After solving several mysteries with her father at the Divine Private Detective Agency, Sister Eve finds herself torn between her calling as a nun and the thrill that comes with detecting. She knows she’s been using her father’s health as an excuse to extend her leave of absence from the monastery, but that excuse is running thin. She prays that a return visit to the monastery for a conference on the Blue Nun will help bring clarity to her calling, but when the conference speaker is murdered, Sister Eve’s two worlds collide.
Sister Eve knows the number one suspect, the victim’s brother and monk in residence, couldn’t possibly have committed the crime, and she’s determined to find the real killer. To do so means she must track down some mysterious newly discovered writings from the Blue Nun, said to date from the 17th Century, when the sister bi-located to the New Mexico region from her home in Spain. Could these texts from long ago be the key to today’s mystery? And will they offer any guidance to Sister Eve as she chooses which calling to follow?
My Thoughts:
This book falls somewhere between cozy mystery and Catholic
Indian history book. Unfortunately, it does not pull either of those off well.
Sister Eve is a nun who may or may not continue to be a nun.
Upon learning of the death of one of her dear friends, she heads straight to
the scene and completely contaminates the evidence. From there, the story just
gets wackier.
Through a series of uneventful twists and turns, we watch
as Sister Eve attempts to solve the mystery of who killed Sister Kelley, and
where is her brother, Anthony. It does not take much for us to figure out who
the killer is, yet the author continues to try to keep our interest with many
other possibilities.
Between the story of the characters and the investigation
is a very lengthy history of the Catholic Indians native to New Mexico. While
the inner workings of the Catholic faith can be interesting, those of the
historic Catholic Indians not so much.
So basically, this was not the book for me.
Lynne Hinton is the pastor of St. Paul's United Church of
Christ in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The author of numerous novels including
Friendship Cake, Hope Springs, Forever Friends, Christmas Cake, and Wedding
Cake, she lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
