Book Review
Dec. 27th, 2025 03:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariDeath Comes As Epiphany
by Sharan Newman
This is the first of Newman's Catherine LeVendeur mystery series, set in mid-12th century France. Scholarly and intelligent Catherine is a novitiate at Paraclete, Heloise's convent. When Heloise receives word that someone at the St. Denis monastery has been altering a Psalter created at Paraclete for St. Denis, she sends Catherine on a mission to find out who is attempting to slander the convent. While visiting St. Denis, one of the stone workers is murdered, and Catherine finds out that there is a lot more going on than just the alteration of the Psalter.
I enjoyed this mystery a lot. It was fairly intricate, with lots of different threads woven in, from that of a blasphemous and fraudulent hermit to a complex trade scheme akin to money laundering. Catherine also has to contend with some fraught family relationships as well as the pull of both the convent and a potential love match. All of this kept me on my toes. Catherine is such a sympathetic and engaging character - very smart, loyal, strong-willed, and often brave.
by Sharan Newman
This is the first of Newman's Catherine LeVendeur mystery series, set in mid-12th century France. Scholarly and intelligent Catherine is a novitiate at Paraclete, Heloise's convent. When Heloise receives word that someone at the St. Denis monastery has been altering a Psalter created at Paraclete for St. Denis, she sends Catherine on a mission to find out who is attempting to slander the convent. While visiting St. Denis, one of the stone workers is murdered, and Catherine finds out that there is a lot more going on than just the alteration of the Psalter.
I enjoyed this mystery a lot. It was fairly intricate, with lots of different threads woven in, from that of a blasphemous and fraudulent hermit to a complex trade scheme akin to money laundering. Catherine also has to contend with some fraught family relationships as well as the pull of both the convent and a potential love match. All of this kept me on my toes. Catherine is such a sympathetic and engaging character - very smart, loyal, strong-willed, and often brave.
