Death of an Angel (Sister Mary Helen Mystery)

Rating:
Summary: A pleasant read
Review: After Sister Cecilia, dies in her sleep, Sister Patricia replaces her as the president of San Francisco's Mount St. Francis College. Sister Patricia has a reputation for bringing in new blood. This frightens eighty-year old Sister Mary Helen who is not ready to retire. Rather than wait to be fired, Sister Mary Helen resigns and begins working at The Refuge, a center for battered and homeless women. The manager of the Refuge, Sister Anne strongly feels that her friend Sister Mary Helen can contribute.

Everyone in the convent knows that where Sister Mary Helen goes, homicides follow. The Refuge proves that theory as Sister Mary Helen finds the murdered corpse of a prostitute, Melanie. A few hours earlier, Melanie blurted out the names of people who she feared. Detectives Gallagher and Murphy begin to investigate knowing full well that Sister Mary Helen will do her own sleuthing.

Sister Carol Anne O'Marie proves she is a talented writer. Her elderly protagonist uses humor as she has the habit (pardon the pun) of meddling in homicide investigations. The story line deals with the social issues of prostitution and its effect on the women who peddle their bodies, the plight of the homeless, and the contribution of the elderly. Narrated from multiple points of view, REQUIEM AT THE REFUGE is an enjoyable cozy starring a memorable character.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Not one of her best
Review: Expecting a special treat, I set aside time to read this new (to me) book from Carol Anne O'Marie. This one had no real "mystery" and the Sisters fell into the solution.

I usually reccommend her books to several people, instead I did to one person who, also, was not impressed. It's a shame, I am hoping that next one I try is more to the style that I've become accustomed to expect. Do NOT pick this as you first one to try.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best in the series!
Review: Gosh, how does she do it! The seventh in her Sister Mary Helen mysteries has not sapped Sister Carol's verve and elan in crafting her usual energetic, fun, intriguing story. Complex, intricate but easy to follow, compact and fast-moving - with the usual humor and intelligence, wisdom and stubborness, shrewdness and humanness of her aging but SPRY women nun heroines in the heart of San Francisco.

Rating:
Summary: Not one of her best
Review: I have read a few of Sister Carol Ann O'Marie's books in the past, and I was hooked. They are quick reads that have great interesting story lines. It is on the line of a "Murder She Wrote.

This book,"Death of an Angel" was very enjoyable. The ending was a little far fetched, but over all I enjoyed it.

I want to buy all her books, I'm sure they are all enjoyable. Great for a before bedtime read or on a rainy afternoon. Tom

Rating:
Summary: Death of an Angel
Review: I have read a few of Sister Carol Ann O'Marie's books in the past, and I was hooked. They are quick reads that have great interesting story lines. It is on the line of a "Murder She Wrote.

This book,"Death of an Angel" was very enjoyable. The ending was a little far fetched, but over all I enjoyed it.

I want to buy all her books, I'm sure they are all enjoyable. Great for a before bedtime read or on a rainy afternoon. Tom

Rating:
Summary: Sister, what happened?
Review: I have read all but one of Sister's mystery books. I find them light-hearted and fun reading. Also, believe it or not, the author manages to insert some theology in there too. This is something I appreciate since I am a Catholic school religion teacher. Sr. Mary Helen is a pleasant, quaint character and so is her cohort, Sr. Eileen. This book is a fun read also, but it does seem to present a prejudice against the plump. The author has definitely taken a creative leap here compared with her other books and it really did pay off. The ending is very dramatic and fresh, but the author's and, sadly, society's disdain for the hefty of humanity shines through more than was intended. C'mon Sister you can do better than that!

Rating:
Summary: Potential shows but this book doesn't quite meet the mark.
Review: I think the Good Sister is a writer for sure and posessing talent. This book however is lacking while it has intriguing and suspensful places - it focuses on frankly too much on the weight of one of the prime characters and fills in the usual stereotypical view. I believe Sister will produce better work as she goes along but this isn't a book I could feel good about reccomending.

Rating:
Summary: I don't need poles or boots
Review: This was my first and only reading of the series. I am compelled to give this book 3 stars lest the author, SISTER Carol Anne O'Marie, come after my knuckles with a ruler or talk to her "friends in high places" regarding lengthening my Purgatory time (& I'm not talking here about the ski resort in Colorado! ;)

What we have here is a pair of inquisitive (note that I did not say "busy-body") nuns of a certain age wandering around San Francisco in the middle of an investigation into serial murders of similarly aged women. The core "mystery" of the book is really no mystery. What is mysterious is why Sr. Carole Anne employed the silly riddle of "Hound Dog." If a recovering man can say "Hound" he most certainly could say "Elvis!"

But the book has its moments. The reference to Ozanian liquidation is clever: "Tillie seemed to sputter and shrivel like Oz's Wicked Witch of the West into a sobbing heap." And so is the prayer for some "Divine interception" during a 49'ers football game.