Sister Eve and the Blue Nun by Lynne Hinton

This is the third book in the Sister Eve series and it is not the best one of them.

Sister Eve is not a strong female character in this novel. I don't remember her being so clumsy in the previous books. Every time she is startled she drops something, breaks something, or pulls out an electrical cord. She even managed to lose her phone out of her jeans pocket. She lies a great deal in this novel too. The ease with which she lied was a bit disconcerting for her being a nun.

And then there was the constant repetition of information. First we would read about an event. Then Eve would rethink the event. Then she would retell the event to someone. I have to admit, when I saw that an experience was being gone over yet another time, I did skim through the paragraphs.

I don't like it when suspense comes because of stupid actions by the main character. That happened in this novel, especially after Eve “lost” her phone, it having fallen out of her pocket. I like it when suspense arrives because of the clever nature of the villain, rather than by fault of the heroine.

That being said, there were some parts of this novel I appreciated. Eve is back at her old monastery to attend a conference about a Sister Maria. This nun resided in Europe but experienced bilocation in that she appeared to Native Americans in New Mexico. There is a move to have her become a saint and there is some information at this conference that would help that process. A murder occurs before the conference starts and Sister Eve is determined to find the murderer.

It was interesting to learn about this spiritual possibility. In that sense, this novel has a definite Roman Catholic bent, more so than the earlier novels I think. Eve herself has a supernatural experience that is definitely in the Catholic realm.

There were also great descriptions of the area. Eve would often remind herself of what she knew about a person or place. Through her thoughts we would learn some of the religious history of the area.

I would recommend this series to readers who like a novel centering on relationships more than mystery. I would suggest reading the previous novels as I found Eve a stronger character in them.

I am taking part in a blog tour of this book and you can read other reviews here.

You can also read my reviews of the earlier books in the series: Sister Eve Private Eye, The Case of the Sin City Sister.

My rating: 3/5 stars.

Lynne Hinton is a New York Times bestselling author. She has a Masters of Divinity from Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. She has served as a chaplain with hospice and as a pastor of United Church of Christ congregations in North Carolina. She and her husband life in Albuquerque, New Mexico. You can find out more at www.lynnehinton.com.

Thomas Nelson, 336 pages. You can purchase a copy here.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book through Litfuse for the purpose of an independent and honest review.