The Shadow of Death by Jane Willan takes place at the Anglican convent of Gwenafwy Abbey in Pryderi, North Wales amid nuns of the Order of the Sacred Heart. To try to raise money for their upkeep and serve as a community outreach, three years earlier, the abbey began making Heavenly Gouda cheese to sell. On the morning of the book’s opening, Sister Agatha, convent librarian and aspiring mystery writer, goes to the cheese barn, only to discover the body of Jacob Traherne, the sexton for St. Anselm’s Church, lying under a fallen steel shelf. Constable Barnes writes the death off as an accident, but Sister Agatha is convinced she is looking at murder. Using the lessons she has learned from Inspector Rupert McFarland’s weekly podcast, How to Write a Mystery Novel, Sister Agatha grabs Father Selwyn as her sidekick, a character crucial to all mystery novels, and investigates the death of Jacob.
In the meantime, Sister Agatha notices strange behavior among the nuns of Gwenafwy Abbey, each of whom seems to hold hidden secrets. Further, the abbey’s very existence gets threatened by the bishop of the diocese, who demands that the nuns recruit new and younger members, balance their books for the first time in ten years, and find trendier causes to support, such as saving the planet and not just helping the local poor. Even worse, the nuns have a mere three weeks to accomplish all these miracles. As someone seems bent upon sabotaging the Heavenly Gouda business, Sister Agatha must rely even further upon the great advice given to her by Inspector McFarland to get to the bottom of things and save the convent.
I learned about The Shadow of Death when I saw Willan speak on a panel at the Malice Domestic mystery convention, and though I put the books of almost every author who interested me into my wish list, I bought this book immediately, and I am glad that I did. It has a gentler, less intense plot than many mysteries, which gives us readers a chance to connect with Sister Agatha and Father Selwyn. I appreciated the setting of a convent in Wales, creating a unique location for the book. The topic of a sleuthing nun was fun, and I liked the fact that the woman sleuth has a male sidekick, in contrast to most mystery books. The clergy are in a unique position to understand human nature differently than lay people, a comparison that Sister Agatha compared to the style of Miss Marple and her more indirect methods of gaining information.
I did feel that the book starts off a little too fast for us to let the details sink in, and I had to go back later to listen again to the first two or three chapters for their details. In addition, I did have some challenges keeping straight the many nuns, especially since most all have Welsh names that aren’t exactly foreign but also aren’t highly familiar to me either.
One criticism leveled against the book in reviews is the fact that the nuns do not seem to live as realistic a convent life as typical nuns. These nuns all have cell phones, send each other text messages, and have freedom to go out on their own. They even frequent the local pub and drink ale or wine from there. I first learned about this series when I heard Willan speak at the Malice Domestic mystery convention, and she addressed this confusion. Pointing out that the nuns belong to an Anglican convent, not a Catholic one, Willan explained that Anglicans have different, perhaps laxer, standards for their nuns than do Catholic convents. She claimed that the book more accurately reflects the realities of an Anglican convent.
I like the great performance of Helen Lloyd in the audio edition of the book. With a musical quality to her voice, Lloyd adds a delightful flavor to the audiobook and transports listeners to the land of Wales and the convent of Gwenafwy Abbey. Using good pacing and fun expression to her performance, Lloyd makes the experience of listening to this book highly enjoyable.
I thoroughly appreciated The Shadow of Death and loved getting to listen to this fascinating book. With a unique protagonist and a creative setting, the book is one I definitely recommend to others. You don’t need to have interest in ecumenical issues to appreciate the book, but those who do have an interest in religion will appreciate it in particular. The complications of keeping the characters straight cause me to lower my rating, but I give the book four stars.
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