A Gentle Murderer by Dorothy Salisbury Davis & Leslie S. Klinger

A Gentle Murderer

By

Description

He came to confess a murder. Then he vanished. Now a priest and a detective must race to stop him—one seeking redemption, the other justice.

In the quiet of a New York church, a shaken young man steps into the confessional. His voice is raw. He’s killed someone—he says he didn’t mean to—and he’s still holding the hammer. Before Father Duffy can act, the man disappears into the night.

The next morning, a woman is found bludgeoned to death. For Father Duffy, the confessor becomes a moral burden he cannot ignore. For NYPD Sergeant Ben Goldsmith, it’s a case of motive and madness. Neither man knows the other is searching for the same tormented soul—one trying to save him, the other to stop him.

With unforgettable psychological intensity and dual protagonists navigating justice from opposite moral grounds, A Gentle Murderer delivers a soul-deep confessional arc that lingers long after the final page. Grand Master Dorothy Salisbury Davis’s classic noir combines elegant prose with haunting emotional depth, earning comparisons to Patricia Highsmith and Graham Greene.

Praise for A Gentle Murderer:

"A simmering tour de force of detection from both ends of the trail…" ― Kirkus Reviews

More Dorothy Salisbury Davis & Leslie S. Klinger Books

  • Death of an Old Sinner

    Death of an Old Sinner

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Women Sleuths

  • A Gentle Murderer

    A Gentle Murderer

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Police Procedural

  • A Gentleman Called

    A Gentleman Called

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Women Sleuths

  • Where the Dark Streets Go

    Where the Dark Streets Go

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Mysteries & Thrillers

  • A Death in the Life

    A Death in the Life

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Mysteries & Thrillers

  • Scarlet Night

    Scarlet Night

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Mysteries & Thrillers

  • The Judas Cat

    The Judas Cat

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Police Procedural

  • A Choice of Murders

    A Choice of Murders

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis, Stanley Ellin, Robert Turner, Stephen Marlowe, Mignon G. Eberhardt, Ross MacDonald, John Basye Price, Ellery Queen, Ruthven Todd, Margaret Millar, Wenzell Brown, Robert Arthur, Anthony Gilbert, Anthony Boucher, Helen Kasson, Margaret Manners, Stuart Palmer, Lawrence G. Blochman, Andrew Garve, Marc Seymour, Lawrence Treat, James A. Kirch, Ryerson Johnson & Michael Gilbert

    Mysteries & Thrillers

  • God Speed the Night

    God Speed the Night

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis & Jerome Ross

    Historical Fiction

  • Tales for a Stormy Night

    Tales for a Stormy Night

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Mystery Short Stories

  • Men of No Property

    Men of No Property

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Historical Fiction

  • The Habit of Fear

    The Habit of Fear

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Mysteries & Thrillers

  • A Town of Masks

    A Town of Masks

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Mysteries & Thrillers

  • Old Sinners Never Die

    Old Sinners Never Die

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Women Sleuths

  • The Crime of My Life

    The Crime of My Life

    Helen McCloy, Richard Martin Stern, John D. MacDonald, Edward D. Hoch, Lawrence Treat, Harold Q. Masur, Robert Bloch, Stanley Ellin, Hillary Waugh, Lillian de la Torre, Brian Garfield, Georges Simenon & Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Mysteries & Thrillers

  • In the Still of the Night

    In the Still of the Night

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Mystery Short Stories

  • The Clay Hand

    The Clay Hand

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Hard-Boiled Mysteries

  • Lullaby of Murder

    Lullaby of Murder

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Mysteries & Thrillers

  • Enemy and Brother

    Enemy and Brother

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Mysteries & Thrillers

  • The Pale Betrayer

    The Pale Betrayer

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Mysteries & Thrillers

  • The Judas Cat

    The Judas Cat

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Mysteries & Thrillers

  • Women's Wiles

    Women's Wiles

    Michele Slung, Joyce Harrington, Edward D. Hoch, Frank Sisk, James Yaffe, Lawrence Treat, Dorothy A. Collins, Morris Hershman, Susan Dunlap, Stanley Ellin, Dorothy Salisbury Davis, Josh Pachter, Stanley Cohen, Richard Deming, Margaret Millar, Kathleen Hershey, Richard A. Moore, L. Fred Ayvazian, Joan Richter & Cornell Woolrich

    Mysteries & Thrillers

  • Shock Wave

    Shock Wave

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Mysteries & Thrillers

  • Black Sheep, White Lamb

    Black Sheep, White Lamb

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Mysteries & Thrillers

  • Murder Most Foul

    Murder Most Foul

    Robert Bloch, Dorothy Salisbury Davis, Stanley Ellin, Robert L. Fish, Joe Gores, Allan Kim Lang, Patricia McGerr, Ross MacDonald, William P. McGivern, William F. Nolan, Charles Norman, Ellery Queen, Lawrence Treat, Hillary Waugh & Donald A. Wollheim

    Mystery Short Stories

  • The Little Brothers

    The Little Brothers

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Mysteries & Thrillers

  • The Evening of the Good Samaritan

    The Evening of the Good Samaritan

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis

    Historical Fiction

  • A Gentle Murderer

    A Gentle Murderer

    Dorothy Salisbury Davis & Leslie S. Klinger

    Historical Mysteries