Son of Murder, Inc.

About the Book

Matthew, the orphaned son of a Murder, Inc. killer is a loose cannon in a notorious neighborhood. As an infant, he was entrusted by his father to the then prison chaplain, Francis Campion, who is now the rector of the Lake Shore Seminary, who was sworn not to reveal the identity of the father to his son, which he has honored.

Matthew, at nineteen, is left a small inheritance by an unknown donor. Determined to learn his true identity, he bolts the seminary in a quest to discover the facts of his birth. The young seminarian discovers his father was executed as a gang member of the syndicate Murder, Inc. Was his father framed? Must he seek vindication or revenge?

All is tested when Matthew is tried for the murder of Detective James Tierney, who testified against Matthew’s father as a wheelman for the mob. In his last confession, Matthew’s father said he was innocent and that his attorney was co-opted to convict him. Campion fears that the same might happen to Matthew. He decides to defend him. He is a lawyer in canon law. The court and the press are dismayed—did this hayseed priest imagine the practice of criminal law was a religious exercise?

About the Author

Frank Palescandolo is a translator, poet, novelist, and memoirist. Under the sun of Sorrento, he has written novels set in Italy: The Romantist, La Sirena Straniera, The Nose of San Januarius, and Phallos Dionysus. Also, he drew on his experiences as a member of the District Attorney's Office of Brooklyn and became an exciting novelist of crime. Forthcoming is his memoir Remembrance of a Restaurant, a reminiscence of a family famous restaurant.