Synopses & Reviews
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 unblemished and 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 information about 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.
Review
"O'Marie continues her delightful Sister Mary Helen series with another suspenseful whodunit set in a seedy corner of San Francisco...One more entertaining...installment in an unfailingly cozy mystery series. -
Library Journal"[An] excellent mystery series...Hard to put down." -Booklist
Synopsis
Sister Mary Helen does not recognize Sarah when she comes to the San Francisco shelter, but something still feels wrong to the elderly nun. When Sarah is shot--and manages to whisper "pity" to her--the nun quickly searches for answers, unaware of the dangers she may encounter.
Synopsis
Readers have come to delight in the murder-solving exploits of septuagenarian Sister Mary Helen, a nun with a nose for nabbing killers. Publishers Weekly calls the mysteries "refreshingly different" and a "heady mix of humor and suspense." Once you meet this spry, clever sleuth, you'll make a habit of reading her adventures...
"...Bury The Dead."
On the feast of St. Francis Caracciolo, Sister Mary Helen finished chanting the Corporal Acts of Mercy-"...to feed and shelter the homeless, visit the sick, and bury the dead"-before she went to work at The Refuge, a San Francisco women's shelter. Immediately she wondered about a pretty new visitor, suspiciously too well kept to be down and out. Only a few minutes later, Mary Helen found the mysterious woman shot and dying on the sidewalk. The police don't want an old nun meddling in the case, but that doesn't stop Mary Helen from snooping around and discovering the victim's true identity. And when Mary Helen discovers two more bodies, it's the police who may be confessing their need of a sharp-witted Sister with connections to a Higher Authority....
"O'Marie continues her delightful Sister Mary Helen series with another suspenseful whodunit set in a seedy corner of San Francisco...One more entertaining...installment in an unfailingly cozy mystery series. -Library Journal
About the Author
Sister Carol Anne O'Marie has been a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet for the past fifty years. She ministers to homeless women at a daytime drop-in center in downtown Oakland, California, which she cofounded in 1990.
The Corporal Works of Murder is her tenth novel featuring Sister Mary Helen.