Argyle eased the warm loaf right and left and downed swift gulps of beer and venial sin then lit into the bread now leavened with the corpsersquo;s cardinal mischiefs, then he said ldquo;Six pence, Irsquo;m sorry.rdquo; And the widow paid him. 160; So opens the unsanctioned priesthood of The Sin-eater: A Breviarymdash;Thomas Lynchrsquo;s collection of two dozen, twenty-four line poemsmdash;a book of hours in the odd life and times of Argyle, the sin-eater. Celtic and druidic, scapegoat and outlier, a fixture in the funerary landscape of former centuries, Argylersquo;s doubt-ridden witness seems entirely relevant to our difficult times. His ldquo;loaf and bowl,rdquo; consumed over corpses, become the elements of sacrament and sacrilege. By turns worshipful and irreverent, good-humored and grim, these poems examine the deeper meanings of Eucharist and grace, forgiveness and faith, atonement and reconciliation. With photographs by Michael Lynch and cover art by Sean Lynch, the authorrsquo;s sons.