Quaker Silence

Elizabeth Elliot Mystery #1

by Irene Allen

What happens when murder strikes at the heart of the nonviolent Quaker community? Here is the debut of a refreshing and beguiling mystery series with a new sleuth in the time-honored tradition of Miss Marple - yet with a brilliant deductive style that's all her own. Elizabeth Elliot is a widow of some years and considerable moral authority. Since girlhood she has drawn inner strength from her beloved Quaker worship and just recently has been elected to serve as clerk of the Quaker Meeting in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Elizabeth's worries about her ability to carry out the everyday duties of the job - leading the congregation in prayerful meditation, balancing the budget, etc. - are put aside, though, when she receives the shocking news that a prominent member of the meeting has been found murdered in his garden! The victim is John Hoffman, a wealthy businessman near retirement who is just preparing, he has announced to the entire congregation, to alter his will. Obviously many people would rather he did not leave most of his estate to charity, yet the police focus their investigation on Tim, a young homeless man who attends the meeting and whom John Hoffman occasionally hired to work in his garden. Not surprisingly, Tim is unable to supply a convincing alibi, yet Elizabeth is certain that he is innocent. She rises to the occasion, standing up to the police, who are eager to convict an indigent man, and doing some wildly inventive and daring detective work that makes surprising use of Quaker practices and philosophy. Before she finally confronts the killer, Elizabeth will sift through a myriad of red herrings and seemingly unrelated clues and secrets. For within the blessed "Quaker silence" is greed, forbidden love, and vengeful anger struggling to find a voice. Mixing timeless philosophy with contemporary concerns, Irene Allen's Quaker Silence marks the beginning of an outstanding mystery series.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

210 pages, Hardcover

First published October 6, 1992

About the author

Irene Allen is the pen-name of Dr E Kirsten Peters, former faculty member in Washington State University's Department of Geology. She is a native of rural Washington State who graduated with a degree in geology from Princeton University in 1984. She earned her doctorate from the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department at Harvard University in 1990. She has also done published research in the late-Pleistocene outburst floods of eastern Washington State. Since 1995 she has taught undergraduate-level geology and interdisciplinary science classes at Washington State University in her hometown of Pullman, Washington. She became an assistant professor in the College of Sciences at WSU. She has written two non-traditional geology textbooks and helped revise Thomson's Essentials of Geology for its current edition.

Under her pen-name, Irene Allen, she is the author of four murder mysteries. She herself is a practising Quaker and regularly attended the Cambridge meetinghouse.

Reviews

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered this series about a year ago and am just now getting to the first in the series. Unfortunately, this author only wrote 4 mysteries. :(

These take place in a Quaker community in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The primary character is the Clerk of the local Meeting. I've always been drawn to the Quakers. My ancestors were Quakers who came to the US in the 17th Century. I've found their philosophy very compelling. Religious doctrine and theology is not nearly as important to them as the philosophy of living as Christ would want us to.

Each of the chapters is begun with a quote from a famous historical Quaker.

That's not to say the book is dominated by preaching far from it. But Quaker culture and society is featured highly. The mystery is interesting but what is more interesting is how it affects a local group of people.

Additionally, even though this book was written in 1990, it has very relevant subtheme dealing with gay marriage and gays in religion. It should be noted that this was 14 years before gay marriage became legal in Massachusetts in 2004. (Let us just say that culture and civilization hasn't collapsed in that state even though gay marriage has been legal for 10 years!)

[Emily Cullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

When one of the members of the Quaker Meeting in Harvard Square is murdered, clerk Elizabeth Elliot has to face the fact that someone among the Friends may well have committed the crime. After a homeless man is put in jail, Elizabeth sets out to prove his innocence. This "Elizabeth Elliot" cozy mystery series is fascinating to me as I am interested in the Quaker lifestyle. The mystery is good and 66 year old Elizabeth is a good sleuth. There are only four books in this series but I am definitely moving on to number two!

[Eden · Rating 5 out of 5]

2021 bk 314. I first read this back in the mid 1990's and was delighted when I found it again recently. It's not a thriller or super exciting, but something about Allen's style and subject matter stuck with me. In fact, I took a quote from a chapter beginning and have kept it on my refrigerator all of these years. The detective is an older woman of the Quaker faith, recently elected as the clerk of her meeting house. When an influential member of the group is murdered, Elizabeth feels called upon to investigate and mediate when a homeless attendee of the congregation is arrested. A well done mystery and the questions raised stay with me and were refreshed in this reading.

[Diana Sandberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, very nice indeed. I did pretty well figure out whodunit fairly early, but the mystery story clicks along nicely all the same, the ending had its unexpected aspects, and the characters and storytelling are excellent. I was deeply impressed by the author’s ability to focus on the spiritual nature of the characters, to make that a very important part of the work, without once becoming the least bit preachy - or boring, either. I was very involved. Good stuff

[Awallens · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's very little gore and guts in this mystery. Instead you'll find a lot of information about Quakers, their beliefs, their philosophies and how that manifests itself in today's world. the mystery is almost secondary in this novel, and it worked. It will be interesting to see how it plays itself out in the next few books.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me, this series is more about daily life of a modern urban Quaker, not so great as a whodunnit. It illustrates several ethical issues that modern Quakers deal with, like gender equality, same-sex relationships, and economic inequities. I enjoy getting inside the head of Elizabeth Elliot, a woman trying to live intentionally and be true to her faith.

[Jenny O · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved both of Irene Allen's books (I only found the first two) and will look for the others. The mysteries were good, and the description of a little known (to me) religious practice was super interesting. I also loved that her character was older and sometimes invisible, but also cunning and adept at all situations. Well written for an easy reading kind of experience.

[Dennis Fischman · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's funny: I've recently read two different mysteries set in Cambridge, MA, around the environs of Harvard--this one and The Memorial Hall Murder, and they couldn't be more different. Jane Langton created quirky characters, some lovable (like Homer Kelly) and some so villainous you could almost hear them spit with every sentence.

Irene Allen takes a different tack. Her people are flawed characters striving to be good, no matter what role they play in the story. Her detective, 66-year-old Elizabeth Elliot, can sometimes be self-righteous (and she knows it, and deplores it) and sometimes bend corners on ethical issues when she feels she hears a higher call out of the silence. I would not want to be her friend, but I will want to spend more time in her company by reading the next book in the series.

I will ask a friend of mine who attends Quaker meetings in Cambridge today whether the description of prayer and business meetings rings true. I suspect it does. On the other hand, when Elizabeth's niece Sarah is dating a Jewish guy and he says he "reads" Friday nights at Hillel, I have to shake my head and say, "Good try at cultural awareness, but not even close!"

[Scilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elizabeth Elliot is the Clerk of the Cambridge Quaker Meeting. At the meeting, an older Quaker, John Hoffman, who is quite rich, talks about giving away his money and changing his way of life. The next day Elizabeth finds him dead in his garden with his head bashed in. Tim, a homeless member of the congregation is arrested for the murder, and Elizabeth is sure he didn't do it. Thus, she works to free Tim and investigates to try to find the culprit. Hoffman has left most of his money to his nephew, Bill, who is in the process of becoming a judge, with a fairly large gift to the Quaker Meeting. Meanwhile, Elizabeth's niece Sarah is dating a Jewish man at Harvard. Sarah wants to be a doctor, and her beau, Steven, wants her to convert so their children can be Jewish. As well as being a good mystery, this book tells you a lot about Quakers.

[Marybeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

As much as I wanted to like this book, because I've always been fascinated by the Quaker faith, I just couldn't get through it. The story sounded interesting and I was looking forward to finding out about what it's like to be a Quaker from the inside, so to speak, but I bailed after the second or third chapter. I couldn't engage with the writing at all. It was 95% exposition from multiple viewpoints and only 5% dialog. That's a really heavy, plodding way to present a mystery and I couldn't even bring myself to care who dunnit. Based on the reviews here I may be in the minority, so I won't recommend it but neither will I suggest not reading it. YMMV so if it sounds intriguing, do give it a try. Maybe you'll like it more than I did.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just discovered this author & series today while browsing the library stacks. Quick read, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I appreciated the insights into the Quaker worship practices, as much as the mystery that carries the story.
Ready to read the second book in the series next!

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the strongest cozy mystery. The need to infuse and teach Quakerism often got in the way of the story, and being a Quaker, there was a sense of legalism that made me cringe a little. However, context is also important - the fact that it was written in the early 90's.

[Sarah Morenon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me. Too heavy-handed on the Quaker thought, and I'm a member of Providence Quaker Meeting! The author explains it all pretty well, but jeesh! SO, I looked at the last chapter, I know whodunit, good enough for me.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plodding and stilted.

[Laura Fitzpatrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well written cozy mystery that turned out a little more complicated than it originally seemed. I really enjoyed all the information about Quaker practices that was neatly woven into the story.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

good values and depiction of life in the 1980s

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. It’s exactly 30 years old now (published in 1991), and is like no other cozy I’ve ever read. It’s literally about Quakers, solving a murder amongst themselves. I suspect this would not appeal to most mainstream readers, but I really liked it! There was lots about Quaker decorum in it, and I felt like the characters were very relatable. The protagonist was a rare find—a single woman in her 60s who cooks her own meals, frequently struggles with arthritis, and can’t decide if it is too immodest to buy a new car because her 15-year old one is dying. I would read further in this series, though they seem hard to find.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quaker Clerk Elizabeth Elliot is certain that the homeless man of their congregation did not kill one of their leading members. An announcement that the wealthy businessman had made in worship indicated that he was making some changes in his will--changes that could negatively affect his nephew who was seeking a judgeship and his business partner as well. Elizabeth tries to talk with the local police, but finds that they had a predisposition to accuse the homeless man and did not want to consider other options.
Various people were characterized to appear to have a motive for the killing, and it is up to Elizabeth to discover the truth.

[Gloria · Rating 3 out of 5]

As mysteries go, there are others that are more well "mysterious" but that is not why I chose to read this. This is a cozy mystery that is not cutesy however. I read it because through story, it reveals a great deal about the Quaker way of thinking and acting, something I am interested in. The beginning had a bit of an unwieldy start as the author tried to introduce a somewhat large cast of characters. Once that was established, however, the mystery unfolded nicely. A nice story, just not a great one.

[CLM · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of interest primarily for its depiction of the Quaker community in Cambridge, MA. Although published in 1992, it reads as if written much earlier than that.

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cleaning off my shelves. Not bad.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like Irene Allen's mysteries. While they are not serious literature, they are pleasing diversions that take you into a fictionous serene Quaker community. Definitely books to enjoy.

[Mollie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I learned a little bit about the Quaker religion which was good but otherwise I did not find the plot or the writing particularly compelling.

[Mimi Winder · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, easy to read, simple