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Searching... Mount Angel Public Library | O'MARIE Sister Mary Helen #10 | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Poor Inspector Gallagher - his premonition was right. Sister Mary Helen is once more in the middle of a homicide case. Not that she wants to be. No one would envy the poor nun, who finds herself holding a dying young woman - shot to death in the street almost directly outside the Refuge for homeless women where Mary Helen volunteers. And even while she grieves over the loss of life, Mary Helen spots something odd about the victim. Although she is wearing near-rags, her skin is unblemishedand healthy-looking. Her perfect teeth are white and unstained. She doesn't look like a woman whose life has been spent in poverty, in the streets.Mary Helen's feeling is borne out when she discovers that the dead woman was a Vice Department officer trying to find the people responsible for a neighborhood prostitute ring. And in spite of her own conscience warning her, the old nun feels that since the murder happened in front of HER refuge, it is her duty to find the officer's killer. She justifies this by telling herself that her connections with the women who use the Refuge put her in a unique position to get some inside informationabout what is going on in their neighborhood. After all, isn't one of the Refuge's very own women, Geraldine, the aunt of Junior Johnson? And isn't Junior just about the most powerful and knowledgeable man in the 'hood? So Sister Mary Helen plunges in, determined to find Sarah Spencer's killer. Her "invasion" of the case enrages Inspector Gallagher, but if she is to succeed, his further fury will be well worth Mary Helen's triumph.The police officers assigned to the crimes that turn out to be "hers" might make a case that someone Mary Helen's age is running a serious risk when she deals with criminals and their world. But the delightful old nun has the weapons of her logical mind, and her determination. And just maybe Someone whom she serves is rooting for her. In any case, she is able to work out of perilous situations, come up with commonsense answers, and gather a huge circle of loving fans as she meddles in murder.
Author Notes
Sister Carol Anne O'Marie was a mystery writer and a nun in the St. Joseph of Carondelet religious order. She wrote eleven novels about a main character named Sister Mary Helen, an elderly nun who solves crimes. Most of the books take place in San Francisco. Sister Carol Anne O'Marie co-ran a shelter for homeless women in Oakland, CA. She was born in 1933 and died in 2009.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
Kirkus Review
Sister Mary Helen is getting on in years, but in addition to ministering daily to homeless women at a church-run refuge, she's still the premier sleuth in residence at San Francisco's Mount Saint Francis College. Her latest case falls literally into her lap when undercover police officer Sarah Spencer is shot just outside the refuge building, uttering only a single word as she dies in Mary Helen's arms. Inspector Dennis Gallagher is furious, as always, when he finds Mary Helen on the scene, but his partner Kate Murphy, now Bassetti, greets her warmly-no surprise, considering the help the police will need cleaning up the neighborhood. Another undercover cop is ensconced in the New You Tattoo Parlor trying to track down rumors of a well-protected local prostitution ring. And prostitutes aren't the refuge's only problem. One of its daily visitors is Geraldine, a working-girl alumna worried sick about the disappearance of her nephew, tough guy Junior Johnson. She enlists Mary Helen's help, and eventually they find him, another gunshot victim-and not the last, until Mary Helen, working with Kate and helped by a single clue, uncovers the killer. The largely predictable adventure, though mostly for fans of the series (Requiem at the Refuge, 2000, etc.), is enlivened by interesting local color and softened by a mellowed Sister Mary Helen.
Booklist Review
O'Marie continues her delightful Sister Mary Helen series with another suspenseful whodunit set in a seedy corner of San Francisco. Since retiring from active duty at Mount Saint Francis College, Sister Mary Helen has been busy volunteering at a women's shelter. When an undercover police officer posing as a homeless woman is senselessly murdered, the good sister once again joins forces with homicide detectives Kate Murphy and Dennis Gallagher. Though slightly irritated by Mary Helen's persistence and her penchant for sleuthing, Murphy and Gallagher grudgingly accept her assistance when two more victims are discovered. With the reputation of the San Francisco Police Department at stake, the three work in concert to expose a good cop gone bad before he strikes again. One more entertaining--if predictable--installment in an unfailingly cozy mystery series. --Margaret Flanagan