Aimee & David Thurlo False Witness

False Witness

Aimee & David Thurlo

St. Martin's, Oct 2007, $25.95, 261 pp.

ISBN: 9780313322120

In the Our Lady Of Hope Monastery resides a community of nuns bound by a vow of enclosure which means they have nothing to do with the outside world. Three extern nuns who are not bound by enclosure are the spokeswomen for the monastery and have dealings of all kind with the outside world. Sister Agatha is one of those and her ability to get donations has saved the monastery from going broke on more than one occasion.

They are currently in a financial bind, having won a bid on a computer contract; they are plagued by a hacker who wants them shut down. Their electrical wiring needs fixing before the place burns down and someone crashes through the gate that keeps them secure in their own private world. They don't have the money to pay for repairs but a monastery patron who plans to sell the vineyards that border on the nun's home and bring civilization to their doorsteps makes a deal with them. If Sister Agatha finds and reconciles him with his niece before he dies of cancer who is in hiding after testifying at the trial of a killer and land fraud scammer he will give her the money to fix up the monastery and create a buffer zone between the nun's home and the property he wishes to sell. When something sounds too good to be true it really is.

The latest Sister Agatha mystery is an exciting who-done it that gives a glimpse into the workings of a cloistered monastery that must be financially self-sufficient. Aimee & David Thurlo captures the prescience and serenity as well out the tenseness of community that exists behind the walls of the monastery. There are several layers to the mystery each one getting closer to the truth but it takes a while to peel away each layer to the core that reveals the killer. FALSE MYSTERY is truly a well crafted mystery.

Harriet Klausner