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Loading... Novena for Murder (A Sister Mary Helen Mystery) (original 1984; edition 2005)by Carol Anne O'Marie
Work InformationA Novena for Murder by Sister Carol Anne O'Marie (1984)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. I enjoyed this book for its setting (Lone Mountain College for Women in San Francisco, although she gives it another name) and for the portrait it gives of an era, but it's a mannered portrait and feels false 30 years later. (This is in contrast to Dorothy Sayer's mysteries.) My mother went to Lone Mountain for a year in the early 40s. It's nickname then was "San Francisco's college for lonely women." (It might have been "Holy Hill",too; I just never heard that.) When I was at USF, I would sometimes trudge up Lone Mountain's hill to use their stunning library, set in a Gothic style building with brilliant blue carpets and a deep silence. This is a rare book - one I started,but didn't finish. My roommate happened to notice it, and thought I might enjoy a catholic mystery story. And I probably would, just not this one. It's a pleasant enough cozy mystery, but not good enough that I wanted to keep reading it. The writing was okay, and the plot wasn't too terrible. The painfully stereotypical characters were grating, and despite my affection for Miss Marple, I thought I might scream if Sister Mary Helen mentioned her again. A sweet and sassy cozy featuring a 70 year old nun as the amateur sleuth. Sent against her wishes to her alma mater to "retire,' Sr. Mary Helen finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation, helping a former student who is now a San Francisco police detective find out the who and why. A nice afternoon's read--perfect for the fog and rain of the San Francisco setting. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to Series
Readers have come to delight in the murder-solving exploits of septuagenarian Sister Mary Helen, a nun with a nose for trouble. Publishers Weekly calls the Sister Mary Helen Mysteries "refreshingly different". Once you meet this spry, clever sleuth, you'll want to make a habit of reading her adventures again and again. Sister Mary Helen isn't ready for retirement. Instead she's arrived at a San Francisco women's college to teach history and perhaps shake things up. An earthquake does that before she can, and amid the rubble lies a body. An "Act of God" is not responsible for the death, but rather murder. One of Sister Helen's fellow nuns begins a novena to St. Dismas, "the Good Thief" predicting the saint will reveal the murderer within nine days. Sure enough the police soon nab a suspect...but Sister Mary Helen believes it's the wrong man and begins her own pursuit of the killer. Her motive is justice...and her inspiration, simply divine. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Instead of immersing herself in research, Sister Mary Helen finds herself investigating the murder of Professor Villanueva, which has happened shortly after her arrival. The investigation turns up some ugly doings that are known of by many of the Portuguese at the college. Villanueva helped them to come to the US for a better life. It seems Villanueva is not the saintly man he portrays to people.
Detectives Murphy and Gallagher, assigned to the case, find that the information Mary Helen finds is more pertinent to the case that what they are able to find, and worth paying attention to. Sister Mary Helen has learned quite a bit, during her school years. What people say, what is actually meant, the appearances and what is perceived are not always the truth.
The story is along the lines of Miss Marple. An older character who uses her observations of life to unravel the clues to who “dunnit.” I believe there are two more books of this character and I plan to find them. Enjoyable reading. ( )