Mystery Stories In Churches....

What if....

(this one's for you, Dad.)

A late twenties pastor of a church the size of the Perry Church in a town the size of Perry but with a board that was more like Grace Gospel...

realized that his wife (of three years) wasn't chronically unhappy as a rule, she was chronically unhappy because she feels trapped in their marraige.

As he pushes on the boards in this (metaphorical) attic, he finds out that the (again metaphorical) secret room is that she felt pressured by her father -- a wealthy local industrialist in the congregation -- to marry the preacher. Only the pressure was subtle enough that she didn't even recognize it until well into the engagement. Then she was carried along by the process.

Obviously they disbelieve each other and work against each other for several chapters to disbelieve and disprove this ridiculous theory. Why would her father want her to marry him enough to plot dubiously about it? She regrets having told him her evidence -- because its shaky and unstable at best. And she tries to think better of it later -- only now the preacher won't let her. Until he convinces her and then he feels guilty and tries to think better of it.

Of course the turning point of the book is when the father approaches the daughter to suggest that the church buy a certain piece of land as an investment to maybe develop as a camp someday or something.......

the relationship between Preacher and Daughter is strained enough that she doesn't tell him right away. She wants to find out for herself what her father is up to....

then...?

Of course her father is dumping chemicals or something on the Teen Ranch Property...