Mark Schweizer Books In Order

Publication Order of Liturgical Mysteries Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Mark Schweizer is one of the well known authors from The United States who likes to write his books based on the mystery and thriller genres. Apart from being an author, he is also a popular musician, music professor, and composer. Mark is the native of Florida in America and before going on to pursue his various professions, he obtained his music degrees from the Stetson University, located in DeLand, as well as from the Arizona University. His degrees also included a doctorate in the vocal performance. After trying his hand at the various professional jobs, author Mark returned to the Stetson University as a professor. Before that, he had taught for a period of 8 years at the Louisiana College, located in Pineville. His teaching stint has also taken him to Murray State University, South University, Austin Peay University, and the Hopkinsville Community College, for short durations. As far as the music career of author Mark is concerned, he is a bass-baritone and has achieved the feat of performing with a number of regional opera companies all over the country. His appearances as a bass soloist in oratorio and solo recital include collaborations with the Atlanta Symphony and Robert Shaw. As of today, author Mark is he editor and president of the St. James Music Press, located in Tyron, North Carolina. As a writer, Mark is quite popular for writing down the successful St. Germaine mysteries. This mystery series is also known by the name, ‘The Liturgical Mystery’ series. He is still active as an editor, composer, librettist, and arranger.

The works of author Mark as a composer primarily consist of choral works for the sacred uses such as church musicals and operas. Author Mark was born on January 1, 1956, in The United States. In the year 1974, he graduated from high school and decided not to pursue his family’s architectural business. Instead, he dreamed of becoming an opera singer. Eventually, he fought against all the obstacles and jokes made about him and enrolled himself at the Music School in Stetson University. Today, he believes that everything that happened in his life was for a reason and he enjoys his life as a composer, author, and musician. Author Mark is also an established publisher in Tyron, North Carolina, and is supported by his loving wife Donis, a couple of children, and an equal number of grandchildren. When Mark began his writing career initially, his writing was considered to be quite bad. In fact, he was awarded with a distinction of Dishonorable Mention at the Bulwer-Lutton Contest in the year 2006. This contest is popular for letting the entrants compete for a dubious honor of composing the worst opening sequence in an imaginary book. Author Mark says that whatever careers he chose in his life, he was always supported by his wife Donis, who believed that it was never boring to see Mark working for numerous jobs. The book that he wrote in the ‘bad writing contest’ is now published under the title ‘The Alto Wore Tweed’. It has become quite popular for its original content and is followed by several other exciting books in the mystery series. Almost all the books in The Liturgical Mystery series have won prestigious awards.

The Liturgical Mystery series written by author Mark Schweizer consists of 12 books in total, published between the years 2002 and 2015. The first book in the series is titled as ‘The Alto Wore Tweed’. It was released by the St. James Press in the year 2002. At the beginning of the book, it is shown that Hayden Konig works as a police chief in the small town of St. Germaine, located in North Carolina. However, he works as a part-time organist and choir director at the St. Barnabas Church. Hayden Konig also seems excited to write a hard-boiled thriller novel with a bad story so as to win the Fiction Contest for bad writing. Being independently rich, Chief Konig thinks that his poor talent of writing can be easily remedied. He even purchases a Raymond Chandler Underwood typewriter to enhance his writing skills. It turns out that his book opens with unexpectedly great reviews. But, instead of rejoicing in his success, Hayden Konig gets involved in a few problems in his life. A Christmas feud between the Kiwinians and Rotarians, discovery of a dead body in the church’s choir loft, and the arrival of a new priest at the st. Barnabas Church, tend to keep Chief Konig busy. The tension continues to rise as the Christmas approaches nearer. The various turns of events described in the book by author Mark are written in a hilarious manner which tend to make the readers laugh out loud.

The next book in The Liturgical Mystery series was released under the title ‘The Baritone Wore Chiffon’. It was published by the St. James Music publishers in the year 2004. In this novel too, Hayden Konig is described as the lead character working as the police chief of the St. Germaine town in North Carolina. It is depicted that he is trying to write a second novel based on the Chandler-style. However, things do not go as well as he had thought. After a short while, Chief Konig gets called to England in order to help solve a murder case in Yorkminster. When he arrives in England, it is the time of the beginning of the Lent season, and he comes to know an interim priest has been appointed at the St. Barnabas Church, who also seems to have a wife. This priest’s wife seems to have an agenda of her own. Along with the difficulty of this case, Hayden Konig is also made to deal with several other hectic problems such as the snakes set loose in the church, a dwarf verger called as Wenceslas, a Clown Eucharist, and Altar Guild of Fung Shui. As the Easter approaches nearer, Chief Konig becomes successful in finding that the roots of the of the Yorkminster murder case run beyond the England’s borders. However, the number of dead bodies continues to rise and Chief Konig knows that he has landed himself a grave problem and must solve it as soon as possible.