Summer of Secrets

May 1, 2020
Harrison's latest once again features the shrewd and empathetic Reverend Mother, a nun who's become a bit of a legend for solving crimes in her home city of Cork, Ireland. She and six of her relatives are invited to dinner at the home of their cousin, Charlotte Hendrick, one of Cork's wealthiest citizens, to discuss Charlotte's will. The seven have been promised part of Charlotte's considerable fortune when she dies, but now Charlotte has changed her mind and plans to leave everything to just one person. Her former beneficiaries are outraged. When the body of an unknown person is found the next morning in Charlotte's house, suspicion immediately falls on those who were at the dinner. The police are baffled, but the Reverend Mother senses the story behind the murder is complex, and she must use her knowledge of the Hendrick family and her deep knowledge of Cork to solve the case. The intriguing plot, the keen insights into the sociopolitical situation in 1920s Ireland, and the clever heroine make this a fine read for the historical-mystery crowd.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)