Seed of Doubt is the sixteenth mystery to feature Roger Dowling, the insightful and understanding priest of Fox River, Illinois. Seed of Doubt marks a departure from the earlier books in the series, known for their humor, humanity, and grasp of religious issues. More rich and complex than ever before, McInerny's latest effort weaves past and present motives and events, plunging Father Dowling into the heart of the conflicted Sinclair family. Margaret Sinclair, a wealthy dowager and member of Dowling's parish, dies suddenly and suspiciously, a full oxygen tank easily within her reach, her private nurse out of earshot. The owner of a collection of landscape paintings by a famous American artist, Sinclair herself appeared in one of the few portraits the artist ever painted. As the family squabbles over the contents of the will, it becomes clear to Father Dowling that neither the old woman's life nor her death was ordinary. Then a second death occurs in the Sinclair mansion, and a tragic mystery from the old woman's youthful honeymoon reemerges to affect her heirs. Both are somehow connected to the portraits, as Father Dowling probes for the truth about a complicated family.