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Life
1937- [Fr. Andrew Nugent, OSB]; b. 20 July, ed. Blackrock College; worked as Irish barrister and travelled and lived in Israel, Chicago and New York, before joining the Benedictine community of Glenstal Abbey at Murroe, Co. Limerick, 1961; issued legal-detective novels; The Four Courts Murder (2005), written in Nigeria [aetat. 60]; Second Burial (2007), a novel set in Nigeria and Dublin; also Soul Murder (2008), narrating a brutal killing in a boarding school; non-fiction incls. The Slow-Release Miracle 2006), and num. articles on pastoral theology; also a short autobiography in Touched by God: Ten Monastic Journeys, ed. Laurentia Johns OSB (2008); Prior of Glenstal Abbey up to 2008; secretary of the Glenstal Old Boys’ Association (Ubique).
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Works
Novels, The Four Courts Murder (London: Headline 2005), 278pp.; Second Burial [for a Black Prince] (Dublin: Headline Ireland 2007), 371pp.; Soul Murder (London: Headline [Hachette] 2008), q.pp.
Non-fiction, The Slow-Release Miracle: A Spirituality for a Lifetime (Dublin: The Columba Press 2006), 128pp.; ‘Irish Benedictines in Africa’ [chap.] in The Irish Benedictines: A History, ed., Colmán Ó Clabaigh and Martin Browne [2005].
Autobiography, [‘Andrew Nugent, OSB’, in] Touched by God: Ten Monastic Journeys, ed. Laurentia Johns OSB (London: Continuum/ Burns & Oates 2008) [q.pp.].
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Criticism
John Boyne, ‘Law and holy orders’, in The Irish Times (29 July 2006); Vincent Banville, ‘Busy, busy time for Dublin murder squad’, review of Second Burial, in The Irish Times (10 March 2007) [‘comedy thriller’]; Arminta Wallace, ‘Busy, busy time for Dublin murder squad’, feature-article in The Irish Times (15 Juy 2006), Weekend [on Irish contributions to the detective genre].
See also interview in Declan Burke, ed., Down These Green Streets: Irish Crime Writing in the 21st Century (Dublin: Liberties Press 2011).
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Reference
COPAC : The Slow-Release Miracle (2006) is unlisted in COPAC. Other details as in Works, supra.
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Notes
A Four Courts Murder (2005) - COPAC summary: ‘A superbly entertaining and suspenseful debut crime novel from Irish Benedictine Monk Andrew Nugent. When a Dublin High Court judge [Sidney Piggott] is found dead - slumped in his chair, his neck snapped by a well-aimed kick - many would say he got what he deserved. But Inspector Denis Lennon and Sergeant Molly Power soon unearth a far more dangerous and complex case than simple revenge. There’s the handsome, fair-haired young man whose flights of fancy and secret liaisons lead them down many a dark alleyway; the judge with an unusual but lucrative hobby; the strange connection with a rural community; the good-looking Tae-Kwando teacher. Elegant, charming and clever, Andrew Nugent deflates the pomposity of the law, the police force, and Irish rural mythology in a novel as ingenious as it is witty and compelling.’
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Second Burial (2007): Shadrack, a Nigerian is found in Dublin Mountains with a leg amputated below the knee and soon after dies in Loughlinstown Hospital; Inspector Jim Quilligan of the Dublin Murder Squad, formerly a Traveller [itinerant], and as his beautiful assistant Molly Power visit Little Africa in Parnell St., Dublin, and meet Shad’s younger brother Jude. .... Investigation takes Quilligan to Nigeria and throws light on the customs of the Igbo people. (See Vincent Banville, review, in Irish Times, 10 March 2007.)
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The Slow-Release Miracle (2006), contains 1] Points of departure - an awakening to the dimensions and dynamics of Christian spiritual life); 2] Vantage points - a growth in wonder for the many gifts of the Spirit in the Church and in the world, and 3] Points of arrival - spiritual maturity [...] enables us to go gently into the night, unafraid, with joy and hope. [...] The human spirit unfolding is a participation in God’s beauty, God’s work of art. (See Columbia Press website [online].)
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