The most fun in the book, I thought, came from the bitterness of the search. One church lady denounces a female candidate, at one point, because she believes the job should go to a man. "We just aren't built the same way," she explains. A man, meanwhile, is hostile to a candidate he suspects is gay.
After several fun twists and turns, the book ends in an improbable, but exciting, way that makes Preaching to the Corpse, all in all, a very fun ride.