Another 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. ( )