No spoilers from me on what happened to Sister Gertrude. This is an atmospheric mystery set in 1920s Ireland that wraps in some of the conflict of the time. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Cora Harrison sets the scene in Cork, Ireland 1925 in the Death of a Novice, in which Sister Gertrude is found murdered on nunnery grounds. Reverend Mother fears that the Irish Republicans have recruited two idealistic novices in their murderous activities and that the death of Sister Gertrude is connected. She works with the coroner, the police and a secretary to follow the leads to whodunit. Excellent historical mystery

This story is set in 1920s Ireland and clearly well researched the scenes just leap off the page they are so full of atmosphere and detail. The mystery is a solid one and I didn’t guess the end, in fact I don’t want to say too much for fear I spoil it for other readers.
Suffice to say I really enjoyed it, read it in one sitting and would highly recommend.

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I liked that the book was set in Ireland, and it was quite interesting. I won't be rereading it, but it was okay to read once. I did expect a bit more, to be honest, but it was nothing that I would tell my friends about.

It was just ok for me.
The mystery was interesting enough, but it was presented a bit messily. I couldn’t follow it in a logical line, since clues and discoveries came up quite randomly. The mixing of the murder with the IRA action didn’t really work for me, since the two seemed to run on parallel lines rather than intermingle.
Characters were reasonably nice, but I didn’t really feel for any of them, including the Reverend Mother. To me, they were just the actors of a show, not characters I deeply cared for.
I know this is always a hard balance to strike in this genre, since readers want a mystery and don’t like when the narration get away from it. On the other end, especially in the case of a series, it’s nice to care for the recurring characters and to learn about their life.
I feel that this book barely attempted this.
The setting didn’t come to life for me at all. If it weren’t for the IRA action and the mentioning of the Treaty, this could have been set in today’s Ireland.
Shame. I like this part of Irish history because there was so much at stake. A very intense part of that nation’s history. But it didn’t really come off here.
All in all, just a light, fun read. Nothing more.

This is one of my favorite series. Set in Ireland, and full of interesting bits of history and very real characters.

Reverend Mother has a few new novices and Sister Gertrude has found a special place with her. Well-educated, an accountant who can cheerfully and willingly take on the dreaded accounts that must be kept and sent in. But after finding the young Sister dead in the hen-house, murdered, she begins to find out maybe she didn't know Gertrude as well as she thought she did.

Who would think that so much drama and intrigue could be found in a convent? 

Eileen and Patrick are back and are as delightful as ever. Tom Hurley is still plotting against the UK and blowing things up. The Reverend Mother with help from Eileen will tread very carefully to try to unravel who didn't have a motive for killing Sister Gertrude!

I was really glad to see Eileen and Patrick. I think these two could be great sleuths.

Job Well Done!

Netgalley/Severn House July 01, 2018

An intriguing read.
Who would dispose of a young novice nun who lives in a convent and why?
Though there are many suspects including her own Sisters,
Who knows that Sister Gertrude always had a sweet tooth and would always look for candy or anything tasting like sugar? These are the questions that Mother Aquinas needs to find out to solve the death of her young novice.
A good mystery set in the 1920's.

The death of a young novice, who was an unlikely prospect for the sisterhood, was meet with many suspects from all forms of livelihoods including those in the religious, educational, and political fields. Faced with the challenge of solving the murder of her novice, the Reverend Mother asks her friends for help. With the help from the doctor, Eileen MacSweeney and Inspector Patrick Cashman the crime was solved. Assuredly, the Reverend Mother aided in their essential conclusion. The ending was a little too lengthy but not humdrum just unexpected.

4 and 1 / 2 stars

I read the Kindle edition.

The year is during the 1920’s.The treaty with Britain has just been signed, and many people are not happy about it.

Eileen MacSweeney is in trouble again. She is accosted by Tom Hurley, her former commander when she was involved in the Republican movement. Sickened by the violence and unfairness of the movement, she distances herself from it. She still works at the printing works and still loves riding her motorbike. She pleads with Hurley that the two nuns he has enlisted as spies know nothing of his plots and are naïve to say the least. Hurley laughs and doesn’t care about the fate of the nuns.

When Hurley coerces her into going along with one of his schemes by threatening her mother, she has no choice.

Reverend Mother Aquinas is delighted with her new nun, Sister Gertrude. Sister Gertrude is twenty-two years old and enthusiastic. So it is with great shock when she finds her dead in the hen shed. The responding doctor, not Dr. Scher who is out of town for a funeral, but a brash and insecure young man claims it to be alcohol poisoning as the cause of her death. Dr. Scher returns in time to do the autopsy and immediately reports to Inspector Patrick Cashman and there is something very odd about the young nun’s death.

While waiting for Dr. Scher to come to visit her about the autopsy, Mother Aquinas interviews two of the other novices at the convent. They knew Sister Gertrude from long ago; basically grew up with her. They were heard to tell Sister Gertrude that they would kill her. What an astounding thing to say!

She also attended a school which taught Gaelic, along with the two novices who threatened her. When Patrick goes to interview the other students, one of the women who run the school acted suspiciously and burned some papers.

Sister Gertrude’s sister Betty is an odd one. Not only does she seem to have inappropriate reactions to her sister’s death, but she comes to the convent and demands all her things; her clothes, toiletries and such. She storms upstairs and packs the things herself complaining that there is a towel missing. It’s as if she doesn’t trust the other nuns to get the things to her, although most families leave the items with the convent. How odd.

The identity of the killer is a surprise. The reader can understand their reaction to Sister Gertrude’s death in hindsight.

This book is well written and plotted, as are all of Cora Harrison’s novels. I like Reverend Mother Aquinas. She is smart and kind. She deals very well with whatever comes her way. The book describes living in Cork in the 1920’s very well. One can see the revolutionaries with their ideals and the beleaguered police department very well. The docks, the town and the political landscape are all illustrated well. Hats off, Ms. Harrison.

I want to thank NetGalley and Severn House for forwarding to me a copy of this good book for me to read and enjoy.

#DeathOfANovice #NetGalley
4.5 stars..Love Reverend Mother mysteries and this was not an exception. The ending felt a little bit out of focus to me, however. I think the ending was to segway into the next book, where possibly Patrick the Detective and Eileen McSweeney could solve a mystery together?

The Reverend Mother is shocked to walk into an outbuilding and find that her most promising young novice, Sister Gertrude lying dead. She is even more shocked to learn that her death was of alcohol poisoning although the young nun never had touched liquor. She calls on the two men she relies on most, Dr. Scher and young Inspector Patrick Cashman.

Could there be a link between the I.R.A.'s sabotage of a gunpowder explosion on Spike Island which may connect to Eileen? Was their also a tie to Mary MacSwiney, the educator and Sinn Fein revolutionary, who was giving the young novices Gaelic lessons and involving them in activities?

A wonderful and exciting glimpse into a violent time not so long ago. A favorite series of mine. Thanks NetGalley and Cora Harrison for this ARC.