I selected the novel Requiem at the Refuge for review because this was the first crime novel I had read written by a Catholic Sister, especially one who works in a drop-in centre in San Francisco. I have discovered that this is the ninth novel by Sister Carol and that she has un unlikely detective, Sister Mary Helen by name. I look forward to reading at least some of the other eight.
This story is set, like many famous detective novels, in an enclosed community, St.Francis College, where the murderer is likely to be one of the members of that community or someone closely associated with it. The College has close ties with a shelter refuge for homeless women run by one of its residents, Sister Anne. When one of the women from the refuge is murdered, the city police are called in, namely Inspectors Kate Murphy and Dennis Gallagher, who have had the assistance of Sister Mary Helen before. The latter has now retired from the College and, while still resident there, is helping at the refuge. Sister Mary's help is not altogether welcomed by the masculine representative of the S.F.D.P.
The detection in the story is an important element but not the only one. The San Francisco setting is convincing and interesting. The inhabitants of the drop-in centre, probably drawn from the author's own experience in a shelter similar to the one described here, are well drawn and their identities are recognisable. The occupation of the women, drop-ins at the centre, is or has been prostitution and the language, conversation, attitudes and opinions, together with their street names, give the characters life and realism.
There is only one murder in the novel and the police, the shelter drop-ins and, to a lesser extent the non-detective Sisters in the College are involved in finding the murderer. The story is told from the point of view of various characters, including that of the murderer, whose identity is not revealed until the last chapter. However, there are plenty of clues for the discerning reader which could help in guessing that identity. Considerable insight is given into the workings of the mind of Mary Helen as she tries to help in the detection without incurring the wrath of Inspector Gallagher. All the action happens in twenty seven days, from August 15th to September 11th, and the chapter headings indicate the passage of time between those dates. The chapter headings also name the feasts and saints' days which occur on those dates.
Altogether, this is an interesting and undemanding novel to read. It does not require a list of characters and/or places at the beginning to help the reader along the way, so one can just relax and enjoy.
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Rosemary Brown