Beaufort has Richard Medford investigate the murder of a young, emotional woman who claims Stephen Hameden is her husband.

Dianne Day- “Labyrinthine Way” is a little bit magic and a little bit justice as a woman priest uses hypnosis to snare an evil man within a labyrinth. Rather mysterious.

G. Miki Hayden- “Shaman's Song” Coyote Man manages to pull together the money he needed for the dowry for Yellow Flower Girl. Indian Agent Dennis Riordan believes in his power of finding.

Thomas Kreitzberg- “Charity of a Saint” reporter Marvin Quinn investigates a St. Alice miracle in which she sends a dream to a farmer, Henry Lance, and he discovers buried Elizabethan treasure.

Rhys Bowen- “Seal of the Confessional”

John Lutz- “Dilemma” About a crisis in faith, when Police Corporal Alana Martinez needs to choose between the greater good and the law.

Joyce Christmas -“Chosen” A young Catholic girl receives a vision for which she is castigated for lying, but it does result in the apprehension of a murderer.

George Chesbro- “Model Town” The horrible economy of a shut-down mining town leads to the character’s conclusion that this is a Model Town, relating to his employers forecast of a world collapse due to fear.

Jacqueline Fiedler- “Amish Butter” is full of misconceptions when Caroline picks up an Amish hitchhiker on a dark and stormy night with some odd, moving luggage.

Kate Charles- “That Old Eternal Triangle” Cressida has come to hate her dull, boring husband. Hugh is a good man but there is nothing left in their married life for Cressida. When Father Jonathan arrived in the parish, he came to spend more and more time with Cressida and Hugh. When Jonathan admitted to his wrongful desires, it set Hugh's fate.

Terence Faherty- “God's Instrument” is a roundabout way for a man to find God and yearn for a life that makes a difference through the tragedy of a train explosion which kills a number of people.

Mary Monica Pulver- “Father Hugh and the Kettle of St. Frideswide” uses psychology and the help of a saint to catch a medieval chicken thief.

Ralph McInerny- “Dunne Deal” is a confusion in stolen goods dropped in the poor box.

Carolyn Wheat- “Remembered Zion” A woman who remembers Kristallnacht. Who remembers the Germans taking away her friend Esma. Being told she should hate her. Now, it's starting again. Her own son is a part of it. She cannot be a part of this. She must take a stand. And she does. For a very short time as she sees the hate in her son's eyes.

Serita Stevens- “In a Jewish Vein” is of a trip a trio of Jewish women make to Romania to adopt a baby. Only to run into unexpected help and an even more unexpected spouse.
[Kathy Davie-Amazon reviews]

In 2001, Unholy Orders was nominated for the Anthony Award for Best Anthology.