Kristina Anderson
Sister Eve and the Blue Nun by Lynne Hinton is the third book in A Divine Private Detective Agency Mystery series. Sister Eve is trying to decide whether to stay a nun or become a private detective with her father’s agency (she has been conflicted for a while). Sister Evangeline or Sister Eve (as she prefers) is currently without a convent (since the decision was made to make it strictly a boy’s club at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Pecos, New Mexico). Sister Eve has returned for a conference (she is currently living with her father since his illness) on Sister Maria de Jesus de Agreda (The Blue Nun). Dr. Kelly Middlesworth, a professor in religion, has studied The Blue Nun. She is going to give a speech at the beginning of the conference. Kelly is also the sister to Brother Anthony, a monk with the order. Anthony gave Kelly some special papers he had recently discovered regarding The Blue Nun. He told her to tell no one about them, but he knew she would want to see them. Unfortunately, Kelly did not keep the secret. Sister Eve finds Brother Anthony upset and he confesses that he discovered Kelly dead in her room. After a lengthy discussion, Sister Eve goes to Kelly’s room to investigate (telling Anthony to stay put which he does not do). Kelly is indeed dead in her room. Sister Eve takes in every detail of the room (while messing with evidence). She is soon joined by Father Oliver. Anthony went to Father Oliver and told him the news (told you he would not stay put). They then both discuss the incident in the room and look to see if the papers are still there (no one makes a move to call the police). They soon hear sirens (at last, someone called the authorities). Unfortunately, Sister Eve breaks a vital piece of evidence upon hearing the sirens and then takes another clue with her upon leaving the room (won’t she make a great private detective). The evidence points to Brother Anthony as the killer, but Sister Eve knows he could not kill his sister. Sister Eve sets out to prove his innocence and find the missing papers. As I am sure you can tell, I did not enjoy Sister Eve and the Blue Nun. This book is bogged down with details. We were subjected to many details including Eve including items in a room, the scenery, knocking on a door, putting a car in reverse, etc. The pace is very slow and only picks up a little towards the end. The idea of a nun investigating crimes is a good one, but I did not like this author’s interpretation. Some information is repeated often (I think they went over the details of the murder in the second chapter two to three times). There are very few clues, but they are all you need to solve the crime (the killer was obvious). A lot of the book is devoted to Sister Eve’s thinking (and over thinking). One thing that was extremely annoying was Sister Eve’s constantly correctly people on the pronunciation of her late name (Divine). She did it every time she gave her last name. But when she is corrected on the proper pronunciation of someone else’s name, she does not like it (very contradictory). While this is the third book in the series, it can be read without having enjoyed the previous books. I give Sister Eve and the Blue Nun 2.5 out of 5 stars. This book was just not for me. I received a complimentary copy of Sister Eve and the Blue Nun from NetGalley and BookLook Bloggers in exchange for an honest evaluation of the novel.
