Vow of Fidelity

This is the second Veronica Black "Vow" mystery I've read, and I'd say that my problems with this book are similar to the ones I had with Vow of Sanctity -- that the final chapter consists of everything being suddenly "solved" -- lots of loose ends tied up, to make sure the reader has no unanswered questions about how it all fits together -- and a motive for murder that is not particularly credible. However, getting to the last chapter is a lot of fun -- the book is well-written on the whole and moves right along. The characters are distinctive and although there are a lot, easy to keep track of (not one of those books where you have to take notes, maps, and charts). The convent setting interested me, and there was nothing so grizzly as to be upsetting to read (which is probably why this is considered a "cosy" mystery).The plot involves a reunion of art students 20 years after a photograph was taken. They discover that some of the group are missing because they have died mysteriously. Sister Joan, our detective-heroine, smells a rat, and reluctantly gets drawn into looking into a possible connection between these deaths. The surviving students all end up at the convent on retreat (quite unbelievably), and Sister Joan has some concerns that she will be next on the killer's list -- if she can't discover who and why before the next killing.All in all, a pleasant and engaging book, but not likely to be the kind of book you buy in hardbound and keep.

The mystery of Sister Joan's is amazing. As she reunites with her classmates, Sister Joan tries to solve the mystery of why out of 10 only 7 people came up. The story is amazing and well written, you will love Joan from beginning to end.

Sister Joan is given permission to go into London for a reunion with 9 of her classmates from art school. Unfortunately 3 of them are dead and the untimely deaths seem to be more than a coincidence. The group then agrees to come to the convent which Mother Dorothy has opened for retreats. Several of the members of her class seem to have changed since their school days, and Sister Joan is curious about this as well as the deaths of her classmates. She finds that some of the reunion group have lied to her about their past, so she does her usual amateur sleuthing to find out what ties the deaths together. This is a bit of a departure in that people from the outside are brought into the cloister and is a nice change of pace.