So, this volume in the Lorimer series is good, in that it's well-paced and the crime at the center of it is interesting. That couldn't happen at a better time, as I was beginning to feel like we were treading familiar territory in Glasgow with the good detective. Then something odd happened.

A couple of books back, I can't remember exactly which one, there was a scene that was both completely, specifically religious and completely out of place. I mean, it came out of nowhere and stood out like a bloody nose. It was so specific as to be doctrinal and was memorable for that reason (full disclosure, I am an atheist but during my entire childhood I was a "son of the manse"). Obviously, religion is a part of the world we live in, and I don't hold to every view of the characters in anything I read much less crime novels. That said, this little wobble into bad writing (because it was, regardless of what I think of the content--it just didn't fit) struck me because it was, well, bad. Clumsy, like the lyrics of a Christian pop song that is obviously written in the style of a mainstream artist.

When I read the next in the series, it happened again, and I began to wonder if Ms Gray had some kind of religious experience that compelled to include yet another out there scene that really just didn't fit. Don't get me wrong--I know that the "Lewis man" Niall was religious from the beginning, but that was always what these two scenes were not. Niall was religious, even Christian, without it being a disquisition on some article of faith. These two scenes, one each in the two volumes preceding When Shadows Fall were just that: jarring, very specific to the point of being evangelical, and seemingly out of place.

So imagine my surprise, and disappointment, when yet again, When Shadows Fall included a very specific, doctrinal element with one of the characters. This time, it was different, however. This time, Jesus or the holy spirit or something (because it happens to a "bad" guy, the character doesn't have the language to fully describe it) actually solves the case. I won't go into spoiler territory, except to say that Lorimer doesn't solve this case except through an undeniably supernatural event that happens in Barlinney prison. Yes! And it's clear, this case would not have been solved without the deus ex vox midway through the novel.

I don't care if authors want to include religion in their novels. I've read the Rabbi Small series and loved them all. I love Tolkien in spite of the Catholicity of his fairy stories. Hell, I even admire how Stephanie Meyer slips Mormonism in through the backdoor in the Twilight refashioning of vampire mythology. But the effect of this particular inclusion is really no different than having a leprechaun appear and nudge the polis in the right direction. It felt sudden, out of place, and the effect was that it made Lorimer, one of the best recurring characters, seem weak. Not weak in an emasculating sense, but in the way that matters most: his ability to outthink the criminal element.

That said, it's still worth the read. I just can't help now wondering if this is some kind of proselytizing effort on Gray's part. I didn't think much about how openly stripped of Judaism Solly Brightman was in this series because hey, I live in a largely Jewish community and it happens, some Jews are just circumstantially Jewish. I used to think highly of Alex Gray for including one of the few religious minorities in Scottish crime fiction--now, I wonder if she stripped him down intentionally? It makes me hesitant to continue the series because that would be truly heartbreaking. ( )