Murder in an Orchard Cemetery by Cora Harrison

Sister is surprised to hear the sound of a bomb outside the convent.  She was on retreat and not fond of political candidates being there as well.  Now one of them was dead.

Canongate and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published on September 7th.

The body was in pieces but they knew who he was.  Was it the IRA?  Who killed him?

The sisters work on trying to make sense of it.  It was a homemade bomb and they learned how it was done.

Every path taken ends up being a dead end.  Then his daughter who has diphtheria and is a nun confesses.  Is it the truth? 

Season of Darkness by Cora Harrison

Inspector Fields showed Dickens and Collins the body of a young woman pulled from the river.  He never expected Dickens to recognize her and get involved in the case.

Severn House and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published July 1st.

Dickens helps pay for a house where female orphans are taken in.  He met her there but she didn't stay too long.  She was a little too mouthy and mindful to fit in well and she found another home where she could serve as a servant and she and her friend went there together.  How did she end up strangled in the river?

As Dickens works on the case, the other girl sends him off on another path by pretending there are notes hidden in the dead girl's room.  She figures the dead girl was blackmailing someone and she wants that money.

Dickens persists in his investigation and finds out what Isabella knew.  Now he just has to figure out a few more things and he will have the killer's name.  He soon figures out the notes are not from Isabella.  While he's working this all out, the other girl is putting herself in danger.  Will he be in time to save her?

Beyond Absolution: A mystery set in 1920s Ireland by Cora Harrison

When a young boy says that the priest in the confessional didn't speak to him, they check to see what's going on.  He's dead but it's not from natural causes...

Severn House and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published August 1st.

Reverend Mother Aquina has known this priest and his brother from childhood.  Father Dominic often stepped over the line and held masses that the republicans could attend.  He visited picket lines.  Even the bishop had tried to reprimand him but it hadn't worked.  Now he's dead.  Did the republicans kill him?  After all the church is attended by members of the other side.  Reverend Mother thinks not.  She does suspect a local business owner who was there and not a member of the church.  When she begins to ask questions about him, she finds out he's not what he seemed to be...

With two warring factions involved with the characters of the story, it gets complex and becomes hard to weed out true facts.  Some things are assumptions, some are just blaming the other side, and some are highly suspicious.

Before the story is through, they've found wrongdoers all around and the murderer is no one you'd ever suspect.  You can feel the tension and the stress of the time.  This was an interesting read.

A Shameful Murder: A Reverend Mother mystery by Cora Harrison

Reverend Mother Aquinas never expected to find a dead body at the gate of the convent chapel and she certainly didn't expect it to be tied to her past.  She was seventy now and had left that world behind.  But it hasn't left her behind...

Severn House and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published September 1st, so you can snag a copy then.

Nuns have always fascinated me.  I went to a parochial school (St. Joseph's in Chehalis, WA) and our teachers were nuns.  They always wore these strange uniforms, were staid and steadfast, and you never got away with anything.  Most were very intelligent women and I learned a lot from them.  So when this nun is involved with this case, I knew it was going to be a fun read for me despite the murder.

The young woman is identified as the daughter of a monied man.  When the police check into the matter, they find that the woman was just about of age to collect her inheritance, which would have left her father and brother destitute.  The assumption is that of them has killed her.  Reverend Mother isn't so certain, though.

First she discovers that while the young woman resembles the daughter, she's not.  She's a prostitute's child and was fathered by that fine society man who "lost" his daughter.  That adds a whole new angle to the case.  She also locates the missing girl because of her knowledge about the past.

The nun goes back in history and drags out facts to support her suppositions.  I was amazed at who the killer was.  The guilty party was not even on my list of suspects!

When the killer is identified, he commits suicide.  The police superintendent just lets it die a quiet death so it won't become a big news item and embarrass people.  I'm glad the nun knows an independent journalist.  It won't be under the rug for long...

I like this new team of nun, retired doctor and an up and coming young detective.  They make a mean team (and eat lots of pastries).  I hope to read more in this series.