When Demons Float: A Kristin Ginelli Mystery

by Susan Thistlethwaite

Kristin Ginelli, Chicago-cop-turned-religion-professor, is horrified when her new Muslim faculty colleague is targeted with a hate crime by self-styled white supremacists. She investigates, wading into the disgusting waters of white supremacist hate online. She is stunned to learn how young people and adults are being tempted into hate and violence on the Internet. As she teaches her religion classes, she comes to realize this is what philosophers and theologians have meant by the demonic. In this kind of extremism, hate rises to the surface and it is hard to keep it down. When a student is killed, and Kristin is threatened, she has to cut through the university's stalling and what looks increasingly like corruption in the Chicago police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to find the killers and try to stem the tide of hate.

260 pages, Hardcover

Published September 27, 2019

About the author

I am a Professor of Theology at Chicago Theological Seminary and the former President. I have written many academic books, but I love mystery fiction! I decided to try writing some mysteries and I am loving it. I also like hearing from readers.

I find, for myself, that mystery fiction can be a kind of psychological relief from our stressful times. You can relax into the mystery narrative and know that while bad things happen (it's usually a murder, after all!), there will also be truth and some measure of justice to restore a moral order.

Here are some Book Group discussion questions (they are also on my mystery website:):

1. How do our faith and/or values help or hinder us in addressing issues like sexual harassment either in our own lives, or in the lives of others?

2. Does Kristin Ginelli understand she’s a teacher not a cop any more? Does she push Ay-seong too hard or not hard enough to find out what’s going on?

3. Kristin is struggling with her own issues of personal grief and anger. Does this give her insight into the Kim family, or does she have trouble relating to the brother and sister because she does not understand her own limitations in regard to Korean culture?

4. Does Kristin begin to get some insight into her own white privilege from her interactions with persons of different races and cultures, and if so, how? If you think she fails, where does she fail and why?

5. What might Alice Matthews have to say about Kristin’s barging ahead all the time?

6. Academic privilege is still alive and well on college campuses. How does that privilege intersect with white privilege? In other words, does Henry have the same access to power as Kristin?

7. A subplot is taking place in the quotations at the beginning of each chapter. Kristin starts out her new career as an academic thinking she can find mental refuge in ancient philosophy (Plato, Aristotle). Slowly, she begins to realize that power and privilege are masked by those abstractions. She starts thinking about power and privilege in real life as a subject for her dissertation. What helps YOU understand how to deal with power and privilege in the systems where you find yourself?

8. With which character, if any, did you identify?

I am also happy to discuss any of my non-fiction books with readers, as there are a lot of overlaps among the fiction and non-fiction, especially when it comes to violence against women.

Reviews

[MV McLain · Rating 5 out of 5]

"When Demons Float", the latest book in Susan Thistlethwaite’s excellent Kristin Ginelli series, is not only a smart and enjoyable read, you’ll also learn a lot about the rise of white supremacy on college campuses and some creative, helpful, and surprisingly funny ways to counter the trend. Like her previous two novels featuring Ginelli, the great strength of these books lies in the wonderful characters the author has created - all of them complex, quirky, and memorable. And with each novel, the relationships between these characters continue to grow and evolve in both entertaining, and sometimes very poignant ways. In this particular book, we get to see how folks of diverse racial and religious backgrounds individually respond to a public hate crime –something rarely glimpsed in such entertaining fiction - let alone real life. It is especially helpful to be in Ginelli’s head as she navigates how to be a good white ally when the stakes are high and her energy reserves are low. The series also miraculously blends the basic elements of a police procedural with the world of academia AND theological reflection in a fast-paced narrative that keeps the reader engaged and energized. The end result is a series of very enjoyable novels that edify as much as they entertain.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was hard to put down as you want to know what happens next. It also provides a well-reseached look at how young white males are recruited by white supremacists. Technology use is an important aspect of this in ways I was completely unaware of. I encourage reading of this intriguing book.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Mystery of Substance

Amsterdam of substance that delves into human motivations for good and evil. Thick, multi-layered investigation of temptations to violence and struggles for peace.