A Shameful Murder

Starred review from July 27, 2015
Set in 1923, this stellar first in a new Irish series from Harrison (Condemned to Death, her latest Burren mystery set in 16th-century Ireland) introduces Reverend Mother Aquinas, who finds the corpse of a young woman near the gateway to the chapel of her Cork convent. Mother Aquinas summons a former charge, Sgt. Patrick Cashman, to the crime scene, where they note that the dead girl is dressed in fancy clothes and find her handbag contains a large amount of money, as well as a dance card for the Merchants’ Annual Ball. When Mother Aquinas notes bruise marks on the cadaver’s throat, she suspects foul play (“Cork, in its first year of independence, simmered in the heat of a deadly civil war and the resolution of political differences was often murder”). The body is soon identified as that of Angelina Fitzsimon, a respected tea merchant’s daughter, who was about to turn 21 and gain access to a fortune. Harrison combines a savvy detective and a setting fraught with intrigue and tension for another winner.

September 1, 2015

It is March 1923; the Irish War of Independence has left the country torn asunder, and the civil war that followed has pitted brother against brother. The city of Cork is prone to flooding, and for Rev. Mother Aquinas, who finds a body dressed in satin and kid leather gloves washed up against the gates of St. Mary of the Isle Convent, the spring has been particularly difficult. Mother Aquinas teams up with former student Patrick Cashman, now a police sergeant, and Dr. Scher, a retired Jewish physician, to solve the mystery. VERDICT With this new historical series launch, Harrison moves from the 16th-century Ireland of her "Burren" series (Cross of Vengeance) to an equally tumultuous era in the nation's history, solidly re-creating the political tensions and the social inequalities of the period. Compassionate and wise, the Reverend Mother is a strong and distinctive character, who works among the poor and understands their plight. Recommend for Dicey Deere fans or readers who enjoy M.C. Beaton and Carol Higgins Clark.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2015
Historical-mystery veteran Harrison debuts an entertaining new series set in Cork, Ireland, in 1923 and starring a sleuthing nun. When Reverend Mother Aquinas finds the body of Angelina Fitzsimon, daughter of a prominent Cork citizen, on the river bank, it at first appears the girl drowned. But the marks on her throat lead Aquinas to conclude she was strangled and thrown in the river. Police sergeant Patrick Cashman is first on site and agrees with her conclusion. Angelina's father and brother seem oddly unmoved by her death, and, since her mother is in the lunatic asylum, there's no one to mourn Angelina's death or push to find out who killed her. When the autopsy reveals that Angelina was three months pregnant, the case takes on a whole new angle, especially since she was due to inherit a sizable fortune on her twenty-first birthday in three months' time. With Ireland's civil war turning particularly bloody, the police declare Angelina's case a lower priority as they try to control the warring factions, but Patrick and Mother Aquinas are determined to find out who killed the girl and why. Mistaken identities, strange twists, an intelligent and likable heroine, and a tragic tale of sex, greed, and betrayalmake sure your historical-mystery readers get this one on their radar.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)