“ We’re born liquid- drooling, pooling, supple cheeks, juicy knees. Humans are mostly water, but we can still drown.”

PI apprentice Sister Holiday and Detective Riveaux work together to solve the murder of a Priest found floating in the Mississippi River.

This book was a solid second installment in the series. Sister Holiday is a nun I wish we had growing up in the Catholic church. The plot is predictable but forgivable due to Sister Holiday's nature. Her rebellious characterization alone will keep you reading.

Sister Holiday is back with a second book. Anyone who loved the first book will automatically love this one too. Anyone who hasn't read the first one can jump right in without feeling like they've missed something. Sister Holiday is not your typical nun. She's fled from a wild, dissolute life in New York, to New Orleans, where she has taken provisional vows in the Order of the Sisters of the Sublime Blood. When she finds her parish priest dead in the marina near the convent, she uses her sleuthing skills (and her new PI certificate) to solve the murder, uncovering lots of other unsavory stuff in the process. Great mystery, and Sister Holiday is a great character.

Sister Holiday was besieged by fire in the first book of the series. In this, NoLa is flooded by a brutal 3 day storm, Father Reese is found dead in a body of water, one unlikely character is finally baptized, and a long lost brother suddenly appears.

The noir PI toeam of Riveaux and Holiday are gritty, and real, with Sister Holiday's faith, devotion, and queerness tested over and over in these books. The local church and Diocese continue to have much to answer for, yet Holiday remains devoted.

Strong female characters who brook no BS are my favorite; adding in another cerebral yet raw mystery takes it up another level.

I can smell the nicotine and feel the humidity in this book. Brava!

This is a great sequel to Scorched Grace. We start off quickly in the next mystery in which Sister Holiday who is now a PI Apprentice for Detective Riveaux, who left the police force, and is now a PI, work together to solve the murder of Father Reese. As we expect from Sister Holiday, lunacy takes place. The clues are overwhelming and cause chaos at the Church. An epic storm hits New Orleans and it adds a certain depth to the travails that take place. The Sisters of the Sublime Blood give us insights to their lives and the diocese as they provide some details into the Catholic Churches corrupt ways and the abuses it hides within itself. It is a galvanizing account of its crimes and Sister Holiday will get to the bottom of it here.
Even with this dark subject we get the grit but. also see the faith that permeates Sister Holiday and I like her because of this and her flaws.
Definitely a good follow up. I look forward to her life as the newest PI nun.

I was absolutely thrilled to receive an eARC of this book, especially after getting to read Scorched Grace in advance as well! What I loved about the first book was Sister Holiday's wit, strength, and resolve to get to the bottom of the mysterious death(s) surrounding her while grappling with her past and her sense of self and that certainly carried through to this book as well. The chapters were simultaneously snappy and full of gorgeous lyrical prose and water imagery which lended itself well to the pacing (this was my only small drawback with the first book and I didn't have that same issue here). What really made Blessed Water stand out above Scorched Grace for me was the cast of characters - more characters were brought to the forefront and given significant roles to play. I read most of this book in two or three large chunks and honestly, I think that's the best way to do it because you will absolutely want to know what comes next.

Sister Holiday is not your stereotypical nun. She's gay, has a potty mouth, and sidelines as a private detective. The premise of this book was good, but I soon found the rambling flashbacks of Sister Holiday distracting and boring. I also didnt care for either of the main characters. Neither of them seemed very likeable to me. To be fair, my favorite genre is cozy mysteries and I would catorgorize this as more of a hard core detective genre. This book was just not my cup of tea.