With Our Blessing

Written by Jo Spain

Narrated by Nicholas Camm

Detective Inspector Tom Reynolds searches for the missing links between a recent murder case and a series of decades-old crimes in this Irish closed-room mystery
 
In 1975, a baby just minutes old is taken from its devastated mother. In 2010, the gruesome corpse of a nun is found in a Dublin public park. Detective Inspector Tom Reynolds and his team are on the scene and he’s convinced the murder is linked to historical events that took place in the infamous former Magdalene Laundries, institutions for “fallen women.”

As Reynolds and his team follow the trail to an isolated convent, everything seems perfectly normal and it seems perhaps they’ve followed the wrong lead. But it soon becomes disturbingly clear that the killer is amongst them and determined to exact further vengeance for the sins of the past.

The walls in this closed-room mystery narrow in on Reynolds and his team as they race to stop another murder in With Our Blessing, bestselling author Jo Spain’s U.S. debut.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Everand Productions
• Release date: Feb 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781094438955

Jo Spain

Jo Spain is a full-time writer and screenwriter. Her first novel was one of seven novels shortlisted for the Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller competition. The co-writer of the ground-breaking television series Taken Down, she currently resides in Dublin, Ireland.

Reviews for With Our Blessing

[Karen Chandler · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is an interesting storyline to bring attention to forced adoptions from unwed mothers and revenge.

[atticusfinch1048 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

With our Blessing – A Stunning debutWith our Blessing is the stunning debut thriller from former journalist and political advisor Jo Spain, and it is easy to understand why this book has been shortlisted for the Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller competition. Her debut is both atmospheric and compelling while picking at an open sore in Irish history that is casting along shadow over the church and state.With our Blessing introduces us to Detective Inspector Tom Reynolds and his team based in Dublin, when a body is discovered in a local cruising area, a body of a female, has been crucified and a message adorns her body, and her tongue has been cut out. When they discover the murdered female is a nun they are shaken to the core, especially as Christmas is approaching upon them.Things start turning dark for Reynolds and his team when they realise that the victim was a member of an order and lived in what was a Magdalene Laundry which also had a mother and baby home. As they have to travel out to the convent which is out in the Irish countryside and need help from the local Kilcross garda station.It is not helped that they have to stay in the convent and the winter is turning bad all around them, it enforces the eerie desolation of the former Magdalene Laundry as there are so few nuns left living there. All the detectives while out in Kilcross and staying at the Laundry have to face some of their own inner demons.While Reynolds is investigating Father Seamus also is found murdered which adds to the complexity of the investigation. It also calls in the behaviour of the Catholic Church and the role of the state, as they dig deeper, as they know it is only by looking back they will be able to find the truth and the killer.This is a wonderfully dark noir thriller that casts light on some parts of Irish history that both Church and State would rather remain hidden. This is a wonderfully vivid thriller that explores those dark depths and shows the more you try to hide the truth the more likely it is to come out in to the light.This is a brilliantly researched and written debut novel, that has a complex twisted plot, not afraid to use misdirection in her story, Jo Spain shows us she has the potential to be one of the top Irish crime writers. Jo Spain manages to get under your skin and gives you a kick when she thinks as a reader you are getting too complacent and think you know who the killer is.A truly superb debut, promising a bright future for Irish writing.

[nbmars · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is one of those books that, although very good, makes you feel like your brain could use a shower afterwards. It’s nothing to do with the writing but more to do with the plot, which is based on actual circumstances. With Our Blessing is a contemporary crime novel set in Ireland that weaves in the sordid history of the Magdalene Laundries. These notorious and secretive institutions, run by Roman Catholic orders in Ireland from the 18th to the late 20th centuries and assisted by a blind eye from the government, housed “fallen women.” As the author explains at one point in the story:“The laundries had been originally conceived as charitable refuges for ‘fallen’ or abandoned women but evolved into dumping grounds for all sorts of women regarded as ‘difficult’ by a judgmental society, heavily influenced by the Catholic Church. Some of the laundry inmates had babies out of wedlock, others had reported abuse by a family member or neighbor, while some just ended up there because they were homeless, had committed a minor crime, or were moved from other institutions. The women claimed they were shamefully mistreated - forced to work from morning until night for not pay, underfed, beaten, abused, and generally treated like prisoners.”After a mass grave was found in the covent grounds of one of the laundries in 1993, an inquiry was launched and the case against the laundries was taken to the UN Committee Against Torture. It wasn’t until 2001 that the Irish Government admitted the laundries were less than salubrious. In 2013 the UN committee published its report finding that significant violations had taken place in the laundries, including cases of torture and rape. Babies were taken from pregnant mothers and sold. Nuns upset by what was taking place were afraid to speak out. Ireland issued a formal state apology after the report was issued. As this story begins, a body is found in Dublin of an older woman who had been tortured ritualistically and crucified. She was soon identified as Reverend Mother Attracta, head of the convent Sisters of Pity in Limerick. Sisters of Pity had formerly been a Magdalene Laundry before Ireland shut them all down in 1996.Several detectives from the Dublin murder squad, led by Detective Inspector Tom Reynolds of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigations, traveled to the convent to investigate the crime. Before long there was another murder at the convent, and the detectives know they are in a race against time to find out who is the perpetrator before there are more victims. Because they suspect the killings have something to do with the convent’s history as a laundry, part of their investigation involves digging through the records of the convent from that time, and exposing its dark past.Evaluation: The author does a good job of educating readers about the Magdalene Laundries without sounding didactic, and of presenting the nuances of a case in which practically no one, including the police, thinks the victims weren’t deserving of their fates. In fact, the murderer muses: “I don’t live in a society where you’re allowed to take justice into your own hands. And yet, I don’t live in a society where real justice is delivered unless you dish it out yourself.”It’s a chilling story, and well done.

[pgchuis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The murder of a nun leads the police to her convent, which formerly housed a Magdalene laundry. This contained lots of the history of the laundries and of what went on in them, which was both interesting and tragic. It was a bit long and there were too many nuns to keep straight in my head. I read most of it in one sitting, and am looking forward to the next in the series.

[Beth Nordquist · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The interminable, heavy-handed and redundant moralizing really makes this story drag. Yes, terrible things happened at the"Magdalene Laundries." Ok, the point is one worth making. But she really beat that horse to a pulp. I almost always finish a book once I start it, but by the time I was halfway through this one I was too thoroughly bored with the repetition on that theme to continue.

[Rebecca Wulff · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It has been quite a while since I have enjoyed a series of books as much as this one. The writing is amazing and perfectly paced. The character development is perfect. Not over done, not under done. And the choice of narrator just balances it all out. Perfect!

[Dian · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book would be a great story if I had read it for myself the narrator was horrible just horrible i finish it with a headache everybody sounds like they have hot potatoes in their mouth both men and women sounds alike the story was ok and interesting but the detectives are a little amateurish they do more talking than actions did I mention the how horrible the narrator was if a Graeme malcolm was reading it would be grand

[Leah Barton Tew · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is just ok. It trots out some tired (and flat out wrong) ideas about medical conditions, especially miscarriage. It also shamelessly shares the very insulting notion that a nursing career is a consolation prize for those who weren’t smart enough to be doctors. I finished the book, but lost all respect for the author at that point.

[Gary Gallo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great plot and characters. A bit too long. But I recommend it.

[Kathy Adjust · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing story line, and perfect narrator! I finished the book in record time!

[Tamara Walters · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent!!! Heartbreaking story!! Really enjoyed this book, narrator was amazing and book is very well written!

[PamelaJoyceSilva · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As a reader of many murder mysteries, I have to say, it is rare for me to ever give five stars... To any book.. This book held me absolutely spellbound. The plot, the characters, I could not put it down. It frightening in its exposure of true evil conveyed by a fictional story. My only critique was the narrator. I found him hard to understand. But it might have just been me.

[Corina Kwan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Love the story and especially the Epilogue. But the narrator has a thick voice and seems to "leak air" with some ending syllables, particularly those ending in t and s sounds, which makes it hard to hear. But his voice acting is superb.

[Kelly Green · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A news article on the Madeleine Laundries sent me searching for more information and led me to this book. Though a work of historical fiction, With Our Blessing weaves the ghastly true-life events of cruel piety v the vulnerable in its narrative.
The author’s compassion for the victims and those involved tangentially is palpable, as is her unflinching call for readers to look inside, to challenge any self-aggrandizing thought that “we” would be better than “them.”
First and foremost, though, it’s a taught murder mystery that keeps you guessing, and fighting the urge to root for the one who avenges.

[Celeste Hoffert · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The narrator was the great downfall. His idiosyncrasies and breathing were incredibly distracting and I couldn’t get past it after the first hour so I had to move on.

[jamie Sheets · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a great read. Read it you will love it