Publisher's Weekly Review
The unusual insight into human nature gained by followers of the religious life is again demonstrated by Sister Mary Helen, semiretired from teaching at San Francisco's Mount St. Francis College and last encountered in The Missing Madonna . Appearing on a local TV news show, Sister Mary Helen finds herself plunged into a murder case when investigative reporter Christina Kelly dies on the air, poisoned with a cookie mysteriously delivered to the studio. Although police inspectors Dennis Gallagher and Kate Murphy (the latter in the last month of pregnancy), her old friends and antagonists, order her not to interfere, Sister Mary Helen feels she is morally obligated to solve the murder when the Greek mother of the victim asks her to avenge her daughter. Interpol comes into the picture when it turns out that Christina had been investigating a ring that smuggled Greek antiquities, but Sister Mary Helen's knowledge of human nature uncovers an older source for the tragedy. Sister O'Marie's unsensational and warmhearted portrayal of convent, family and police life, tied into a tidy mystery with modern trappings, makes for a satisfying read. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
San Francisco's elderly, sleuthing Sister Mary Helen is once again barging in where Police Inspectors Kate Murphy and Dennis Gallagher have begged her not to go (Advent of Dying, etc.). This time, Sister Mary Helen was among others waiting to be interviewed on a local TV news program when newswoman Christina Kelly died of cyanide poisoning, having eaten the only tainted cookie in a plateful from an unknown donor. It's soon apparent that Christina was not the intended victim, but the reader will have latched onto the murderer long before the police are led to the solution by Sister Mary Helen. Strained and tedious, padded with chitchat on menus, interior decor, weather, the Super Bowl, Catholic ritual, and the imminent birth of Kate Murphy's baby. In all: unpretentious but unrewarding.
Booklist Review
Sister Mary Helen, the spry, elderly amateur detective invented by Sister Carol Anne ~O'Marie, finds herself caught up in her third murder investigation. She doesn't even try to hide her interest or her snooping--er . . . sleuthing. After all, the victim could just as easily have been Sister Mary Helen herself because she was on the television news set when gorgeous investigative reporter Christina Kelly bit the poisoned cookie. Sister Mary Helen's detective work is further justified when Kelly's mother asks her to "meddle." There's plenty to meddle in--an abundance of potential victims and villains. Sister Mary Helen tracks down the culprit by using both her wiles and her kitchenside manner. Neatly plotted, entertaining mystery fare. ~--Denise Perry Donavin
