Blessed Water

“The crucifixion was the first murder mystery I wanted to solve. Not your typical whodunnit, but the ending’s quite a twist. The murder isn’t the mystery. It’s all about what comes after.”
-Sister Holiday

Sister Holiday of the Sisters of the Sublime Blood teaches music at St. Sebastian’s in New Orleans, and she’s so not what you’d expect. Tatted from the neck down with a gold incisor, this chain-smoking, punk rock Sister is back in Blessed Water, and she’s still badass, even as she struggles with her vows and her slips of tongue—even as she still mourns the end of her relationship with Nina.

Many characters in the first book of the series, Scorched Grace, return, although a few of the Sister’s favorite people met a bad end. Now, she’s partnering with PI and former fire inspector Magnolia Riveaux at the Redemption Detective Agency. Riveaux is almost as quirky as Sister Holiday (she can “out-nose the swankiest perfumier in Paris”), and they make a hell of a team. It’s a good thing, too. On Easter weekend, Sister Holiday finds her parish priest floating in the water at the end of Pier 11. This cuts her to the core. He was one of the good guys…uh, good priests.

Being the topnotch detail-observant sleuth that she is, Sister Holiday jumps into the investigation with Reveaux to find who killed Father Reese. The Sister doesn’t trust the police, even when the police let them help with the investigation. Plus, there’s the patriarchal, untrustworthy Diocese who are not her fans.

Trouble is never singular. There’s the overindulged, unloved, misfit student Prince Dempsey, who terrorizes everyone, and Sister Holiday might be the only one who understands him. Add to the chaos and suspense her “anxious time bomb” of a brother who suddenly shows up, having left the army. Now she’s worried about him, as he’s hiding something. Let’s not forget the rain. The Biblical downpour that’s flooding the streets.

Sister Holiday has not taken her full vows yet and is determined that she will. When more people die and another priest goes missing, it tests her faith and her ability to solve the case. Her anger and determination rise when her nemesis, Detective Grogan of the NOPD, announces he no longer wants their PI services. Is he involved somehow? Now she has to find a way to solve the case on her own with her partner with no police resources.

Author Margot Douaihy gives us a Catholic sister who maintains empathy for the less fortunate and believes in God as love and kindness while recognizing how brutal both people and the deity can be. We identify with her because she questions everything, especially those in power. The author’s diverse characters, even the villains, are well-rounded and likable, and her ability to use details to engage our senses rivals that of some of the best authors. Add humor and plenty of plot twists to that, and you have a mind-bending, page-turner that is both fun and irreverent while taking on serious subjects and themes.

Called “lacerating and lyrical” in the promo, Douaihy’s writing stings and soothes, echoing Sister Holiday’s so-human contradictions. The author uses water as her main natural force and metaphor, just as she used fire in Scorched Grace. I’ve always been a fan of rebels with a heart and anyone ready to take on the power elite, and what’s more powerful and untouchable than the Catholic church? Like a Trojan Horse entering Troy, so too does Sister Holiday enter the Catholic order to save herself and conquer its patriarchal stranglehold. Heaven help them and bring on more heroes like Sister Holiday. She might be my favorite character of all time.

Thanks to Zando Books, Gillian Flynn’s imprint, Margot Douaihy, and NetGalley for the advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.