Ocurren cosas extrañas en el convento de las Hermanas de la Compasión de Cornualles. Cosas que desconciertan a la hermana Joan, quien debe investigar -sin levantar sospechas- los misterios del convento.
A pesar de la aparente tranquilidad, ciertos hechos nada habituales sumen en un mar de dudas a la hermana Joan. No es nada frecuente dar con una priora que usa perfume y esmalte de color rosa para las uñas. Y que pregunta si la hermana Verónica, la hermosa novicia que acompaña a la hermana Joan, es virgen. Y aún hay más.
La hermana Sophia ha muerto en oscuras circunstancias. La hermana Magdalena ha desaparecido sin dejar rastro. Se celebra un oficio secreto a medianoche en la capilla del convento... La hermana Joan empieza a sospechar lo que apenas se atreve a mencionar, a ensamblar piezas de un rompecabezas complejo. Es demasiado tarde para abandonar. Y quizá también es demasiado tarde para pedir ayuda.
La hermana Joan es monja de semiclausura. Tiene un carácter fuerte y su poca paciencia le hace chocar con algunas reglas del convento. Es despierta y eficiente, cabezota, si algo la extraña sigue su instinto hasta el final. Es una mujer seria con una nota de ironía.

Circumstances lead Sister Joan to be sent to the Cornwall house of the Order of the Daughters of Compassion. Can she discover the cause of the unrest in the house.
An enjoyable cozy mystery - Originally published 1990 ( )

Sister Joan discovers a possible suicide and a novice who has disappeared. Investigation reveals that the Mother Superior has revived a form of Goddess worship and expects to produce a new Messiah.

Short, easy reads; not particularly plausible even for the genre, but reasonably entertaining. Set in contemporary (90s and early aughts) Cornwall, Sister Joan is a character in the tradition of religious sleuths who came to their vocation late after a life in the world. She is not always a sympathetic character, perhaps unintentionally? as she carries out her religious commitment. The explication about the religious life can get a little heavy handed. The books suffer from some sloppy editing here and there. There is a back story of a love affair ended by her choice to enter religious life and an ongoing interaction with a local Detective Sergeant that begins in the second book and runs through the rest of the series. Nowhere near on the level of Ellis Peters' Cadfael and Margaret Frazer's Sister Frevisse, and without the benefit of being set in a historical period, but I've read them all and enjoyed them. ( )

Mystery, murder & the Church meet when people dare to think they can keep wrong-doing covered up. I enjoyed the story. Thought it was original. I really liked the candid, soul-searching of the Nun…SMILE* ( )