[Detectives Seagate and Miner Mysteries 03] • The Broken Saint

Seagate and Miner investigate the murder of Maricel Salizar, a young Filipino exchange student at Central Montana State. The most obvious suspect is the boyfriend, who happens to have gang connections. And then there’s Amber, a fellow student who’s obviously incensed at Maricel for a sexual indiscretion involving Amber’s boyfriend. But the evidence keeps leading Seagate and Miner back to the professor, an LDS bishop who hosted her in his dysfunctional home. Seagate takes it in stride that the professor can’t seem to tell the truth about his relationship with the victim, but her devout partner, Ryan Miner, believes that a high-ranking fellow Mormon who violates a sacred trust deserves special punishment.

From the AuthorThe Broken Saint is volume 3 in the Detectives Seagate and Miner Mystery series. Having broken Karen Seagate down to her most elemental level and begun to let her reassemble herself in Deviations, I chose to focus on her relationship with her partner, Ryan Miner, in The Broken Saint. Ryan's most essential characteristic is his devotion to the LDS church. For this reason, I created a plot that I hoped would force him to confront the conflict between his faith and his job as a detective.

As it turns out, Karen Seagate's hard-headed cynicism makes her the better detective in this case involving a high-ranking LDS church member who appears to have violated some important teachings of the church--and perhaps committed a murder. It isn't that Karen Seagate is hostile to Mormonism. She simply sees it just another form of self-delusion, just any other flavor of Christianity or Judaism or Islam.

Here are some excerpts from Amazon reviews:

"With Broken Saint, author Mike Markel demonstrates why he is one of the rising masters of the detective mystery, his easy-reading style and compelling characters pulling the reader from page to page and chapter to chapter. Throughout, Markel displays the wry humor that is his trademark, depicting weather, people, and institutions with equal measures of affection and sardonic amusement. The Seagate-Miner series has legs, and I, for one, happily expect to see it continue for some time."

"For some reason this story captivated me and I couldn't put it down. I was intrigued by the opposite characteristics of Seagate and Minor and the descriptive dialogue by the narrator."

"Markel has a great ear for dialog, a sharp wit, a good imagination, and the talent, skill and maturity to keep it all compelling. This book is a page-turner in the truest sense: it propels you to want to know what happens next."

"Mike Markel's latest novel in the Detectives Seagate and Miner series is an excellent read: tight plot, believable characters, and cynicism reminiscent of Philip Marlowe. The reader is sucked into the story by the opening, ghoulish description of a female body found by a passerby in college-town USA. Detectives Seagate and Miner are soon on the scene--characters with their own troubled lives--trying to work out the cause and circumstance of the murder. The story expands to include numerous suspects who become entwined with each other and the plot. This, the story's quick pace, and the detectives' cynical commentary about life, their work, and the current case keep the reader intrigued and entertained throughout. Highly recommended to those who enjoy a good detective novel."