A Shameful Murder

Reverend Mother Mystery #1

by Cora Harrison

Introducing the Reverend Mother Aquinas in the first of a brand-new historical mystery series.

Cork, Ireland. 1923. When, one wet March morning, Reverend Mother Aquinas discovers a body at the gate of the convent chapel washed up after a flood ‘like a mermaid in gleaming silver satin’, she immediately sends for one of her former pupils, Police Sergeant Patrick Cashman, to investigate. Dead bodies are not unusual in the poverty-stricken slums of Cork city, but this one is dressed in evening finery; in her handbag is a dance programme for the exclusive Merchant’s Ball held the previous evening – and a midnight ticket for the Liverpool ferry.
Against the backdrop of a country in the midst of Ireland’s Civil War, the Reverend Mother, together with Sergeant Cashman and Dr Sher, an enlightened physician and friend, seek out the truth as to the identity of the victim – and her killer.

Genres: Mystery, Ireland, Historical Mystery, Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, Irish Literature

248 pages, Hardcover

First published July 31, 2015

About the author

Cora Harrison worked as a headteacher before she decided to write her first novel. She has since published twenty-six children's novels. My Lady Judge was her first book in a Celtic historical crime series for adults that introduces Mara, Brehon of the Burren. Cora lives on a farm near the Burren in the west of Ireland.

Reviews

[Fictionophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

“A Shameful Murder” has a beautiful cover and I confess it was the cover that first piqued my interest in the novel.

A well researched historical mystery set in Cork, Ireland in the early 192s – just after the War of Independence and the partitioning of the country – the novel introduces us to a trio of sleuths led by an unforgettable protagonist.

During this episode of Irish history Cork is a city with a precarious class structure of haves and have nots. The novel accurately depicts the social inequalities of the time with particular emphasis on the lack of women’s rights. The affluent live in mansions with servants. The poor exist with up to nine people living and sleeping in one room.

Cork is prone to flooding, and the year of 1923 was particularly bad. The River Lee encircles the city and the water is both above and beneath the streets.

Each chapter of “A Shameful Murder” is preceded by words of wisdom by Saint Thomas Aquinas from whom our protagonist took her name. Now in her seventies, Reverend Mother Aquinas leads a teaching order of nuns. She uses her keen intellect and empathy to it’s best effect when she discovers the body of a young woman washed up in the flood waters outside the convent. She sends for police Sergeant Patrick Cashman, a former pupil.

Part of a newly formed police force of ‘civic guards’ Patrick is well-suited to police work and makes up for his lack of cleverness by being diligent, hard-working, methodical and tenacious. He along with Dr. Scher, a friend of the Reverend Mother, round out a trio of sleuths who together solve the mystery of the young woman’s death.

The Reverend Mother came from an affluent background and she maintains an insider’s knowledge of the machinations of the upper class. When the body is identified by one of Cork’s rich patriarchs, she uses her contacts to help her gain a picture of what must have happened.

With themes of avarice and social injustice, the novel will appeal to anyone who is interested in historical mysteries and Irish history in particular. Using real places with morbid histories such as Cork’s Eglinton Asylum and the use of a few choice ‘red herrings’ thrown in for good measure “A Shameful Murder” ensures a satisfying mystery series debut.

This is the first book I have read by Cora Harrison and I fully intend to follow the adventures of Mother Aquinas in future novels.

Many thanks to Severn House via NetGalley for the opportunity of reading and reviewing this title.
This review was originally published on my blog: Fictionophile.

[Tara Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing in this suffered from a certain stiltedness, and it felt unpolished. Possibly because I lived in Cork, the city it's set in, I did think there was a strong sense of place in this book. At the start of the book, set in 1923, Reverend Mother Aquinas discovers the body of a young girl at the gate of the convent, washed there in a flood. She sends for one of her former pupils to investigate. Dressed in evening finery, this girl seems to be out of place, though drowned girls are far from unknown in the slums. As the case progresses and Reverend Mother moves from the convent to the fine houses of the prosperous citizens to the slums she gathers the facts and hints that lead her to the solution. She's a bit of a strange character and the writing does something strange with revealing parts of the plot very blatantly. This was an easy, escapist read, better on the descriptive and atmosphere of the places than on the characterisation. (Book provided by Netgalley for review)

[Diane Wiesenborn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would have earned four stars if it had just had a good editor. It's right up my alley, with two of my favorite sub-genres covered: historical mystery and clergy sleuths. The plot and characters were solid, the historical research and background very well done, and the locations in Cork, Ireland very vividly portrayed. The only weakness was in the writing. It felt like a next-to-last draft; with an editor to tighten up the repetitious verbiage and to clean up the sometimes confusing sentence structure, it would've been a stronger book. Quite often the sentences rambled on too long and had too many phrases linked together which muddled the meaning. However, it was definitely worth a read and I will continue in the series, hoping that editorship improves in the following sequels.

[Wal.li · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mutter Oberin

Im Jahr 1923 hat die Nonne Mutter Aquinas alles erreicht, was sie als Nonne erreichen kann. Sie ist nun schon gesetzten Alters und die Oberin des Konvents. Ein besonderes Anliegen ist es für sie, auch den Mädchen aus armen Familien ein Mindestmaß an Bildung zukommen zu lassen. Als der Fluss mal wieder Hochwasser führt, wird eine tote junge Frau ans Ufer gespült und von der älteren Nonne gefunden. Natürlich lässt sie sofort den Sergeant Patrick Cashman aus Cork herbeirufen, denn es gibt Anzeichen, dass das die Jugendliche aus offensichtlich gutem Haus keines natürlichen Todes gestorben ist.

In diesem Buch löst Mutter Aquinas ihren ersten Fall. Bei der schon etwas älteren Nonne handelt es sich um eine interessante Persönlichkeit. Ihre Vergangenheit hat sie mit guten Beziehungen ausgestattet und ihre Fürsorglichkeit gibt ihr bei ihren Schülerinnen einen guten Stand. Doch nie hätte sich die Mutter Oberin vorstellen können, sich einem Mann unterzuordnen. Lieber beschäftigt sie sich mit Gedankenspielen oder auch einem Mordfall, wenn er ihr so direkt vor die Füße gespielt wird. Warum musste die junge Frau sterben? Ein wenig möchte sich Mutter Aquinas auch mit dem Sergeant messen, den meist ist sie die Schlauere. Doch häufig wandern ihre Gedanken in die Vergangenheit.

Bei Mutter Aquinas handelt es sich um eine wahrhaft sympathische und außergewöhnliche neue Ermittlerin, die ein ebenso sympathisches Team um sich geschart hat. Im Jahr 1923 ist das Leben für die armen Leute nicht einfach, aber auch das der Reichen ändert sich. Und auch die Frauen beginnen sich neue Chancen zu erschließen. Dieses spannende, manchmal düstere Setting wird lebendig beschrieben. Und das Rätsel um den Tod der jungen Schönheit ist nicht leicht zu lösen. Wie gut, dass Mutter Aquinas sich auskennt und sich auf ihr Gedächtnis verlassen kann. Auch wenn man als Leser vielleicht in einem Punkt früh eine Ahnung hat, so bereitet dieser Ausflug in das Irland des frühen zwanzigsten Jahrhundert fesselnde Lesestunden, vor allem auch, weil die Lebenssituation der Menschen zu dieser Zeit so authentisch beschrieben wird.

[LJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

First Sentence: It was Reverend Mother Aquinas who found the body of the dead girl.

On the night of the exclusive Merchant’s Ball, the body of a young woman, dressed in satin and seeming from the upper class, is found washed up by one of the frequent floods of the River Lee. The Reverend Mother and young Sergeant Cashman believe she has been murdered. Surprised by how little grief her father and brother show, there are other questions that arise causing the nun, policeman, an enlightened physician, and a journalist for Republican Party to join forces in looking for answers.

Reverend Mother is someone one can’t help but like from the very beginning. She is in her 70s, and is someone who has lived a life about which one learns throughout the story. She is sharp, and good at knowing, and managing, people. Her sister, Lucy, is delightful and plays an important role.

The time setting provides a very interesting look at a time of change. This is the first year of a very uneasy independence from English rule. Yet it is also appalling to realize what men, especially those with money and power, could do to wives they no longer wanted—“Yes, it’s easy enough to have someone shut up in an asylum – if you’ve got the money, and got the power. Do you know two out of three inhabitants of the asylum are women and do you know the diagnosis that is down for most of them - hysteria – and what’s hysteria? You tell me that. …I can’t because it isn’t a disease.”

The plot is very well done, with very effective twists. Between the flooding, raids by the Republicans, and the killer, Harrison builds suspense extremely well. One can really appreciate all the information detail Harrison includes in the story. Although the frequent references to the rising water and flooding seem tiresome at times, it is an important part of the city, and an integral element to the story.

“A Shameful Murder” is well-plotted, has excellent characters, has a villain one does not expect and a very gratifying ending. It’s nice to see Ms. Harrison branch into a new, series good potential.

A SHAMEFUL MURDER (Hist Mys-Rev. Mother Aquinas-Cork, Island-1923) - VG
Harrison, Cora – 1st in series
Severn House – May 2016

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

*SPOILERS*
I don't normally read mysteries centering on the murder of a woman but I made an exception for this book. I don't know if I've ever said this before, but although I was happy with the women in the book I think the representation of men was not great. The Reverend Mother and Eileen are great characters. The book addresses sexism in Ireland in the 1920s amidst the struggle for independence, and I like that the author doesn't limit it to the oppression of lower class women but shows how upper class women were controlled by inheritance laws and the terrifying threat of institutionalization. But there are some really odd ideas in this book. Firstly, the well-to-do Joseph Fitzsimon is revealed to be the biological son of the Reverend Mother's sister Lucy, who was raped by a family friend as a teen. Joseph was adopted by kind people but has turned into a misogynistic monster just like his biological father.... I'm just not ok with this explanation of this man's behavior.
Secondly, the perpetrator of the murder and attempted murder is described as "disfigured" because he has "flaring pimpled skin across his face." When he's revealed as the murderer:

'I would imagine,' said the Reverend Mother primly,'that if marriage was an impossibility, if a woman of his own class would never look at him because of his terrible disfigurement then in order to satisfy his male urges he turned to the young and the innocent and that,' she said firmly, 'I find unforgivable,'

This man is rich, charitable, a doctor, and is reduced to raping teen girls because he has acne???
I just.
No.

Dr Scher, the male character who is on the page the most, is queer coded. Patrick, the police investigator, is an ex pupil of the Reverend Mother.

The historical context was good but I'm not sure I'll read more in the series.

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well written and interesting historical mystery set in Ireland in the 1920s. It is the first in a new series and introduces Mother Aquinas. Respected by the whole community of Cork she finds that she has the contacts and the personal standing to find out information that the police can't always track down. When the body of a young girl is washed up almost at the convent's gates after a flood Mother Aquinas feels the need to know more. Fortunately Sergeant Patrick Cashman is investigating the case and he went to school as a child at the convent so she feels able to talk to him about the case.

I liked the background to the story - the huge gaps between rich and poor in the city of Cork as well as the nightly battles between opposing factions in the on-going fight to gain independence for a united Ireland. I thought is was sketched in with a light hand, though it could have dominated the story it was placed firmly in the background of everyday life for both rich and poor. It is the character of Mother Aquinas which dominates the story. She is compassionate, wise and has a great deal of experience of life in spite of her apparent seclusion from the world.

If you want to read something different in the way of historical crime fiction then I recommend this book. I thought it was excellent and I shall be looking out for more books featuring Mother Aquinas. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review.

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed following this murder case with Reverend Mother Aquinas, she’s a fascinating character. I liked the chapter epigraphs by St Thomas Aquinas and how they played into the action of the novel and I enjoyed learning some Irish history & geography by the way. Recommend the audio read by Rosalyn Landor.

[Kilian Metcalf · Rating 4 out of 5]

With this book, Cora Harrison starts a new series of cozy mysteries. Set in Cork, Ireland, during the troublesome 1920s, it features the attractive nun, Mother Aquinas. Head of a school for poor children, the reverend mother uses her family background and contacts among Cork's wealthiest families to further her investigation. It helps also that at age 70, she has years of teaching to extend her contacts to reach into all levels of society.

The story begins with her finding a body at the convent gates. Washed down the river by recent rains, the body is clothed in evening dress. A lovely young girl, cut down in the prime of her life, it is truly a shameful murder. Spared the day to day grind of an investigation, she is able to use a police sergeant to do her footwork. Aided by the skills of a doctor friend, a very wealthy cousin, and a journalist former student, she is able to unravel the mystery of this girls death.

I liked the setting and the character of the elderly reverend mother for this satisfying read.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent historical mystery set in an interesting time period, Ireland in the 1920s. The Reverend Mother is an interesting detective, full of her own mysteries, and although the author telegraphs each bit of the solution in advance of the characters discerning it, the plot unravels interestingly. Our detective finds the body of a young girl washed up from the river, dressed in an evening gown, and feels that she must bring the perpetrator to justice. Read on audio by Rosalyn Landor, borrowed through Hoopla from my public library.

[Eileen Lynx · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun new series set in Ireland in 1920s. Looking forward to the next book.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhere between three and four stars, this atmospheric historical mystery is set in 1920s Cork, Ireland, amidst an uneasy “truce” and new-found “freedom” from English rule. Seventy year-old Reverend Mother Aquinas discovers the body of a young lady, clad in expensive satin, washed up from the previous night’s storm. A new detective series I can sink my teeth into.

[Lacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now I want to read the rest of the series!

[Shiloah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was introduced to this book via the library book group. I loved it and look forward to reading more.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit ‘A Woman in White’-ish. I skimmed through parts of it, waiting for the characters to come to their conclusions. Enjoyed the historical aspects of Ireland.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Is there such a thing as a murder that is not shameful? I shouldn't think so.

While the plot itself is good and well carried out, the writing could have used a better proofreader. We are treated to a person "annunciating his words clearly" (making an announcement) when what the author meant was that the person enunciated (ie, spoke carefully and clearly). People do things "to the man" (to a particular person) instead of "to a man" (each and every one of them did or felt or said the same thing). The main character hears "guns exploding" during a raid instead of the more natural gunfire. Well, guns do sometimes explode, but you can't use them again after that. Also I am not a fan of the current revival of heading chapters with quotes--in Latin yet! OK, so Thomas Aquinas is "Reverend Mother's" patron saint, but the English translation seemed a bit dicky in spots, and as I say, it's not a convention I'm fond of as it stops the flow of the reading and just seems to be the author's way of saying, "Look how clever I am, I quote from the classics."

This is obviously a setup novel for yet another detective series: Reverend Mother, Constable Cashman, and Doctor Scher are to be the sleuthing trio. However, for a mother superior who was this close to being posted to Rome and placed in authority over matters religious, Mother Aquinas never seems to attend mass or prayers or have anything at all to do with the workings of the convent she is supposedly in charge of. There is never any mention of faith, vocation, God or even the Virgin Mary (barring a passing reference to a "gaudy life size statue"). She goes out and about all on her own at a time when nuns always went about in pairs, one acting as witness for the other. Strangely enough for 1923, the conventual mass is at 10 AM, instead of at 6 as it would actually have been at that time, given that the fast before Holy Communion was not remitted until the 1960s after the Second Vatican Council. She spends her days travelling here and there for tea and meals, or receiving her wealthy cousin in her private rooms at the convent--but never once interacts with any of the many nuns that teach at the convent school. The authoress is Irish, one would think she would know these things if she did any research at all.

In fact "Reverend Mother" is more like the headmistress of a boarding school for the well to do than any sort of religious. I think the author would have done better to give her that profession instead of making her a professed nun.

Two and a half stars because I don't think I care to find any more of this series. It was an undemanding read, but nothing breathtaking.

[Clemens Schoonderwoert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This delightful book is the very 1st part of a new Irish mystery series, and it's called the "Reverend Mother (Aquinas) Mystery" series.
The setting of this series is in Cork, Ireland, and starts in the year of 1923.
Story-telling by this lady author is as always of a wonderful quality, for she certainly has the ability to bring the Irish surrounding landscapes and it's inhabitants alive in a most picturesque fashion within this murderous tale.
All the characters come vividly to life within this murder mystery, and thus making this story such a joy to read from beginning till end, while at the same time making this tale certainly a most believable one as well.
The story itself starts in the month of March of the year 1923 in Cork, when the Reverend Mother Aquinas discovers a body of a young girl at the gate of the convent chapel.
After discovering this corpse the Reverend Mother sends for one of her pupils, Police Sergeant Patrick Cashman, to investigate, because this death is looking suspicious, for she's found in the poverty-stricken slums of Cork while the victim is dressed in evening finery, while at the same time she's also having some other items on her person as well, and that includes a midnight ticket for the Liverpool ferry.
Against the backdrop of Ireland's Civil War, mainly the Irish Republican Army versus the Black and Tans, what will follow is a gripping murder mystery in which the Reverend Mother, Sergeant Cashman as well as the enlightened physician and friend Dr Scher will do their very best in a mystery with quite some twists and turns and finally in a very exciting plot, to seek out the truth about the identity of the victim but most of all the identity of the killer of this dreadful shameful murder.
Really recommended, for this is a new likeable Irish Mystery series by this fine lady author, and one that I like to call as "A Very Intriguing Begin"!

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

One wet March morning Reverend Mother Aquinas discovers a body at the gate of the convent. It has been raining for days and she describes the girl, "like a mermaid in gleaming silver satin". She sends for one of her former students who is now Police Sergeant Patrick Cashman to investigate. Unfortunately, dead bodies are not unusual in the poverty-stricken slums of Cork, Ireland in 1923. But this one is apparently different since she is dressed in evening finery with a handbag containing a dance program for the exclusive Merchants' Ball held the previous evening and a midnight ticket for the Liverpool ferry. Now, it his up to teacher and student with the help of Dr. Scher, an enlightened physician, to solve the case.
This is the first novel in what appears to be a successful series by Cora Harrison.

[bex · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I liked the main character, her drive to find the solution, and her teamwork with the other investigators.

However, I object to the harmful stereotyping behind the resolution. It is also completely unneeded. His birthmark could be eliminated from the book and the entire plot and investigation would work perfectly. He doesn't need the disfigurement to be taking advantage of his situation and using it to take advantage of young women.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story got better and better until the end surprised me! A 70+ nun teams up with a young policeman and a doctor to solve the murder and the mystery of the missing heiress in Cork.

[Judym · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had great expectations for this book, but it fell short.

[Norma · Rating 5 out of 5]

( Format : Audiobook )
"The lawyer, the doctor and the man who needed money."
Early 1920s Cork, in Ireland, shortly after partition and politics still divides the population. But the greater rift is between rich and poor, the few wealthy families with everything and the greater majority without sufficient clothing, food, jobs or hope. Dead bodies are not An infrequent sight as, set over several waterways, the city floods after heavy rains, drowning the occasional destiture.
One morning, Reverend Mother Aquinus finds a body washed up at the convent gate and calls for the police but not before noticing that this body is that of an elegantly dressed young woman, not the usual poorly clothed wretch, and in her bag was both a ten pound note - a huge sum of money then - and a first class ticket to England. She also had bruising on her throat. Both the Reverend Mother and Patrick, the young policeman and the Reverend Mother's former pupil, suspect that the girl had been murdered and set out to determine the truth despite authority opposition: who was she and how did she die?

The murder mystery is intriguing but so too is the main protagonist, Reverend Mother Aquinus. Now in her seventies and still acting as teacher to some of the poverty stricken youngsters of the city, she has seen both sides of the divide between rich and poor, having grown up amongst the privileged families of the wealthy merchant class, and still maintains occasional contact, mostly via her cousin, Lucy. Her background is slowly also teased out as the story progresses. Other characters are sketched in more lightly, though enough to give them substance and life, including the turbulent nature of the City of Cork itself. Narrator, Rosalyn Landor, further enriches the protagonists existence, giving each separate and appropriate voice with remarkable ability and the text is beautifully read in a lilting, gentle Irish accent. She is a pleasure to hear. The only false note is her reading of the brief Latin quotation at the commencement of each chapter: almost without exception of is expressed as unconnected individual words or otherwise jarring: a fluency here should have been rehearsed in advance. Otherwise, a fine performance.

I really enjoyed A Shameful Murder, the first in a new series of Reverend Mother mysteries, and would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone enjoying historically set crime stories. Initially freely gifted with a complimentary download copy by the rights holder, at my request - thank you so much - I decided to purchase The Audible edition for ease of repeat access. The main characters are good, solid and real people, the nosy nun uses her personal connections and knowledge of the city's social elite families to further her enquiries, piece by little piece (shades of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple) and the setting of Cork itself forms a vivid and ever present backdrop. I personally look forward to further encounters with the Reverend Mother.

[EuroHackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nicely-plotted mystery, with an unlikely team of sleuths working together against the richly-delved background of revolutionary Ireland in the early 1920s. We have the titular Reverend Mother, a wise-beyond-her-years nun in her 70s who lived a charmed life before she took her vows; Dr. Sher, a retired physician with ties to the academy; Patrick Cashman, a lowly sergeant in the newly-formed civil guard and one of the Reverend Mother's former students; and Eileen O'Donovan, another former student of the Reverend Mother who is a fiery new recruit in the Republican army and a chameleon, to boot.

A body washes up from the sewers during one of the many floods in Cork, and Reverend Mother is the one who finds it. She calls for Patrick to investigate it, and they soon discover that it is Angelina Fitzsimon, only daughter of a wealthy tea merchant, who has been missing since the night of the Merchant's Ball. Not only that, she had a ticket for a midnight ferry to Liverpool and a 10-pound note in her bag, and a suitcase of secondhand clothes was found abandoned in the cloakroom of the hotel where the ball was held. Her father and brother seem indifferent to her death; her mother has been packed away into a lunatic asylum; and Angelina was set to be married to a forty-year-old business associate of her father's who ran a tea plantation in India. Something doesn't smell right, and the Reverend Mother can't quite kick the feeling that she's seen this victim somewhere else...

This was fun and plotty, and the whodunit reveal was stunning. The Reverend Mother is not your average Mother Superior - we have hints of her life fifty years ago, before she took the veil, and she has a rather surprising outlook on her life in the convent and her fellow nuns. Patrick is so earnest and methodical, while Dr. Sher is a gossipy old biddy, haha. And Eileen sheds her guises so easily, never backing down from danger or injustice. They were a fun crew to read about and follow along with - I'm looking forward to other books in this series.

The downside - and the reason I knocked off a star in my rating - is that it is not very well edited; it reads very much like a first novel, one that slid through the slush pile without a copyeditor's touch, much less something more substantial. I am surprised that this is a professionally published book, and only hope that these jarring errors are smoothed out as the series moves along.

[Gitti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Als Mutter Aquinas an der Klosterpforte die Leiche einer jungen Frau findet, ist noch nicht klar was hier eigentlich passiert ist. Ihr ehemaliger Schüler Patrick Cashman übernimmt die Ermittlungen und bald wird vermutet, dass es sich um einen Selbstmord handelt, war die junge Frau doch schwanger.

Doch Mutter Aquinas ist misstrauisch und gemeinsam mit Patrick und Dr. Sher ermittelt sie weiter. Dabei kommt ihr zugute, dass sie selbst in die High Society von York geboren wurde und sich daher in den Familien gut auskennt, ist die Tote doch scheinbar aus gutem Hause. Nach und nach kommen Geheimnisse ans Licht und am Ende ist alles anders als gedacht.

Ein niederträchtiger Mord ist der erste Band aus der Reihe um Mutter Aquinas aus Cork, Irland. Die Autorin zeichnet hier ein Bild der irischen Gesellschaft in den Umbrüchen der Unabhängigkeit von England. Immer wieder kommt es zu Krawallen und Schießereien auf den Straßen, das Leben der Armen leidet sehr darunter. Wohingegen die Reichen der Stadt ein sorgenfreies Leben führen.

In diesem unruhigen Umfeld versucht Mutter Aquinas herauszufinden, was es mit dem Mord an der jungen Frau auf sich hat. Der Fall ist deutlich komplizierter, als es am Anfang aussieht. Am Anfang fiel es mir schwer der Geschichte zu folgen, da sich Mutter Aquinas immer wieder in Gedanken an die Vergangenheit verliert, die mir im ersten Moment nichts gesagt haben. Aber recht bald stellt sich hier der Zusammenhang heraus und nach und nach fügen sich alle Puzzleteile zusammen. Den eigentlichen Mörder und das Motiv hinter der Tat habe ich tatsächlich bis zum Schluss nicht erraten. Gegen Ende wird das Buch dann sehr spannend und dramatisch und somit zum Page Turner.

Ich kann das Buch nur empfehlen und hoffe doch sehr, dass der Verlag auch die weiteren Teile übersetzen wird. Auf englisch sind bereits 7 Bände der Reihe erschienen.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free. I am voluntarily leaving this review and all opinions expressed herein are mine.

This is the first book in the Reverend Mother Mystery series. It is a standalone story with no cliffhanger ending.

The story is a historical mystery which takes place in the 1920's in Cork, Ireland. Reverend Mother Acquinas discovers the body of a young girl. She has bruises on her neck and is dressed well, which is unusual for that area. In addition, she is found to be in possession of 10 pounds [a large sum of money] and a ticket to Oxford, England. The Reverend Mother's curiosity is peaked and she teams with the policeman, her former pupil, to look into the death of the girl whom the authorities want to label a suicide.

The Reverend Mother's backstory [how she joined the convent] is explored in a series of flashbacks deftly woven into the murder investigation. The Reverend Mother has multiple contacts both through her work at the convent and her past civilian life which allow her to question or tease information from a variety of people - which was very enjoyable/interesting in how she approached the questioning of each individual. I also enjoyed the Irish historical references sprinkled throughout the story. I really enjoyed how the story slowly wound its way - with the Reverend Mother speculating with the police officer or the doctor how the crime occurred. However, with such a slow buildup - the ending felt very rushed and incomplete. I am interested in continuing with this series.

I listened to this book - the narrator was pitch perfect for this story. I absolutely loved her tone, her Irish accent and the manner in which she portrayed the Reverend Mother.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this audiobook free of charge from the author in exchange for a review. I am looking forward to reading more in this series as the books come out. This book is set in Ireland in the 1920's and opens with Reverend Mother Aquinas finding the body of a young girl that washed up to her convent on flood waters. After calling on one of her former students, who is a policeman, they begin to suspect the girl was murdered. I love the character of Reverend Mother Aquinas (RMA)! RMA is a strong, intelligent, older woman who is also very wise and compassionate. RMA is aids her former student and a local doctor in investigating the death. The doctor confirms that the girl was most likely murdered. The three soon find a possible identity of the dead girl and interview the berieved father. The father identifies the body but in the meantime the dr. comes up with some conflicting findings on the body. The inspector and RMA also find that the father and daughter were in conflict over the past and future inheritance issues at the time of the murder. The book really heats up and the plot develops from that point forward.

This book is a great start to a very promising mystery series with an excellent story and cast of characters and many surprising plot twists. I highly recommend it.

[Mary Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a light, enjoyable read. Reverend Mother Aquinas might seem one of those impossible characters who can do everything, knowing all the right people and seemingly, despite her position of authority, having nothing to do but take up amateur detecting. Until she can't do everything and is shown to have physical vulnerabilities attendant upon aging. A very human character and, for me, fun to be around.

Why just three stars? Well, first, the writing is often awkward. Second, the Reverend Mother's modus operandi would not have been possible for a woman religious in Ireland (or anywhere) in the 1920s - no prayer, no Mass, no community involvement (only two other Sisters appear in the book). I agree with another reviewer here that, if the author wanted to make her main detective a religious Sister (I think a Sister of Mercy), it would have been well for her to learn a bit about what being a religious Sister entails. And third the murderer turns out to be a middle-aged professor known for his charitable works who preys on poor young girls, and the motive for all his evil is attributed to the large wine-stain birthmark covering a good part of his face. I was not comfortable with that! (And I came away with an image of the Phantom of the Opera!)

[Mary Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of a series of mysteries set in Cork, Ireland in the 20's. Reverend Mother Aquinas is head of a Catholic school where many of the poor come for an education.
In this novel, Mother Aquinas finds a body of a young girl at the gates of the convent's property. She has washed up during the flooding that occurs with regularity.

Mother Aquinas becomes involved in solving this mystery with a former student who is now a police detective and a doctor who administers to the same population as the school. While not actively involved, Mother Aquinas' upbringing comes to bear on the facts of the murder as she knows many of the families with power in Cork.

I found her role to be novel in the mystery series I read. She's not an inspector, she's not a forensic scientist, nor the medical examiner. She is on an outer circle yet her intelligence and sly way of getting a point across and impacting the investigation is managed creatively.

I look forward to the next edition in this series.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cleverish premise, interesting backdrop - largely pointless for having a solution/resolution that was neither clever nor interesting.

And they never did resolve what happened to the woman's inheritance(s), whether the father and lawyer stole large parts of her estate.
and...No...a father, seeing the body of his drowned daughter would NOT mistake her for her sister, even if he was a real bastard to them both.

The secret sexual abuse of minors - multiple instances of it, along with the children of these rapes abandoned into the world by their fathers are a kind of atmospheric horror that is less emphasized in the novel than what seems to be continuous rain and dangerous flooding. Not exactly a tourist poster for Cork.

I was suckered into starting this by the Aquinas quotes...and they were not used to any particular effect, and so began to feel like mere affectation.

Ah.well...back into the Little Free Library you go...

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

During the unrest of 1923 Cork, Ireland; Reverend Mother Aquinas walks out the gates of the Abbey and comes upon what she first believes to be a mermaid in silver satin but turns out to be the body of a local young woman who had gone missing during the local Merchant's Ball. At the same time another local girl goes missing and neither victim is quite who they appear to be.

Together w/ Police Sargent Patrick Cashman, Dr. Sher, & her cousin Reverend Mother puts together the puzzle pieces to solve the mystery of the two young women.

I found the book very interesting, the description of the Republicans and the prejudice against them, the poverty, the laws of property & inheritance in regards to women

I found that the quotes at the beginning of each chapter by Thomas Aquinas, were a sharp contrast in comparison to the good will & charitable acts of Reverend Mother Aquinas.