The Darkening Sky by
Alison Joseph
pbk out October 06
(Allison Busby)
at £6.99
The Father Brown mysteries featured a Catholic priest as the detective
and now we have a Catholic nun in the role – or rather, a novice who is
uncertain about taking her vows, as she seems quite keen on the good
things of life, including whisky, wine and smart clothes. Agnes
Bourdillon has a villa in France and is rather wary of signing it over to
her Order, especially as her very worldly friend Athena counsels her
against it.
Agnes has a flat in London, but while waiting for the call to enter her
community in Hackney, is working in a nearby hostel for addicts.
One of the inmates, an ex-Falkland's soldier Walker McFadden, is
killed in a street brawl and at the funeral, his step-brother Alisdair, asks
Agnes to help him discover more about Walker's life. He has left a
collection of papers which turn out to be a rather fanciful diary of his
army days.
The story widens as more ex-soldier friends of the victim appear and a
web of family and friends deepens the intrigue. A further complication is
that Agnes' parish priest, Father Julius, to whom she is deeply attached,
develops a cancer, which adds to the emotional load she is carrying.
There is quite lot of religious philosophising in the book, especially as
Alisdair turns out to be a translator working on a new edition of Dante,
which gives rise to yet more debate on the meaning of life and faith.
Written in the first person, with the bulk of it in dialogue, this book has
rather a measured pace. It is very far from a thriller, but is well-written
and thoughtful, with good characterisation.
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
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The Darkening Sky by
Alison Joseph
