A Vow of Sanctity (Ulverscroft Large Print Series) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Veronica Black (Author)

Book Description

Series: Ulverscroft Large Print Series | Publication Date: December 1994

When Sister Joan travels up to Scotland to make a spiritual retreat, she expects a period of peace and meditation. But even here it proves impossible to escape entirely from the problems of the wider world. By the author of "My Name is Polly Winter" and "Vow of Chastity".

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Plucky and engaging Sister Joan, whose sleuthing was previously chronicled in A Vow of Silence and A Vow of Chastity , leaves her Cornwall convent for a month-long retreat in western Scotland. On excursions from her furnished cave, overlooking a beautiful loch and a nearby monastery which was originally a lookout post from which the natives hoped to spy maurauding Vikings, Joan is greeted with suspicion and hostility by the locals, who are mostly Calvinists. She also uncovers a number of mysteries to ponder when she is not praying. Why did Alasdair McKensie, a Catholic, disappear six years before? Did his wife kill him for having an affair with Catherine Sinclair, wife of the Protestant cleric? And was Catherine's death three months later a suicide or an accident? What of the nocturnal tryst of young Morag Sinclair with a cowled oarsman who could be the considerably older abbot of the monastery? After Joan observes modern shoes on one of the mummifed bodies of the supposedly ancient priests seated in a monastery crypt, the body disappears. Joan's bravery in battling a fierce freak tide leads to the recovery of that body and the unraveling of other puzzles. Her wit, true innocence, humility and joyous spirit win the admiration of villagers and readers alike. Black's other novels include last year's My Name Is Polly Winter.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Sister Joan, sometime sleuth of the order of the Daughters of Compassion (A Vow of Chastity, etc.), is spending the end of summer in a spiritual retreat in remotest Scotland--a one-person cave high above a loch. She's welcomed by members of the nearby monastery and decides to make and present a painting of their church in return for their hospitality. The villagers, mostly non-Catholic, are not so friendly, with the exception of store-owner Dolly McKensie and her son and helper Rory. Dolly's womanizing husband disappeared six years ago--around the time Catherine Sinclair, the local minister's wife, died of an accidental overdose of prescribed drugs. Ever since then, the Sinclairs' sullen, sultry daughter Morag has avoided once best friend Rory. Meanwhile, Sister Joan's painting sessions at the monastery are touched with unease; she senses hidden eyes upon her--a feeling heightened by a strange discovery in the church's crypt. The surfacing, in a sudden storm, of a body in the loch, raises a host of questions. The answers, as quietly ferreted out by Sister Joan, are intriguing but contrived, producing happy but unconvincing endings all round. Nicely done craggy, uncomfortable atmosphere for a benign kind of villainy. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Ulverscroft Large Print Books; Lrg edition (December 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0708931979
• ISBN-13: 978-0708931974
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,931,340 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good mystery to curl up with but not great literature, January 30, 2004

By 

M. C. Crammer (Decatur, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Vow of Sanctity (A Sister Joan Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a well-crafted mystery by an experienced author. What I liked best was Scottish setting and the main character, a Sister of the Daughters of Compassion who is on retreat in a loch-side cave in Scotland. The descriptions of the location were very vivid -- I could imagine it all in my mind, as though I was there -- and our detective-nun is likeable and good-humored. There is wit in the book but I wouldn't describe it as laugh out loud funny but a more subtle (and equally enjoyable) wittiness so typical of the British.

The plot involves glimpses of a body in a monastery that gets moved right after she notices it. Did she really see a body, and whose body is it (it's dressed like a monk), and who is moving the body? There is an array of characters to choose from as suspects (assuming there was a crime), including the monks at the monastery and the people living in this tiny and rather remote Scottish village.

My main complaint had to do with a final chapter in which all the answers were too quickly dropped into place. The solution didn't so much unfold as suddenly appear -- all of the solutions to all of the mysteries in this book. It was a little too contrived for me. But -- while I was reading the book, I couldn't put it down, and I would be interested in reading more by this author.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book. Best of the series so far., March 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Vow of Sanctity (Hardcover)

I have loved mysteries all my life. I have now retired, and have more time to read. I have spoken to the grade school librarian about this author. It is wonderful to find a book you can recommend to all ages. Even talked my husband into reading it. This book has a great story line, and the descriptions of the area are such that I can almost see the scenes.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sister Joan on retreat, August 27, 2001

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Vow of Sanctity (Hardcover)

Sister Joan had been involved in two unfortunate murder cases, so her prioress felt that she needed to go on retreat to Scotland in order to renew her spirituality. As isolated at the retreat is, it gives Sister Joan a bit more freedom and introduces her to a wild area of Scotland with some interesting townspeople. There is a decided anti-Catholic sentiment in the nearby village, but two families overcome their prejudice enough to invite Sister Joan for a meal. She discovers that there has been an unhappy history between the two families and they are currently estranged because of past romances. She spends some of her leisure time painting pictures of a monastery which is on an island which can only be reached by a rowboat, obligingly rowed for her by a young monk named Cuthbert. Of course the inevitable body shows up and Sister Joan is torn between her obligation to the monks and her responsiblity to report it to the police. As usual, she would rather solve the case herself than to turn it over to the local authorities. This is a good addition to the series and the loose ends are all cleverly tied up in the end.