A Great Day for the Deadly
By Jane Haddam
3.5/5
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About this ebook
Her childhood friends wanted careers, but Brigit Ann Reilly spent her youth looking forward to her wedding—her wedding to God. When she finally gets to don the habit, her new order sends her to Maryville, where a former sister is poised to become Rome’s first Irish-American saint. Brigit has no time to worry about Vatican politics. She’s about to become a martyr herself. Brigit is found dead in the basement of her local library, her corpse swarming with ten poisonous water moccasins. When ex-FBI investigator Gregor Demarkian hears of her death, he is puzzled by two things: Water moccasins are not native to upstate New York, and Brigit died of hemlock poisoning, not the snakes’ venom. As Maryville whips itself into a pious frenzy in search of evidence for its hometown hero’s sainthood, Demarkian will attempt his own miracle by finding justice for the murdered young nun.
Jane Haddam
Jane Haddam (1951–2019) was an American author of mysteries. Born Orania Papazoglou, she worked as a college professor and magazine editor before publishing her Edgar Award–nominated first novel, Sweet, Savage Death, in 1984. This mystery introduced Patience McKenna, a sleuthing scribe who would go on to appear in four more books, including Wicked, Loving Murder (1985) and Rich, Radiant Slaughter (1988). Not a Creature Was Stirring (1990) introduced Haddam’s best-known character, former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian. The series spans more than twenty novels, many of them holiday-themed, including Murder Superior (1993), Fountain of Death (1995), and Wanting Sheila Dead (2005). Haddam’s later novels include Blood in the Water (2012) and Hearts of Sand (2013).
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Dear Old Dead Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Precious Blood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Great Day for the Deadly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bleeding Hearts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Quoth the Raven Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Not a Creature Was Stirring Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Act of Darkness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Superior Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Stillness in Bethlehem Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Festival of Deaths Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Feast of Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fountain of Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for A Great Day for the Deadly
45 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Another holiday, another series of murders for Gregor Demarkian, the "Armenian-American Hercule Poirot" to solve! This time it's the upcoming St. Patrick's Day celebration and the site is Marysville, a very Irish-American small town in upper New York state--also the location of the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Divine Grace. Lead off murder--that of a young postulant of the order, Brigit Ann Reilly. John Cardinal O'Bannion, Archbishop of the Diocese of Colchester is not a patient man nor is he one to be denied. So, when he more or less orders Demarkian to Marysville to unravel the baffling murder, Demarkian obliges. Actually, Demarkian is quite happy to have a distraction from the boredom of having all his Cavanaugh Street friends and neighbors unavailable at the moment for one reason or another.Since the story takes place outside of Demarkian's Armenian Philadelphia neighborhood, we certainly miss the presence of stalwarts such as Father Tibor, Donna Moradanyan, George Tekamanian and others, but we're more than compensated by the cast of characters in the Sisters of Divine Grace, with a repeat performance by Sister Scholastica and an introduction to that most formidable member, Reverend Mother General.Written with Haddam's deft light, comic touch, considerable knowledge of the workings of the Roman Catholic Church in general and orders of nuns in particular, and with a good plot, this is another highly entertaining read in the Demarkian series. Haddam is always good, but when she involves the Sisters of Divine Grace, she is particularly engaging.Highly recommended.