Late Boston College alumnus and Professor of English John McAleer ’45 created the literary characters Henry von Stray, a London private detective, and his collaborator, Professor John Dilpate, during the 1930s—a period known as Golden Age of detective fiction. A surviving Henry von Stray story, “The Case of the Illustrious Banker,” was discovered after McAleer’s death and published for the first time in 2022. One of McAleer’s sons, Andrew McAleer, has extended the Henry von Stray stories, with three new mysteries: “The Big Push and Legend of Sir Morleans’ Lost Pearls”; “A Little Birdie Tells Von Stray”; and “Von Stray and the Five-Fingered Fraudster.” The stories by both McAleers (father and son) have been published in the first full-book collection of von Stray stories titled, A Casebook of Crime (Level Best Books, 2025). John McAleer was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for his biography of Rex Stout. An author and editor, Andrew McAleer is a 1990 Boston College alumnus who also taught at Boston College. Learn more in this blog post by Andrew McAleer.
McAleer’s Henry von Stray is on the case
Spenser is back
Spenser, considered Boston’s most famous fictional private investigator, takes on a new case that hits close to home in Robert B. Parker’s Hot Property (G.P. Putnam’s Sons/Penguin Random House, 2024), written by Boston College alumnus Mike Lupica. The novel opens with news that Rita Fiore, a lawyer and friend of Spenser, has been shot. There’s no shortage of suspects who might want to enact revenge on Fiore. Spenser must get to the bottom of things, even if it means unearthing some unsavory secrets. Hot Property is the 52nd book in the Spenser series, which was originated by the late Robert B. Parker. Lupica is a sports journalist and bestselling author of more than 40 works of fiction and nonfiction. He was interviewed about Hot Property and his love of Boston by MassLive.
Mighty Monk Mysteries
Professor of Theology Emeritus Harvey D. Egan, S.J., a 50-year member of the Boston College Jesuit community, is the inspiration for Father Ignatius Lacroix, the reluctant detective in the new Mighty Monk Mysteries book series by D. Ansgar Nyberg, in which an aging Jesuit scholar matches wits with a variety of evildoers. Much like G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown and others in the clerical-investigator literary tradition, Fr. Lacroix doesn’t act in an official capacity; quite the contrary. He is intent on his teaching, research, and pastoral activities when—as is so often the case with amateur sleuths—a body gets in the way. The series’ first book, In Lent, The Cardinal Quit Singing, confronts Fr. Lacroix with the murder of a high-ranking ecclesiastical official at a retreat center, a situation rendered all the more chilling for its setting amid an ice storm. The priest’s analytical skills are tested anew in No Rest for the Wicked, in which he must connect the dots between two mysterious deaths occurring seven years apart, and yet again in The Silence of St. Bernard, in which he must unravel a web of deceit surrounding an abbey’s prized relic. Fr. Egan is a renowned expert on Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner and author of several books on Christian mysticism and other topics. Read more from BC News about how Fr. Egan and author D. Ansgar Nyberg are connected.
Confession
For generations, American Catholics went faithfully to confession, admitting their sins to a priest and accepting through him God’s forgiveness. The sacrament served as a distinctive marker of Catholic identity. But starting in the 1970s, many abandoned confession altogether. In a new book, James M. O’Toole, Charles I. Clough Millennium Professor of History Emeritus and University Historian at Boston College, reconstructs the history of confession’s steady rise―and dramatic fall―among American Catholics, focusing on the experiences of both laypeople and priests. O’Toole’s previous publications include The Faithful: A History of Catholics in America. More from BC News.
Brilliant leadership
Suzanne (Egan) Martin ’97, who has worked at Google for more than 17 years and is currently director of global marketing learning and development, has published Brilliant Leadership: Patterns for Creating High-Impact Teams. In the book, Martin provides valuable insights and practical advice on how to become a more effective leader. She presents nine patterns based on the latest research and experiences of successful leaders from all walks of life, and invites readers to find the pattern that reflect their true self. Martin is an accredited coach with the International Coaching Federation, has earned a coaching certificate from Columbia University, and has been a part of the Forbes Inc. Coaches Council since 2017. She is accredited in Brain-Based Coaching through the Neuroleadership Institute, Multipliers, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Insights Discovery, Hogan Assessments, ATD Instructional Design, and the Leadership Circle. She has facilitated hundreds of leadership and team development workshops inside and outside of Google. Martin was interviewed about her book by Women’s Business Daily.
Meet Dave
David McGrath, a 1996 Boston College alumnus, is a brain cancer survivor, educator, stand-up comedian, and host of “The WWIM (Women Who Inspire Me) Podcast.” In 2024, he published his first children’s book, If You Give a Dave a Darth. Written and illustrated by McGrath, If You Give a Dave a Darth is a whimsical tale that captures the boundless imagination and energy of a child. McGrath also is a published poet. His poetry collections include Poetry Anthology 1990–2020, Blue Star Poems, and Poems from a Tragic Comic.
A Black Mariology
A new book by BC Assistant Professor of Theology and African and African Diaspora Studies Amey Victoria Adkins-Jones begins with the claim, Mary is Black, to ground how Christian thinking of salvation, possibility, and identity are challenged when assumptions about race, gender, and divine significance are reconsidered through the lens of the Virgin Mary, and specifically, through a return to the Black Madonna. Staged as a Black feminist and womanist theological conversation, Immaculate Misconceptions: A Black Mariology (Oxford University Press, 2025) offers a layered journey through art, theology, and culture to consider a theology arising from the condition of the Black Mother, following the condition of the Black Madonna, and for the consideration of all those who pursue justice and life at the spiritual intersections of the world. Adkins-Jones considers how Christian collusion with colonialism, capitalism, and anti-Blackness have worked theologically to deny Blackness from the realms of the sacred.
Humble Pie
Pat LaMarche, who has written and advocated on issues related to poverty and homelessness for decades, has published a thought-provoking book about food and food insecurity. Humble Pie is part nonfiction and part cookbook. LaMarche has collected stories from the economically disadvantaged she has encountered in shelters and shares their recipes as well as recipes from a professional chef. LaMarche is a 1982 Boston College graduate whose publications include American Roulette, Left Out in America: The State of Homelessness in the United States, and Daddy, What’s the Middle Class?, among many others. Humble Pie will leave readers with an appreciation of the significance of making meals, no matter the limitations, and empathy for the many people in our country who are hungry. Read more.
Landscaping Patagonia
In late 19th-century Latin America, governments used new scientific, technological, and geographical knowledge not only to consolidate power and protect borders but also to define the physical contours of their respective nations. Chilean and Argentine authorities, in particular, attempted to transform northern Patagonia through a myriad of nationalizing policies. In her new book, Landscaping Patagonia: Spatial History and Nation-Making in Chile and Argentina (University of North Carolina Press, 2025), BC Assistant Professor of History María de los Ángeles Picone examines how explorers, settlers, authorities, visitors, and bandits constructed their versions of ‘Chile’ and ‘Argentina’ in the Northern Patagonian Andes. She argues that between the 1890s and 1940s, these groups created shared versions of nationhood through regional, often cross-border, interpretations and transformations of the natural environment. Landscaping Patagonia shows how these different actors sought to make Patagonia their own by transforming a collection of geographical sites into a landscape that evoked a shared past and a common future. More from BC News.
Posted in Boston College Authors
Tagged History Department, Latin America, South America
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The Queens of Crime
The Queens of Crime (St. Martin’s Press 2025) is the latest novel from bestselling author—and Boston College graduate—Marie Benedict. The story is set in 1930s London and revolves around a group of women mystery writers, including Dorothy L. Sayers and Agatha Christie, who come together to solve the real-life murder of a young English nurse found strangled in a park in France. Benedict’s other novels include The Only Woman in the Room, Lady Clementine, and, with Victoria Christopher Murray, The Personal Librarian and The First Ladies. Library Journal starred review.
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