A Vow of Silence cover art

A Vow of Silence

Sister Joan Murder Mystery, Book 1

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A Vow of Silence

By: Veronica Black
Narrated by: Jennifer Ness
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About this listen

Discover a dramatic new mystery series set in a Cornish convent. Perfect for fans of Black Narcissus, Daphne du Maurier and Margaret Frazer.

The sisters at a lonely Cornish convent share a chilling secret they cannot confess...Sister Sophia is dead. Another disappears. And a mysterious last letter from a dying nun is sent to the prioress. Sister Joan has faced her own demons. Now she is sent to the convent to investigate, as well as teach the local children. There are whispers of virgin sacrifice and suicide, and the mother prioress certainly wears pink nail varnish. And who is the young man hiding in the bracken?

Meet Sister Joan, a rebel nun who vows to find out the truth.

©2021 Veronica Black (P)2021 W F Howes Detective Fiction Historical Mystery Women Sleuths Women's Fiction

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Critic reviews

“Outstanding.” (Publishers Weekly)
All stars
Most relevant
Good narration. An interesting and unusual mystery story for readers who enjoy a crime fiction without a lot of violence

A Vow of silence

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Easy going listen, charming and like a cloistered Miss Marple. The story uses ecclesiastical terms that are either well researched or written by someone with experience of the religious life. Now that would be an ecumenical question.

Intriguing

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This didn't progress as I had expected. I almost gave up but continued as I needed to know what happened. Fairly interesting though the thought of the nuns sleeping in cells, as they were referred to, didn't fill you with comfort. Narration was quite calming I thought.

Not what I expected

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Missing nun causes problems with plenty of red herrings. Religious vows do not help solve the case

Is missing nun the first

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I can never resist novels set in a religious community. I came across the Sister Joan books via an Amazon recommendation. They seem to be out of print except on Kindle. Second hand copies are all at least £25 and ship from USA, so I tried book 1 on Audible.
It was excellent! Really fresh and modern religious themes. Sister Joan is an amazing heroine. The natrator is excellent.
If only the 8 other books were on Audible. Surely they will be? or will be reissued in paperback? It almost tempts me to acquire Kindle even though I hatr reading on screens. But it is either that or going bankrupt on second hand prices.
But I am addicted now. I MUST have more of this series!!!!

Loved it!!

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Overall, I enjoyed the book as it is rather different from the normal whodunnit.

I didn’t much like the narration however. The reader has a very nasal voice, a strange way of enunciating each syllable separately in a long word and doesn’t really do different voices for the different characters.

What I found really, really irritating was the pronunciation at the beginning of the book of the word ‘novitiate’ (which naturally appears often in a book set in a convent). The reader pronounces this ‘novitate’ instead of ‘novishiate’ in the first couple of chapters, although someone must have put her right and she changes it after that. Yes, I know I’m picky but I have a thing about stuff like that!

Beyond that, the story is gently listenable-to but not the most remarkable I’ve ever heard.

Spoiled a bit by the narration

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Very drawn out. Feel it could have been much,much, shorter - padded out and somewhat repetitive.
Not a bad plot, crazy nuns are always believable.
Some have criticised the narrator- but I thought she was just right.
Don’t think I’d buy another tho.

Different

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No wonder these are free they are useless Long winded, tedious, stupid books. I guess these free ones are new authors !

Rubbish

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I have never read a sillier story, totally ridiculous and not in a good way. I cannot understand how it got to be recorded when there are so many good stories out there. Record Margaret Frazer tales and give us something worth listening to! Nuns wearing nail varnish for heaven's sake. Whoever decided to include this should be sacked.

Utter twaddle!

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cannot give it a minus rating that it deserves. Totally incredulous. it was absolute rubbish.

unbelievable

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