THE CATHEDRAL MURDERS

A medical student’s discovery of tiny black crosses painted on recently deceased patients suggests the work of a serial killer in Morales’ thriller debut.

In 1992 Lima, Peru, med student Isabella Castle learns that Hospital Nacional Santa Maria, where she does her rotation, is nicknamed “the Cathedral” [26](“If Wembley stadium in London is the cathedral of football, Santa Maria hospital is the cathedral of medicine”). But not all that transpires in this cathedral is holy: Someone injects a lethal agent into the bloodstream of a patient associated with the Shining Path terrorist group. Additional suspicious deaths follow, and Isabella notices small crosses drawn on each body. The hospital wants the problem kept quiet, as a police investigation would surely ruin Santa Maria’s reputation. Against a backdrop of government corruption, terrorism, and Church secrets (enter Opus Dei, popularized in The DaVinci Code), Isabella navigates medical school and murders while suffering from depression. Her condition is caused in part by her gay brother’s recent move to the United States (30 years ago, Peru was not known for its LGBTQ+ tolerance). Still, wearing black Dr. Martens boots and driving a “double cab pick-up truck with a defiant front grill and all-terrain tires,” Isabella remains a strong character, dedicated to helping others. The author succeeds in creating a tangled web drawn from the dark sides of politics, medicine, and religion. As a Peruvian native, Morales also gives the reader vivid, lived-in descriptions of the region: “It was one of those typical, humid and overcast days of early winter when the streets of Lima are covered by the cold drizzle that the locals called garua.” As a doctor, the author pens medical scenes rich in authenticity. The pacing is effective, the murders heart pounding, and the ending is a killer.

Amen to an absorbing thriller that succeeds on many levels.