A Vow of Penance

in the typical british fashion, Ms. Black begins a bit darkly and with great characters. this is the second in a series of Sister Joan. I have been reading several series of "nun mysteries" of late- started out as a whim to see how many were out there- wow i was surprised! so far this series is quite sophistcated and does a nice job of incorpating the nun's cloistered way into the novel. I look forward to reading the whole series.

Two new characters enter the scene of the fifth novel of this series. One is a priest and one is a nun, but they share the trait of being cold and hard to get to know. They also seem to have an unusual propensity to endure more penance than most who have a vocation for the religious life. When the local priests' housekeeper is found dead, the police assume that it is suicide. Sister Joan disagrees and, as usual, conducts her own investigation. She suspects the two newcomers but it could always be a townsperson or someone from the nearby gypsy camp. This is a good addition to the series.