Dead Man in Paradise

A Catholic missionary priest from Canada was shot dead one hot night in June 1965. Two policemen, who had apparently murdered him, were themselves found shot to death yards from his body. Forty years later, the priest's nephew returned to the island to investigate the murders and their background. This is his story.

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A small part of that darkness is unforgettably explored in this, J. B. Mackinnon's first book. The author's uncle, a Catholic missionary priest from Canada, was shot dead one hot night in June 1965. Two policemen, who had apparently murdered him, were themselves found shot to death yards from his body. Not long before, the US had invaded the Dominican Republic in order to prevent a mildly reformist government from coming to power; and a couple of years before that, the long, bizarre reign of the dictator Trujillo had come to an end in a bloody tangle of intrigue and violence. The mystery of the priest's death was never solved. Forty years later, his nephew returned to the island to investigate the murders and their background. His courageous research has allowed him to write a masterly combination of real life thriller, travelogue and memoir. "Dead Man in Paradise" evokes the vibrant, fevered atmosphere of a poor and beautiful country that does not encourage too much examination of its past.
Mackinnon meets former generals and politicians and revolutionaries, and ageing priests and villagers who remember all too well what it was like to live in mortal fear if they dared to challenge the landowners and the police. In the tradition of Philip Gourevitch and Adam Hochschild, this is a great piece of storytelling about politics and crime.