Customer Reviews

The Christmas Night Murder (Christine Bennett Mysteries)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Christine Bennet is an enjoyable addition to the light mystery genre. This is the in the middle of the collection and it is better to read them from the beginning so go out and find the others. The newest in the line is Father's Day Murder and I look forward to finally getting to it before to long.

Again, looking for light summer reading? Here's a good one.

Lee Harris (a pseudonym) must like holidays, as all 14 of her Christine Bennett stories center around special days like Thanksgiving or Father's Day or Labor Day, etc. The stories follow a reasonably predictable pattern in which our early-30's leading lady, Chris, who with only a part-time teaching job to drain her resource of time, gets involved in missing persons or murder cases that either due to the passing of time or some other form of dis-interest are getting little or no police attention. Chris is a charming character who is new to much of the secular world having been a nun at St. Stephen's for fifteen years, arriving as a young, orphaned teenager. Her occasional naivete and fresh outlook on life adds different perspective to the stories, yet her own sincerity and persistence is usually what leads her to clue after clue til the mystery is solved. When things get tough, Chris is newly married to a NYC police detective, so he can conveniently get her data, trace phone calls, or call in favors to help our informal sleuth make forward progress.

The story at hand arises from a Christmas celebration at St. Stephen's that goes sour when a beloved former resident priest turns up missing at the last minute. The discovery of some of his clothes and his car soon point to foul play, but we get strung along for most of the book as the plot not only takes a few turns, but involves an older mystery (from seven years prior) that in a burst of tidiness gets cleaned up along with our priest by the final chapter. There are a few somewhat implausible parts of the book, like when Chris starts tailing suspects in her car or the inevitable few things people suddenly remember or find (after nearly a decade) and are nice enough to call Chris; but the writing style and action are generally as relaxed as are we as we read these light but entertaining stories.

The characters' lives evolve a little from book to book, so reading them in order might make sense, though it's certainly not necessary. We are also glad to report that the ex-nun angle leads to no Catholic proselytizing; indeed, Chris's best friend Melanie is Jewish, and so far, our author has even resisted what might be some interesting byplay from that scenario. So -- by the fire or at the beach, tough to go far wrong with a nice clean story with Lee Harris & Christine Bennett.

Chris Bennett-Brooke, a bride of only four months, is looking forward to spending Christmas with husband, Jack, in the place that was her home for 15 years, the Convent of St. Stephens. She is especially looking forward to renewing her friendship with Father Hudson McCormick, who has been working with the Indian population in the desert Southwest for the past seven years. But Father McCormick never reaches the Convent and items of clothing, left in the snow at a freeway rest stop, make a strong case that his disappearance may be a case of kidnapping or car hijacking.

The local police investigate but find no substantive leads. So their tact is to "wait and see what develops". But Christine's instincts are telling her that the longer they wait, the more likely that there will be a bad ending for Henry Hudson McCormick and bad news for the nuns who have loved and admired him for so many years.

Author Lee Harris has given her readers another tightly plotted mystery filling with interesting, complex characters and lots of twists and turns. Her amateur detective, Chris Bennett, is down to earth, easy to identify with and clever at following up on even the tiniest clue to get the answers that are needed to solve the mystery disappearance of her friend. At the same time, she uncovers some revealing facts in the death by suicide of a troubled young woman, who was once a novice at St. Stephens. For she suspects that, even though seven long years have passed since her death, that it, in some way, relates to the disappearance of Father McCormick. Will the solution come in time to save the priest?

The book came quickly and in excellent condition. I was delighted to see that it came from a place close to my winter home in St Pete.

A little too much repetition in the story and a little too much I, I, I--too much Chris--needs more of a sidekick character to break the monotony. Ending also a bit flat.

This book is for readers who want a nice, clean holiday "cozy" with no explicit sex or violence, and few obscenties. In the story, an amateur sleuth (Christine Bennett, an ex-nun) solves the disappearance of a beloved priest by delving into past secrets. She is helped by the moral support of her husband and friends from her former convent, all wholesome types with no character defects.

In keeping with the tone of the plot, the ex-nun's unworldly point of view is projected onto other characters, who cannot bring themselves to speak of certain happenings. They impede the investigation until they finally speak up, and the mystery is solved.

While this book will appeal to some readers, I only gave it one star for its writing style. The narrative and dialog are simple, flat and lack complexity, as if they were intended for an audience with low reading ability. Had it not been my mystery book club's December selection, I would not have bothered to finish it.