Nuns in Fiction

March 8th-14th is National Catholic Sisters Week, so let's celebrate 10 of the nuns in fiction!

Absolution By Murder by Peter Tremayne - The King of Northumbria has requested the services of a wise counsel to decide the people's religious future. Among the select priests, elders, and scholars from Ireland and Rome is Sister Fidelma of Kildare. Trained as an advocate of the courts, she was expecting to rule on issues of law. Instead she was plunged into unholy murder.
Dead was the Abbess Étain, a leading Celtic speaker, her throat slashed. With the counsel in an uproar and civil war threatening, the desperate king has turned to the sharp-witted Sister Fidelma for help. With the aide of her dear friend Brother Eadulf and her faith in the truth, she must act in haste before the killer strikes again.  Book 1 of 30 in the Sister Fidelma series

Bad Faith by Aimee & David Thurlo - Sister Agatha is one of the two extern nuns in a cloistered order in the Our Lady of Hope Monastery in the New Mexico desert. As an extern, it is her role to be the link between the order and the outside world. On most days, that means picking up supplies in the "Anti-Chrysler," the order's aging, ailing station wagon, providing support to the priest who is the chaplain to the order and dealing with the business of the monastery's scriptorium.Her not-exactly quiet life is shattered, however, when the order's chaplain, Father Anselm, comes to the monastery to celebrate mass with the nuns but dies suddenly and mysteriously while consecrating the host. The local constabulary, in the person of Sheriff Tom Green, is convinced it was murder and that it was an inside job - that he used to date Sister Agatha many years ago before she took the veil only serves to make her job as extern all the more complicated. Determined to protect thecloistered sisters, yet fearful that the sheriff might well be right about one of them being somehow involved, Sister Agatha must use the skills from her former life and unravel the many puzzles surrounding Father Anselm's death. As the mystery deepens and time is running out, it soon becomes clear that the answer lies closer to Sister Agatha than she could have ever believed.  Book 1 of 6 in the Sister Agatha series

Blood Sisters by Graham Masterton - Katie Maguire never thought Ireland's nuns would need her protection...In a nursing home on the outskirts of Cork, an elderly nun has been suffocated in her sleep. It looks like a mercy-killing--until another sister from the same convent is found floating in the Glashaboy river. The nuns were good women, doing God's work. Why would anyone want to kill them? But then a child's skull is unearthed in the garden of the nuns' convent, and DS Katie Maguire discovers a fifty-year-old secret that just might lead her to the killer...if the killer doesn't find her first.  Book 5 of 10 in the Katie Maguire series

Contrition by Maura Weiler - When journalist and adoptee Dorie McKenna learns that her biological father was a famous artist, it comes with another startling discovery: she has a twin sister, Catherine Wagner, who inherited their father's talent. Dorie is eager to introduce her sister's genius to the public, but Catherine is a cloistered nun with a vow of silence who adamantly refuses to show or sell the paintings she dedicates to God. Hoping to get to know her sister and research the potential story, Dorie poses as an aspiring nun at the convent where Catherine lives. Her growing relationship with Catherine helps Dorie come to terms with her adoption, but soon the sisters' shared biological past and uncertain futures collide as they clash over the meaning and purpose of art. Will they remain side-by-side for the rest of their lives, or will their conflicts change the course of the future? 

Echoes by Danielle Steel - For the Wittgenstein family, the summer of 1915 was a time of both prosperity and unease, as the guns of war sound in the distance. But for eldest daughter Beata, it was also a summer of awakening. By the glimmering waters of Lake Geneva, the quiet Jewish beauty met a young French officer and fell in love. Knowing that her parents would never accept her marriage to a Catholic, Beata followed her heart anyway. And as the two built a new life together, Beata's past would stay with her in ways she could never have predicted. For as the years pass, and Europe is once again engulfed in war, Beata must watch in horror as Hitler's terror threatens her life and family--even her eighteen-year-old daughter Amadea, who has taken on the vows of a Carmelite nun. 

The Last Homecoming by Dan Chabot - Three troubled strangers gather on Christmas Eve to say farewell to a doomed old house, the secure shelter and refuge where each of them grew up over the course of 90 years. They all have warm, golden memories of youthful, magical Christmases here, and of the Rockwell-esque small town that nourished them as children. These old walls were witness to the stories of... ...An elderly, feisty nun with life-searing experiences as a nurse in World War II, whose promiscuous youth still haunts her; ...A depressed former Major League baseball pitcher who is contemplating a horrific act; ...The hometown newspaper editor, still dealing with the tragic consequences of her long-ago teenage love affair. They are joined by their gracious host, the last owner of the house, whose own deep attachment has led her to stage this last homecoming for people who know it is not just a house, but a shrine of memories and echoes. But before it goes down to make way for a new bridge, this safe old sanctuary has surrendered some astonishing final secrets... 

Saint's Gate by Carla Neggers - When Emma Sharpe is summoned to a convent on the Maine coast, it's partly for her art crimes work with the FBI, partly because of her past with the religious order. At issue is a mysterious painting depicting scenes of Irish lore and Viking legends, and her family's connection to the work. But when the nun who contacted her is murdered, it seems legend is becoming deadly reality.
Colin Donovan is one of the FBI's most valuable assets--a deep-cover agent who prefers to go it alone. He's back home in Maine after wrapping up his latest mission, but his friend Father Bracken presents him with an intrigue of murder, international art heists and a convent's long-held secrets that is too tempting to resist. As the danger spirals ever closer, Colin is certain of only one thing--the very intriguing Emma Sharp is at the center of it all.
A ruthless killer has Emma and Colin in the crosshairs, plunging them into a race against time and drawing them deeper into a twisted legacy of betrayal and deceit.  Book 1 of 9 in the Sharpe & Donovan series 

The Shadow of Death by Jane Willan - The sisters of Gwenafwy Abbey have cherished their contemplative life--days spent in prayer and reflection, tending the Convent's vegetable gardens and making their award-winning organic cheese, Heavenly Gouda. Life seems perfect, except for Sister Agatha, a die-hard mystery fan who despairs of ever finding any real-life inspiration for her own novel--that is, until the abbey's sexton is found dead under an avalanche of gouda. Despite the reservations of the local constable, Sister Agatha is convinced it's murder, and the game is afoot. Armed only with the notes she's scribbled during her favorite podcast, How to Write a Mystery Novel, as well as lessons learned from crime heroes ranging from Hercule Poirot to Stephanie Plum, Sister Agatha leads the nuns of Gwenafwy Abbey (and her unwitting sidekick, Father Selwyn) as they begin a race against time to resolve the death of Jacob, save the abbey, exonerate a beloved postulant, and restore the good name of their cheese.  Book 1 of 2 in the Sister Agatha and Father Selwyn Mysteries

A Shameful Murder by Cora Harrison - Cork, Ireland, 1923. When, one wet March morning, Reverend Mother Aquinas discovers a body at the gate of the convent chapel, she immediately sends for one of her former pupils, Police Sergeant Patrick Cashman, to investigate. Dead bodies ar not unusual in the poverty-stricken slums of Cork, but this one is dressed in evening finery; in her handbag is a dance program for the exclusive Merchants' Ball held the previous evening--and a midnight ticket for the Liverpool ferry. Against the backdrop of a country in the midst of Ireland's Civil War, the Reverend Mother, Sergeant Cashman and Dr. Scher, an enlightened physician and friend, seek out the truth as to the identity of the victim--and her killer.  Book 1 of 6 in the Reverend Mother Mysteries

They Still Call Me Sister by Deborah Plummer Bussey - Former nun and practicing psychologist Kathy Carpenter knows something is off when a patient is found dead and it's claimed a suicide. Enlisting the help of her gregarious sister in Atlanta, she sets out to prove her patient was murdered. But with the only suspect a shadowy figure called "Brain Fag," the answers seem well out of reach. As Kathy gets closer to the truth, political intrigue begins to surround her, and her own life begins to be in danger. Can she find the killer-or will she be a victim herself?