Hasty Retreat (Mother Lavinia Grey Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Kate Gallison (Author)

Book Description

Series: Mother Lavinia Grey Mysteries | Publication Date: June 9, 1997

Though relieved to take a much needed respite from her duties at St. Bede's Episcopal Church, Mother Vinnie finds that parish politics have followed her on a weekend retreat to the Monastery of St. Hugh in upstate New York.  Led by Brother Basil, a devout and erudite monk, the retreat takes a bad turn when Father Rupert Bingley, Mother Vinnie's archnemesis, shows up at St. Hugh accompanied by a pompous politico, a wiggly blonde, and an assortment of other charming oddballs.

From there, things only get worse. Poor Brother Basil is found murdered, and questions need to be answered posthaste: Who on the retreat was guarding a deadly secret? How did the elderly monk's presence threaten to reveal that secret? And where would the killer strike next? Watch as the mother of all sleuths unravels this unholy mystery.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Mother Lavinia Grey, vicar of St. Bede's in Fisherville, New Jersey, escapes?with a few parishioners?to an Episcopal monastery on the Hudson for a few days of quiet. Unfortunately, other guests include the Rev. Rupert Bingley, who wants to shut down Lavinia's church, and racist politician Rodman Sedgewick, who once tried to brain Lavinia with a polo mallet. When someone murders an aged brother at the monastery, Lavinia's suspicions naturally turn to Rodman. Lightweight entertainment accompanied by a few laughs, odd-ball characters, and an offhanded protagonist. This mystery is fourth in a series (Unholy Angels, LJ 9/1/96) but the first in hardcover.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Some retreat. Even the Smartts, the newlyweds who accompany Mother Lavinia Grey, pastor of St. Bede's Episcopal Church, for a weekend at St. Hugh's priory, spell trouble. (Their name should really be the Lustfulls.) And when she finds that the assembled flock includes her old nemesis Father Rupert Bingley and detestable lawyer/politico Rodman Sedgewick (whose wife thinks he's come to St. Hugh's for a tryst with Mother Grey), she can see how the Great Silence enjoined from dusk till dawn might be the most sociable time all weekend. When Sedgewick's old math teacher, Brother Basil, is killed with one of Delight van Buskirk's knitting needles, Mother Grey--enjoying her hardcover debut after three paperbacks--not only can't prevent the local law from finding out about Brother Christophe, a novice who's hiding in St. Hugh's illegally, but she can't even prevent him from being dragged away in cuffs as the number-one suspect. Still, she fights back--with plots against Sedgewick (``In my heart I know he's guilty,'' she says calmly), with questions about St. Hugh's antiques, and finally with perhaps the most offhand unmasking of a criminal in mystery fiction. Mild, well-bred work from Gallison (Jersey Monkey, 1992, etc.), most likely to appeal to readers whose pulses quicken at the prospect of a page-and-a-half chart on ``The Critical Half- Hour.'' -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press; First Edition edition (June 9, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385318960
• ISBN-13: 978-0385318969
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,878,490 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Winner of the New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance fiction prize for The Edge of Ruin, Kate Gallison writes the Emily Daggett Weiss silent movie mysteries under the name of Irene Fleming.

As Kate Gallison she wrote the acclaimed Mother Lavinia Grey murder mystery series about the struggles of a woman priest in the Episcopal church in a small New Jersey town, and another series about Nick Magaracz, a Trenton private detective.

She lives in Lambertville, New Jersey, with her husband and their cat. She is descended from a convicted Salem witch.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Mother, with the help of friends, sorts it all out..., August 29, 2005

By 

A. Calabrese "othernj" (NJ--United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hasty Retreat (Mother Lavinia Grey Mysteries) (Hardcover)

This is my first introduction to the mystery writings of Kate Gallison, a fellow Jerseyite. A pleasant introduction to her Mother Lavinia Grey mysteries. I picked this book up on a whim, as I usually don't read fiction. I just wanted something light that would hold my interest and Hasty Retreat answered that request on both accounts.

First off, if your Roman Catholic, like me, you think Mother Superior, but Mother Lavinia Grey is an Episcopal Priest, so one must get the title Mother straight. Once I got beyond that it was smooth sailing.

In my book you can never go wrong in setting a mystery in a monestery. If you liked The Name of the Rose by Eco and The Haunted Monastery by Van Gulik you will certainly enjoy Hasty Retreat. This mystery has great characters beside Mother Grey, I especially enjoyed Deacon Deedee. My only negative about this book is that the dialogue in the beginning of the book is a bit choppy and at times I wondered who was actually speaking. But, as I read on the writer overcame this problem and good story development took over. Hasty Retreat is a good and enjoyable read.

4.0 out of 5 stars Mission furniture, October 9, 2003

By 

Mary E. Sibley (Carneys Point, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Hasty Retreat (Mother Lavinia Grey Mysteries) (Hardcover)

What is sacrament? What is mission furniture? This is a sprightly funny mystery with ecclesiastical trappings. Actual mission furniture is functional. Hospitality is a ministry. A stay in a monastery guesthouse could be refreshing. The site is across the Hudson from Hyde Park. A group from a rival church appears at the monastery guesthouse.

Mother Lavinia Grey had been hoping to have a sort of vacation. The chant of the monks of St. Hugh's is wonderful, she finds. Lavinia Grey is the pastor of St. Bede's, a declining congregation. She is afraid that the denominational missionary department may very well close the church, disband it. Brother Basil, eighty-five years old, ends up dead, stabbed by a knitting needle. He and the novice had moved a box from his room the previous evening. A Liberian, age 17, the novice, becomes the focus of the murder investigation.

The issue of pro bono representation of the Liberian causes problems in the employment sector among some of the guests. The matter of alibis at the probable time of death, between 11:30 and 1:00, is interesting, since someone believes her husband is involved in a dalliance with another guest. Some of the guests devise a timeline of sightings or probable sightings. Perhaps the killing is a case of mistaken identity. How many of the people present have a garment resembling a monk's robe it is wondered.

One of the guests is nearly asphyxiated by a plastic bag. Lavinia finds that someone has brought a fleshpot mentality to a spiritual retreat and she is annoyed. A monk maintains a furniture workshop. It is possible to make reproduction furniture in the mission style. It turns out the murder was committed to obtain a very expensive chair. The chair was pictured on a campaign poster. It is an enjoyable story.

4.0 out of 5 stars Different type of mystery., August 23, 2001

By 

Moe811 (New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hasty Retreat (Mother Lavinia Grey Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Mother Lavinia is not your average sleuth. She is the pastor of St. Bede's Church in Fisherville, NJ. The Church Hierarchy is not too fond of female clerics it seems and she had to constantly fight to keep her little church open. She goes on a retreat to a monastery in an effort to get some rest and contemplate her future. She sees immediately that she is going to get little rest. Her two parishoners the Smartts think that they are on a second honeymoon. Martine is in a foul mood about something, and the rest of the monastery has been booked by her nemesis and the politician who once tried t kill her with a polo mallet. Vinnie vows to make the best of it. Then, one of the monks is killed and Vinnie has to find out who did it in a very short period of time.

This novel takes place in a fairly unique setting, a non-catholic monastery. The characters are pretty interesting and the mystery very good. I am definitely going to read more of this series.