Sparrow Suprises

This Mary Russell writes comedy so well!! The repartee between the characters at dinner are intelligent and hilarious. I want to be Anne's dinner guest. I already love Emilio the reformed Puerto Rican drug dealer who was saved by entering the priesthood. I have had a fascination with Jesuits ever since studying their inception of and involvement in the Sandinista movement in 1980's Nicaragua. Bad-Ass Holy Men! And Anne, the MD-agnostic-braniac with a mouth of a sailor and a heart of gold--what can I say--I love her too-an older woman who is still very much sentient and sensual. I love how she cooks food from the ethnic/cultural background of her guest. And Sophia, the Sephardic Jew intellectual slave (what a creatice concept),--I want so badly for her to get kissed by Emilio! She needs it desparately. I also like the way Russell shows the media frenzy/misinformation surrounding the discovery of the Singers. The whirl of rumor/skepticism, conflated with the inability of established power to act efficiently enough to form a mission that took the Jesuits relative moments to put together, was so ironic, yet believable. You gotta know the Jesuits. This book has more cussing in it than I have ever read. I am not comfortable with the amount (cuss words should be like salt and pepper-used sparingly for the best effect) and not sure why she adds so much--is it to give emphasis to the beauty of imperfect reality? Is this how people she knows really talk? What do you think so far?