A Darkly Hidden Truth by Donna Fletcher Crow

Felicity Howard, a young American studying for the Anglican priesthood at the College of the Transfiguration in Yorkshire, has to learn more about church history if she and Father Antony are going to unravel their second mystery. Past and present mix as the words of Julian of Norwich and the arcane rights of the Knights of St. John of Malta lead to a present-day killer. And as the friendship grows between Antony and Felicity, will Felicity choose a life dedicated to God as a nun or one with Antony?


My review:

   This book seemed to start off slowly, and I had a little bit of a hard time getting into it at first, but then it picked up and I got into the story. This is a sequel to A Very Private Grave, and is #2 in the Monastery Murders. I read and reviewed the first book, and it was great to get reacquainted with some of the same characters from the first book, especially Felicity and Anthony.

In addition to writing a great mystery, the author also does a great job of setting the scene in the monastery setting. I don't know much about monasteries and the life of monks and nuns, and disagree a lot theologically with those who practice that religion, but I still find it interesting to read about what goes on in such a setting, especially during Holy Week.  The amount of services is rather daunting (52 in one week, if I remember correctly).

I like it when an author spends some time on character development, and though much of that was done with the main characters in the first book, there is still more of that in this book. I liked the characters, especially the main two, who seem to get involved in solving murders whether they want to or not.

Although this wasn't as fast of a moving suspense novel as I usually read, I still enjoyed it and look forward to reading more in the series.

About the author:

Donna Fletcher Crow is author of more than thirty-five novels. She has twice won first place in the Historical Fiction category from the National Association of Press Women, and has also been a finalist for "Best Inspirational Novel" from the Romance Writers of America. She is a member of The Arts Centre Group, and Sisters in Crime. Check out her website at www.donnafletchercrow.com.

A Darkly Hidden Truth is available from Kregel Publishing.

Thanks to Kregel for the review copy.