Sister Lou has asked a friend from her past to be the guest speaker for the St. Hermione of Ephesus Feast Day presentation. At dinner the evening before when they are catching up, Sister Lou gets the feeling that something wrong, so when her friend doesn't show up on time, she rushes to his hotel and finds that he has been murdered.

The police seem to be leaning toward her fellow nuns as suspects so Sister Lou decides that she needs to investigate herself. Combining forces with her nephew and a reporter they uncover numerous paths that lead toward an answer.

Fun characters, good writing

A delightful cozy series about a quirky "sister" who solves crimes. The author has a exciting new protagonist in Sister Lou who is adventurous, fun and interesting. I enjoyed the sleuth which kept me guessing. Learning about the differences between a sister and a Nun was fascinating! Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC. I look forward to the next in series.

Despite this being more of a Christian-themed cosy mystery, I enjoyed it for the most part. The mystery was good although it took an awfully long time to get solved - over two weeks! The story takes places at the congregation of St Hermione of Ephesus, which is a community of sisters - not nuns. The differences being that the sisters live a less modest lifestyle, can drive, wear (tasteful) jewellery, etc. Sister Lou LaSalle is an LA transplant who has found her place in the world in Briar Coast, New York, at the congregation which has a college attached. Her nephew, Chris LaSalle, works as an administrator at the college and they have a very close relationship.

An old friend of Sister Lou's is murdered before he can give a talk at the college and she takes it upon herself to conduct an investigation with Chris and Shari, a new journalist in town, and to whom Chris has an immediate attraction, which he fights throughout the book. The two police officers assigned to the case spend literally all of their time investigating/questioning the sisters in relation to this death and seem to do nothing else but bicker and grumble when Sister Lou comes in to discuss the case with them.

Lots of not very much happens and it takes over two weeks to resolve the case. There is a lot of stereotyping of characters: Shari, the outspoken journalist with the troubled past, who is immediately attracted to Chris, the good-looking nephew of Sister Lou and who is A Nice Guy but has, conveniently, had a very bad experience with a reporter in the past which colours his attraction to Shari. The nasty Sister Marianne; the Good Cop/Bad Cop duo; the spunky, not-too-straight Sister Lou; the cheating wife; the estranged son of the murder victim; the editor of the paper that Shari works for (slovenly, rude, etc.).

The newspaper is apparently run/owned by the Mayor who never appears anywhere in the book other than as a background figure who is determined to whitewash everything that gets printed so that Briar Coast looks like the idyllic town for tourists.

There is a point where Vicki, the cheating wife (of the murder victim), tells Sister Lou never to speak to her again, yet in the next chapter Sister Lou is back with more questions, along with returning to see the man Vicki is cheating with! The collecting of clues is a very slow process. And there is plenty of internal dialogue going on as well, which doesn't always lead anywhere.

Points of view flipflop, too, with Shari at the paper, Chris wondering/worrying about his aunt, and Sister Lou dealing with work at the congregation and investigating. I'm not quite certain why the POV of Shari was shared so much (plus, she more or less lives out of what she can carry around in her car because she moves around so much - where on earth does she keep these dozens of colour-coordinated outfits she owns? With matching shoes! What sort of money is she making?)

Despite all that, it was an enjoyable enough read and I might pick up the second in the series to see if the kinks have been worked out. It was just a bit dull and repetitive.

Princess Fuzzypants here:
Sister Lou is like none other, or, forgive the pun, nun other. She is a respected member of her mother house who has invited a highly controversial friend to deliver a talk for the feast day. They are old friends and when they dine together the night before the speech, she can tell he is disturbed by something but does not wish to pry. She wishes she had when she discovers his body the next morning.
She feels guilty that she invited him to the place where he was murdered and feels she must get involved in the investigation as a debt of honour to him. The local police seem to be ham-handing their investigation and do not appreciate her interference. Her friend was well liked by many, he was also a lightening rod for those who disagreed with him. There are plenty of suspects despite the fact that the police come up with the easy solution.
It's an entertaining read. Sister Lou is a great character as is her nephew and the reporter who goes from adversary to team member. It was a pleasurable way to spend a few hours.
I give this four purrs and two paws up.

An absolutely delightful mystery with great characters & a winning plot. While I did figure out the murderer about 2/3 of the way through, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Mayhem and Mass by Olivia Matthews is the first book in the Sister Lou Mystery series. Sister Lou (short for Louise) invites her friend, Maurice, to be the guest speaker at a special presentation. While Maurice is popular, he has just as many people who do not agree with his views. When he is found dead in his hotel room, the suspects are many. The police do not seem to be taking the case seriously. That leads Sister Lou to team up with her nephew and a local reporter to solve the death of her dear friend. This is a religious themed mystery of sorts but religion is not the focal point. I enjoyed the characters and would definitely read another book in this series.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy of this book.
I really liked this book, I thought it was a nicely paced, clever and fun cozy mystery.
I loved the main characters and I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book in the series.

Mayhem and Mass by Olivia Matthews is the first book A Sister Lou Mystery series. Sister Lou LaSalle is a sister with St. Hermione of Ephesus in Briar Coast, New York. She has invited her old friend, Dr. Maurice Jordan to be their speaker for Saint Hermione of Ephesus Feast Day presentation. Sister Lou’s choice was not a popular one since Dr. Jordan, a theology professor, is known for his controversial views. The day of his speech, Maurice fails to show up on time or respond to Sister Lou’s phone calls. Sister Lou finds Maurice dead in his hotel room from blunt force trauma. Deputy Fran Cole and Deputy Ted Tate focus on Sister Lou and her fellow sisters as suspects in Maurice’s death. Sister Lou feels responsible for Maurice’s death and is determined to get justice for her friend. She enlists her nephew, Chris LaSalle to help with the investigation. Sister Lou and Chris are joined by Shari Henson, reporter for The Briar Coast Telegraph (despite Chris’ objections). Can this threesome find Dr. Jordan’s killer or will they end up the next victims?

Mayhem and Mass had an interesting premise. A sister who investigates crimes. I found Sister Lou to be feisty, determined, smart, but lacking in her questioning technique. Instead of nicely asking people questions in an unassuming way, she is forthright and direct. It is off-putting. Sister Lou ends up alienating every person she talks to during the course of the investigation. The story takes place over a few weeks (be prepared to fall asleep). I found the book to be slow paced and repetitive (same details rehashed). The cops are portrayed as incompetent (which is mentioned frequently) and one is nasty (of course). The mystery cannot be solved early in the story because the killer is not introduced until almost midway in the book (though the actual murder takes place much earlier). There is misdirection and multiple suspects, but the culprit is obvious (once introduced). Readers will have no problem surmising the guilty party and their motive. The multiple points of view were a hinderance to the story. The author should have stuck with telling the story from Sister Lou’s perspective or third person (instead of alternating with Chris and Shari). It felt like Shari and Sister Lou were competing for dominance in the book instead of Sister Lou coming across as the main character. Then we have Chris worrying about his aunt’s safety, his job and his attraction to Shari (repetitive). Shari wants to further her career and is fighting with her boss who prefers to portray Briar Coast as the perfect small town with no issues (unrealistic). Let us not forget the extremely negative Sister Marianna and her constant criticism. The author seemed to delight in telling readers about every little detail of rooms (especially the color of each item). How many times do I need to be told about Sister Lou’s powder blue chairs? Once was enough. I wanted to like Mayhem and Mass, but I found it tiresome, tedious, and boring (and in need of editing). The next book in A Sister Lou Mystery series is Peril and Prayer (June 2018).

I really wanted to like this book, but the writing style got in the way. The premise is great...Sister Lou is a nun who investigates crimes in an honest way! Unfortunately, Sister Lou isn't a great detective (yet). Hopefully, she'll improve in future books.

Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The protagonist, an LA transplant to the small community of Briar Coast in New York, Sister Louise "Lou" LaSalle has gotten very comfortable at the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Hermione of Ephesus. Sister Lou also has her nephew, Chris, close by working at the college founded by the congregation.
Sister Lou has invited an old friend, Maurice Jordan, to be a guest speaker for their Feast Day presentation. When he fails to stick to his early bird schedule and she cannot get hold of him, she knows something is very, very wrong and soon discovers his body in his hotel room.
The local detectives are new or have not had a homicide investigation in eight years and appear inept. Sister Lou links with a local reporter, Sharelle (Shari) Henson, of The Briar Coast Telegraph. Shari is new to the area and is happy to team with Sister Lou.
Ms. Matthews's writing style is relaxed and clean. Shari and Sister Lou complement each other. Shari researches Maurice's closest associates and they assemble their private suspect list. Chris argues for their safety and sparks fly between he and Shari. Chris contributes some intel and has a wide range of connections through his Interim VP position at the college.
While the dialogue flows naturally, there were redundancies. Sister Lou is a reluctant sister sleuth, somewhat verbally blunt and spunky, while her nephew Chris comes off as needing to man up. Sister Lou is his only remaining living relative and he's understandably reluctant to support her role in a perceived dangerous investigation. POV is switched between Sister Lou, Shari, and Chris. Shari was well fleshed and written for the sympathy vote.
The antagonist is gradually slipped mid-way into the book and soon becomes suspect. Sister Lou is very observant and begins to eliminate suspects and there are several miscues and new directions. Eventually, all characters are weeded correctly and the villain and motive exposed.
I suspect these characters will grow with the second in the series, and we'll get a little more back story on Sister Lou. Shari makes for a strong and likable character, though why she'd have interest in Chris is beyond me. Several edit misses were noted. This is a promising debut that needs a little tightening up, and I would have interest in reading the next installment. Recommended for cozy mysteries fans with a light religious bent.

If a murder mystery can be described as gentle, this is it. Matthews has created a lovely character in Sister Lou, who is determined to find out who murdered her friend Maurice, who has some controversial views but wasn't someone worthy of such violence. She teams up with Shari, a reporter, and her nephew Chris when local law enforcement isn't investigating to her satisfaction. Briar Coast is a small college town and, to be honest, Matthews doesn't exploit it to the fullest but that's ok. It helps, I think, to have some knowledge of the Catholic Church as well. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Try this one- it's not a religious mystery even though it features the religious. It's a good read.

I wanted to like this book about a Sister from the Order of St. Hermione (who's got a pretty good story herself, if you're into saints). Unfortunately, the writing got in the way.
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In small Briar Coast, Sister Lou has arranged for an old college friend, De. Maurice Jordan, to speak to the congregation about some of his controversial views on women and the church. Unfortunately, the day before his presentation, he's murdered in his hotel room. Since the police department has targeted members of the congregation as the likeliest suspects, Sister Lou, her nephew Chris, and reporter Shari decide to investigate unofficially.
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Each of these characters is given a point of view in the narrative, which I found unnecessary. At most, adding Shari's voice could have worked, if her story had been about her investigations instead of the drama going down at her workplace; the clues she found are later added as part of the dialogue with Sister Lou. Chris's point of view consists primarily of his worry about his aunt's safety and his discomfort over his growing attraction to Shari, and is therefore useless within the context of the story.
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The author seems obsessed with color, as things are not merely described as blue or brown, but as sapphire or sienna/cinnamon/burnt umber. In addition, there are several instances in which information is repeated almost instantly, as when Sister Lou discounts as suspect because of a medical issue, them ONE PAGE
LATER repeats this conclusion to the same person to whom she's previously said it.
It's my hope that these are problems that can be corrected with editing.
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Regarding the story: there's an ocean of red herrings tossed at the reader; the small-town detectives are portrayed not only as inept, but as shockingly disinterested; politicians throw their weight around in an unrealistic (and frankly probably illegal) fashion; and the burgeoning romance is not at all something I'm interested in.
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You'd think that means I didn't like this book, but I did! Sister Lou is an engaging character, and I like her friendship with Sister Carmen. There's potential here, as long as the other stuff is resolved.

This is an entertaining, well written mystery with an unusual cast of characters. The lead character, Sister Lou, is a member of the Sisters of Saint Hermione of Ephesus and the story gives you an inside view of the life of a modern nun. Sister Lou has invited her long time good friend Maurice Jordan, a controversial theologian to give an address to celebrate the Feast of Saint Hermione. Sister Lou meets Maurice for dinner the night before the speech and is distressed to find him in a sad place, but she is shocked when he does not arrive as scheduled and when she goes to find out why he is not at the convent she finds that he has been murdered. When the two detectives assigned to the case focus on the sisters in the congregation, Sister Lou and her nephew Chris believe that the crime was committed by someone outside of the religious community team up with Shari Henson, a local newspaper reporter looking for a career making story, to investigate. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

I’m not Catholic. I’m Baptist. I even taught Sunday School for children for awhile (and managed to increase the amount of children at the church)! My grandmother was Catholic before she moved out of Arkansas. However, there were no Catholic churches near where she lived in Illinois that allowed black people to attend service there, and so in searching for another place of worship and to be around like minded, god-fearing people she joined one of the few black churches in town. It was a Baptist church so she became a Baptist. My mother is a Baptist. I am a Baptist. My husband is Catholic. Several of my dear friends are Catholic.

I mention all of that because Mayhem & Mass, the first in the new Sister Lou Mystery series by Olivia Matthews, centers around Sister Louise “Lou” LaSalle a plainclothes nun at St. Hermoine of Ephesus in Briar Coast, New York. Some of the terminology used in the book is new to me such as the word chasuble which is a sleeveless vestment worn by priests during Mass. I always enjoy books that teach me things. I don’t always appreciate it at the moment, but I like coming away knowing more than before I started. If a cozy mystery can give me enjoyment and educate me in the process, I’m all for it.

This isn’t my first religious cozy. I really enjoy Amish cozies. I will say when I first picked up this book and started reading it, it made me feel as though I was watching Father Dowling Lou seemed a combination of Father Dowling and Steve. (which I absolutely loved. My mom loved the show when it used to air. I was watching a lot Murder, She Wrote and had already been a Tom Bosley fan–Hello, Happy Days– so naturally I wanted to watch the series so I picked up the entire series). As I read more, however, Lou became a force all her own with no need to compare her to other amateur sleuths.

In this book Sister Lou has invited her long time friend Dr. Maurice Jordan, whom she met in college (she holds a PhD in Philosophy and her friend a PhD in Theology), to be a guest speaker for the Saint Hermoine of Ephesus Feast Day. The day of the presentation arrives and Maurice is a no-show. He had previously agreed, while at dinner with Lou, to come early to greet the guests. Maurice was notorious for arriving early to everything, especially when he was a lecturer, sometimes arriving thirty minutes early. Which is why Lou begins to worry when Maurice hasn’t shown up as promised. He had been acting strangely the night before but he waved it all off. Unable to contact him she goes to his hotel where she finds him murdered.

Shari Henson is new in town and a reporter for the local paper. She was covering the presentation when she found out about Dr. Jordan’s death. She follows the story only to be told it would not be put into the paper. She is determined to find out the story and inform the people. Lou is determined to find out what happened to one of her closest friends. They team up to find out the truth. Who killed Dr. Jordan? Chris, Lou’s nephew, works at the college and helps out his aunt, with things such as driving, when necessary and won’t let his aunt head into danger alone. Commandments are being broken left and right. Can they figure out who killed Dr. Jordan without getting themselves hurt in the process?

The book is well written although I did not need to hear about the way things looked (color, fabric, etc) more than once, like the powder blue chairs. Some things like Lou’s office or the Motherhouse reception area were touched upon a few times and I didn’t need the reminder after the first time. If a piece of furniture or colors of the carpet aren’t moving the story forward (like something is missing or askew or there is a huge grape juice stain) then I don’t need to refresher on the design. There was one small awkward scene in the cafe, but it wasn’t enough to distract from the book. I did not particularly like jumping from one person to another. I’ve never been a fan of stories written that way, especially if it wasn’t known prior to my reading that who we would follow would change. If there is only one main character I only need to know about that character, the amateur sleuth, and how they solve the mystery. I don’t need to see things from supporting or minor characters pov. That being said, I have read a couple of stories from multiple pov’s that i really enjoyed because they were written so well. Once I got past my bias, it was an enjoyable read. The writing flowed nicely and the story was easy to read. I truly liked the mystery and while I had suspicions about who the murderer was, I didn’t guess who it was (I was over 3/4 of the way finished and still hadn’t nailed down who I thought did it). I love that in a mystery. I didn’t feel as though it was too easy, which would have been boring, but I also didn’t feel as though it was impossible to figure out. I was certain once the pov changes started that I wouldn’t continue reading but I did, I won’t finish a book if I don’t like it. I enjoyed it very much. I adore the characters. Sister Lou and Shari seemed to be an unlikely pair but they worked well together. I felt like I was revisiting old friends, not starting a new series. I will read the next book in the series (yes me–the woman who isn’t a fan of many cozies that aren’t told with a third person limited point of view).

I loved the tagline “for a plainclothes nun, sleuthing is a habit,” I thought it was so clever. I’m a sucker for clever wordplay.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC.

Mayhem and Mass is the first in a new cosy mystery series featuring Sister Lou LaSalle of the Congregation of St Hermione of Ephesus.

In this debut, Sister Lou investigates the murder of her great friend, theologian Maurice Jordan, on the eve of his engagement as speaker at the Feast Day celebration of St Hermione. In the investigation she is supported by her nephew, Chris, and reporter, Shari Henson.

While the local police focus on members of the Congregation as suspects, Sister Lou and her "team" look at Maurice’s family, academic rivals, and business associates, as well as the followers and detractors of the controversial professor. This leads to conflict with the police, the mayor and the newspaper editor in addition to the suspects.

Sister Lou’s life is threatened and another murder takes place before the killer is unmasked at a classic gathering of suspects. There are clues to be spotted by the vigilant reader and I did work out both killer and motive before the end.

This is a fairly light read. The main characters, Sister Lou, Chris and Shari are well-drawn and memorable. The mystery is not too difficult, although there were times when I found the investigation a bit laboured. The negative interventions by Lou’s colleague Sr. Marianna were rather repetitive. There was a slight authorial obsession with the details of interior decoration, food, clothes and colours: how many times were we informed that Lou’s chairs were “powder blue”?

Overall, this was a good opener to the series, and there was enough of interest to make me want to read further instalments.

A few questions.
Why was the lecture on August 31st and not on the Saint’s Day, September 4th?
Why was the Mass celebrant in Chapter 1 wearing a GOLD chasuble?
Why is there a cat in the front cover illustration?

Three stars.