Veronica Black

Sister Joan of the Order of the Daughters of Compassion has a habit of solving murders. The sixth book in Veronica Black's popular mystery series, A Vow of Devotion finds the convent once again in turmoil just when it looked like things were getting back to normal. With Sister Theresa preparing for her initiation ceremony, two new postulants, a visiting hermit, and a caravan of New Age travelers in the area, there are plenty of suspects at hand after a sinister, batlike figure infiltrates the convent by night. With a little help from the everagnostic Detective Sergeant Mill, Sister Joan once again finds herself the reluctant sleuth when she discovers first a knife, then a foreboding blood-red rose, and finally the bludgeoned body of a young novitiate—all within the walls of holy sanctuary. Will the murderer kill again? One of the postulants knows more than she's telling, and Sister Joan, as usual, has pieced together more than she lets on. Balancing her vows to the Lord against her unerring investigative instincts, our detective-nun must find the killer before he strikes again.

Something is not quite right at the Cornwall House convent. One young novice has already died, the apparent victim of a routine fire drill; another has mysteriously withdrawn from the convent, and her family has not heard from her since. The youngest worshippers have long, flowing hair, and Reverend Mother Ann herself wears makeup and perfume. When Reverend Mother Agnes of the neighboring Daughters of Compassion convent receives a bizarre, convoluted letter from an old friend at Cornwall, worries and suspicions are quickly aroused. Mother Agnes dispatches her most trusted disciple, Sister Joan, to see if she can shed light on the strange events. It doesn't take long for Sister Joan to realize that Reverend Mother Ann is running a unique type of sacred institution. There are hushed whispers among the Sisters of virgin sacrifice, Mother Goddess worship, suicide, and even murder. Sister Joan may be able to rectify the wrongdoings at Cornwall House, but can she expose the unsettling truth without sacrificing her own profound religious convictions? Readers of Ellis Peters and Ralph Mclnerny will enjoy A Vow ofSilence, the first in a promising series of mysteries featuring Sister Joan.

Sister Joan of the Order of the Daughters of Compassion has a habit of solving murders. The sixth book in Veronica Black's popular mystery series, A Vow of Devotion finds the convent once again in turmoil just when it looked like things were getting back to normal. With Sister Theresa preparing for her initiation ceremony, two new postulants, a visiting hermit, and a caravan of New Age travelers in the area, there are plenty of suspects at hand after a sinister, batlike figure infiltrates the convent by night. With a little help from the everagnostic Detective Sergeant Mill, Sister Joan once again finds herself the reluctant sleuth when she discovers first a knife, then a foreboding blood-red rose, and finally the bludgeoned body of a young novitiate—all within the walls of holy sanctuary. Will the murderer kill again? One of the postulants knows more than she's telling, and Sister Joan, as usual, has pieced together more than she lets on. Balancing her vows to the Lord against her unerring investigative instincts, our detective-nun must find the killer before he strikes again.

Following 'A Vow of Silence' and 'A Vow of Chastity' Veronica Black's spirited sleuth, Sister Joan of the Order of the Daughters of compassion, reluctantly finds herself in another detective's dilemma. This time, the Prioress, deciding Sister Joan needs a break from convent crime-solving, sends her on a spiritual retreat to a remote spot above a loch in Scotland where she can paint the local scenery—without signing her work, of course, to avoid the 'sin of singularity." But when, not long after her arrival, the venturesome nun rows out to an island to paint a monastery, she finds herself in a singular mess: Not only is someone following her, but she seems to be unearthing far too many secrets for her curiosity to handle. Before she knows it, the good Sister finds herself exploring, by flickering candlelight, an ancient crypt where past Abbots rest. She discovers one skeleton too many. . . and it is wearing modern shoes. Forced against her intentions to contend with terrestrial puzzles, the intrepid Sister Joan, to the reader's perpetual delight, sets out to find the key to the loch's intriguing secrets.

With a killer stalking the moors near their convent in Cornwall, Sister Joan must battle the forces of evil threatening the nuns, as well as the temptations elicited in her own heart by the cynical police officer on the case. (via Goodreads.com)

When historical researcher Jessica Cameron takes a room at The Cedars to study mid-nineteenth-century domestic life, she hardly expects to encounter much excitement. But as soon as she settles in, suspicions serenade her heart. Who is that padding down the hall at night? Who is the little girl she saw in the odd pink ruffled dress? Jessica discovers a shred of paper in an old cookbook that is scrawled hauntingly with the words: "My na...name is...my name is P...my name is Polly Winter..." - and her research begins. Then suddenly Mrs. Tate, the housekeeper at The Cedars, and her daughter both disappear. Research turns to panicked investigation as Jessica, aided by Jake, a local artist, uncovers the eerie evidence of an unsolved nineteenth-century murder case that she realizes is being reenacted.