The ninth book in the delightful series featuring the intrepid nun-sleuth Sister Joan. The unconventional nun must learn the difference between adoration and infatuation and risk her own life, when she takes it upon herself to investigate two murders near her convent .
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
YA-A satisfying tale of mystery and murder. While exercising the convent's pony on the Cornish moors, Sister Joan stops to inspect an abandoned chapel. The body of the man she finds there seems to indicate foul play perpetrated by the landowner, Michael Peter. When Peter's wife is found to be missing, her sister shows up to enlist Sister Joan's help in locating her, and the two plots begin their slow merger toward several surprises and a unique ending. The interesting mix of seemingly incongruent story elements continues as Detective Sergeant Alan Mill and Sister Joan deepen their ties of loyalty and friendship. Black controls her characters with practiced ambiguity, building the events and factors of the murder around the people involved. The strength of the personalities allows the events to unfold naturally and come together dramatically. Leads that seem to have no connection, clues that appear to have no meaning, and details that casually surface all swirl together, producing one surprise after another. The pace is kept lively even during the digressions into contemporary convent life and routines. A well-crafted, enigmatic story.
Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
A ninth excursion into England's Cornwall, where the tiny Order of the Sisters of Compassion struggles to make ends meet and the Order's Sister Joan keeps getting involved in local police concerns (A Vow of Poverty, 1996, etc.). Walking one day into the empty schoolhouse on the moors where she'd once taught, Sister Joan finds the body of a man--his pockets empty of any identification. She calls the police station from a nearby dwelling where the friendly Mrs. Rufus keeps house for antiques dealer Michael Peter. The coroner pronounces the stranger's death a heart attack, and the case is closed. Meanwhile, Sister Joan has been approached by Caroline Hayes, a distraught young woman looking for her sister Crystal, recently married to Michael Peter. She and her invalid father were not invited to the wedding and haven't heard from Crystal in two months. Sister Joan, in conversation with Mrs. Rufus, was told that Crystal and her family were traveling on the Continent, an account confirmed by Michael Peter when Sister Joan visits his shop in town. In another foray to the Peter residence, Sister Joan uncovers hidden identification papers carrying the name of Crystal's father, purported by Caroline to be in the hospital. A robbery at Peter's house; Caroline's disappearance; a suitcase full of women's clothing found on a railway embankment; and a seemingly senseless murder lead our heroine to the bizarre scene where the even more bizarre answers to her questions are to be found. An exasperating jumble of convent routine, mini-sermons, contrivance, and coincidence. Strictly for Sister Joan's faithful fans. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good but not the best in the series,
By A Customer
This review is from: A Vow of Adoration (Sister Joan Mystery) (Hardcover)
In a chapel near her Cornish Moorís convent, Sister Joan, an experienced amateur detective of nine previous investigations, finds the corpse of a homeless man. Since her sleuthing buddies (Brother Cuthbert and Detective Mill) are both unavailable to help Joan, she begins to investigate the death of the mysterious man by herself. Adding to her non-Godly, activities is Caroline, who asks Joan to search for her missing sister Crystal. Joan starts that case by looking into the activities of the spouse, antique dealer and waxwork show owner Michael Peter. Both cases seem to intersect with Michael. Soon a second dead body surfaces, but this time it is clearly murder. As Sister Joan digs deeper into her case(s), she risks her own life from a dangerous killer who has a personal agenda to complete. VOWS OF ADORATION is a good who-done-it that brings the Cornish countryside to life and adds some insight into Sister Joan, within an interesting but secular story line. This particular novel's crimes, for the first time in the collection, are not linked to religion, thereby, losing the uniqueness that makes this a top rate series. Veronica Black demonstrates her tremendous writing abilities, but readers including fans wanting the true flavor of Sister Joan need to skip this worldly mystery and return to any and all of the previous eight reverent oriented who-done-its. Harriet Klausner
2.0 out of 5 stars
Quick Read if you Like Mystery of any Sort,
This review is from: A Vow of Adoration (Sister Joan Mystery) (Hardcover)
A very quick read by a competent writer, but not compelling in structure or writing style. Characters are not well developed, thus pushing the reader to the edge of "suspension of disbelief." I found the ending to be unsatisfactory in that it was cheapened by introducing an unlikely element that, prior to the ending, had been neither hinted at nor introduced. It was an easy way out for the author. This one volume ensured the Sister Joan series will not end up on my "to read" list.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sister act,
By
This review is from: A Vow of Adoration (Sister Joan Mystery) (Hardcover)
Sister Joan seems to be forever stumbling over dead bodies and, of course, this book is no exception. She takes the convent's horse out for an exercise run and comes across an old building which used to be a chapel. Upon investigation, she finds the dead body of a man who has no identification on him. She decides that he must be a homeless person and reports it to the police. She becomes acquainted with an antique dealer nearby and feels that some of his actions are suspicious and that he might be connected with the murder. Soon she is approached by the man's sister-in-law who expresses concern about her sister. She has not heard from her in some time and she wonders if some harm has come to her. The noose of suspicion tightens around the antique dealer and Sister Joan tries to decide what to do, since her detective friend, Alan Mill, is on vacation. The antique dealer is caught in more and more lies until Detective Mill returns and he and Sister Joan collaborate on the investigation. The ending is complicated and somewhat unexpected.
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