Customer Reviews

A Death at St Anselm's

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

 

 

Fawcett is one of the best publishers of now vintage mystery books. This one is a cut above most murder-crime mysteries. The Reverend Claire Aldington is a sympathic, fully-drawn character.

Here's the basic plot in case you're trying to find the book:
The grisly murder of wheelchair bound church treasurer, Dick Grism. His tight control on the holy purse strings had made him less than popular. The weapon was an invaluable bookend taken from the dead man's shelf. All the gruesome evidence points to New York City's Reverend Claire Aldington, a beautiful widow struggling to keep her family together after her husband's death. She cannot believe that anyone would think her a killer. She's forced to try to clear her name, unearthing dark, damning and painful secrets both clerical and personal.

I own, and admit to occasionally re-reading, all 5 titles in the St. Anselm's series by Isabelle Holland. I enjoy the main character, Claire Aldington, but get frustrated when I find mistakes in this series (this is the first book of five). Where was the editor? Characters change their names slightly from book to book and details are also recapped wrongly as the books progress. I also can find the plots from other Isabelle Holland books (which I enjoy more perhaps because they have no sequels to be messed up) in this series. The lack of editing bothers me a lot, so if you like consistant details, watch out! But the stories are interesting nevertheless...they just make you want to do some rewriting to make these books better!

I own, and admit to occasionally re-reading, all 5 titles in the St. Anselm's series by Isabelle Holland. I enjoy the main character, Claire Aldington, but get frustrated when I find mistakes in this series (this is the first book of five). Where was the editor? Characters change their names slightly from book to book and details are also recapped wrongly as the books progress. I also can find the plots from other Isabelle Holland books (which I enjoy more perhaps because they have no sequels to be messed up) in this series. The lack of editing bothers me a lot, so if you like consistant details, watch out! But the stories are interesting nevertheless...they just make you want to do some re-writing!