Monday, June 6, 2016

Book Review - Sister Eve and the Blue Nun

ABOUT THE BOOK:

After a murder at the monastery, Sister Eve may need a miracle if she is to prove a dear friend isn't a cold-blooded killer.

Sister Eve, a motorcycle-riding nun with a natural (or is it supernatural?) gift for solving murders returns to the enclave she once called home and quickly finds herself confronting yet another mysterious death.

Someone has poisoned Dr. Kelly Middlesworth---a researcher on the life and ministry of 17th-century's revered "Blue Nun"---and a set of irreplaceable historic documents have disappeared before they could even be examined.

When all evidence seems to point to the victim's brother, Sister Eve sets out to expose the killer and learn the explosive truth those missing manuscripts might contain.

Chasing a killer is dangerous work, and as her two worlds collide, Sister Eve may need some heavenly help simply to survive.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lynne Hinton is the New York Times bestselling author of Friendship Cake and Pie Town. A native of North Carolina, she received her undergraduate degree from the U.N.C. at Greensboro and her Masters of Divinity degree from Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. She also studied at Wake Forest University and the NC School of the Arts, School of Filmmaking. She has served as a chaplain with hospice and as the pastor of Mount Hope United Church of Christ and First Congregational United Church of Christ, both in North Carolina. Lynne is a regular columnist with The Charlotte Observer. She lives with her husband, Bob Branard, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.


MY REVIEW:

This book is the third of the series, "A Divine Private Detective Agency Mystery". I wasn't really ever lost or wondering what was going on so the book definitely stands on it's own.

The premise of the book is quite intriguing. There is a lot going on in Sister Eve's life. The home she has known for years is no longer her home. The nuns are having to leave and she is now caring for her ailing father, Captain Jack, which makes her at a cross roads as to whether to stay a nun or not. In the middle of all this, her good friend is found dead and she is focused on that. Here's where it all goes downhill for me.

Sister Eve contaminates the murder scene, steals a key piece of evidence, and then lies throughout the story to the police. This is a nun?! Her personality can be contrary, which would be fine if it was quirky but I found it just irritating. She is rather self-righteous and unlikable and that made the book even harder for me to read. I never understood why she did the lying and stealing of evidence unless she didn't trust the police, but this was never clarified. Perhaps it was just in keeping with her personality of knowing what is best for all involved. I was also disappointed in the fact that she questioned the role of women in the church as it felt like a political statement. Obviously, since she is a nun, she prayed to Mary and the Saints. This didn't bother me as I expected it, but it might bother others who aren't Catholic and aren't expecting it in the book. Highly disappointing, though, considering this is supposed to be a Christian mystery is the element of New Age spiritualism in a couple of areas.

I easily figured out who the murderer was early in the book (that's always a bummer for me and takes off a lot of points immediately) and, while the author did try and throw in some twists and turns, by the time she did, it was too late and she had lost me.    

I really wanted to like this book. It seemed like such a good plot and the idea of a motorcycle riding nun solving murders was very intriguing, but unfortunately this book just fell short. There was not enough mystery and the main character unlikable. I can only give this book 2 stars out of 5. 

*This book was provided to me for my honest review by LitFuse Publicity Group


Blessings - Julie

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