• The Bishop and the Missing L Train

  • By: Andrew Greeley
  • Narrated by: George Guidall
  • Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (53 ratings)

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The Bishop and the Missing L Train  By  cover art

The Bishop and the Missing L Train

By: Andrew Greeley
Narrated by: George Guidall
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Publisher's summary

International best-selling author Andrew M. Greeley is hailed by the Los Angeles TimesIn this baffling mystery, the unpopular and incompetent Bishop Gus Quill is assigned to the Archdiocese of Chicago despite loud protests. When he disappears while riding the L Train, it falls to Bishop Blackie Ryan to find him.
©2000 Andrew M. Greeley Enterprises, Ltd. (P)2002 Recorded Books, LLC.

What listeners say about The Bishop and the Missing L Train

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Another humane author, hooray!

Well read. My first foray into this series. I am not Roman Catholic (didn't matter much). Though the premise is comic, the plot is not a strong point. The characters are nuanced and lively. The dialog is great (Is there a Blarney Stone in Chicago?). No one is black or white, and the author's love of humanity and impatience with cant shines through. Definitely not self righteous or preachy, as I had feared from encountering some other "religious" works. More in the spirit of Ruth Dudley Edwards than any other author I've recently encountered.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Another good Bishop Blackie Ryan mystery

Andrew Greeley, one of the most prolific writers ever, has another good book in his Bishop Blackie Ryan series. Blackie is a catholic bishop who has a great love of life and amazing deductive powers. (He even likes to refer to God as "she," perhaps to show how much he refuses to be trapped by tradition?)

In this book, he must solve the mystery of what has happened to a new bishop who has made himself so unpopular with his rigid and often hurtful insistence on the letter of religious law (as opposed to the spirit of it) that several have been heard to make frustrated remarks wishing him dead. Unfortunately, many get their secret wish when the new bishop, and the train he was riding on, both disappear! He is finally located, but badly injured by a huge overdose of heroin that will likely render him unable ever to function in his old position again.

In what becomes a frantic search to find the perpetrator, Greeley explores larger questions about guilt, and leaves the reader pondering a few other ethical issues as well. In this book, the stories of two people who have uttered these desperate wishes that Bishop Quill were dead, form part of the back story, explaining what it was about the man that was so odious. Unfortunately, it also makes them obvious suspects, so their stories are interesting, even endearing in a way, on their own.

If you have never read a Blackie Ryan novel you are in for a treat. And for the best part of all, this book is narrated by the incomparable George Guidall. I did not give either story or narrator 5 stars because I am aware of better books/narrations by Greeley and Guidall, but even so, this was a really good book, and I greatly recommend it.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Comfortable but not engaging

Narrators' performance is excellent, but this is not one of Father Greeley's better novels. The love stories exist only to pad out a mystery that would have been better as a short story.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Really enjoyable

I like this older style of modern detective fiction without every character having a smartphone in their hand. More of a puzzle. I wish the whole series was on Audible!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Bishop Blackie at his best!

One of my favorite authors of all time. God bless Father Greeley, as well as Bishop Blackie!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

It's a good who dunnit!

Quite long, a little too wordy. But did keep my interest of the mystery !

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

entertaining as always

LOVE Greeley's books, & his way if bringine Word to life!
wish all narrators listed; would like to look the others up.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

very entertaining

Would you consider the audio edition of The Bishop and the Missing L Train to be better than the print version?

I love both versions of the story....its funny and sad at the end....the missing bishop seemed so lonely. Bishop Blackie is the priest you want to know......religious but fun..
Father Greeley left us so many wonderful written works. try them, you wont be disappointed

Who was your favorite character and why?

Bishop Blackie but the missing Bishop gained my sympathy at the end of the book.

Have you listened to any of George Guidall’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

love George's performance. He should do all Bishop Blackie novels

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The end when you see the missing Bishop as a sad, lonely person

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A fun story

Bishop Blackie is a good man doing good works for his Cardinal in Chicago. He is a detective like no other and he always solves the mystery with grace and dignity of a faithful Bishop of the Catholic Church.

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