About
Reviews
Search
Submit
Home

Mystery Books for Sale

[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]


  

SACRED HEARTS
by Alison Joseph
St. Martin's Press, May 1996
$out of print
ISBN: 0312144059


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Reading the paper one day, Agnes Bourdillon learns that her ex-husband is the chief suspect in the murder of his second wife, Philippa. Agnes left Hugo because he beat her up 15 years ago, he's known to be a nasty and violent man, and almost everyone has good reason to believe he did it. For some reason though, Agnes doesn't, and she goes up to Gloucestershire where Hugo and Philippa lived to try and find out what happened.

Several strands of this story kept me riveted and fascinated. This first in series book is billed as a "Sister Agnes" mystery - Agnes has spent 15 years in a convent, but has now come to work as a nun in the outside world. She's well depicted as a fiercely intelligent, questioning woman whose curiosity has caused much conflict with her superiors in the convent and may well lead her into more trouble now. She's not immune to the pleasures of the world and makes an interesting assortment of new friends as she investigates the background to Philippa's death.

A number of cliches of the amateur sleuth mystery do come up, but Alison Joseph has some well thought out and thought provoking answers. When police interview people, they're very conscious that they're talking to police. When Agnes engages them in conversation, it does seem convincing and plausible that they tell her things. She shares her findings with the police at regular intervals, and there's a lovely scene with Inspector Lowry of the local force where he concedes that her work is helping - but these police are not stupid at all, the whole thing's explained by the relative position of those involved in finding out what happened.

This book is well written, with a wonderful dark humour, some sadness, some gritty social issues stuff, and I can't wait to read more about Sister Agnes.

Sadly the whole series, about six books, is out of print and Alison Joseph needs a new publisher.

Reviewed by Luci Davin, August 2002

[ Top ]


QUICK SEARCH:

 

Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]