A Prayer Before Killing by CC Gilmartin (The Colin Buxton series Book #3)
An exclusive Catholic boys’ school…the death of a young nun…a potential cover-up.
When Colin Buxton arrives in Glasgow to care for his gravely ill mother, he’s drawn into a perplexing mystery: how a bangle that once belonged to a murdered nun has inexplicably appeared on the wrist of a statue of the Virgin Mary. With a priest having been convicted of the crime, could someone be trying to signal that justice wasn’t served?
As Colin delves deeper, he uncovers a group of teenage boys whose unsettling connection to the young nun raises troubling questions about the original investigation. And then there’s the school itself, whose dubious past may be concealing the truth. What secrets is the Catholic church hiding, and how far will they go to protect their own?
In A Prayer Before Killing, the third gripping novel in CC Gilmartin’s Colin Buxton Series, dark truths emerge as Colin navigates a web of deception and betrayal, challenging everything he thought he knew about faith, loyalty, and justice.
Perfect for fans of JM Dalgliesh, LJ Ross, Simon McCleave and Rachel McLean.
My Review
There’s something very Lord Of The Flies (one of the boys is actually reading it at one point) meets If about A Prayer Before Killing. Set in the 1990s in a private, Roman Catholic school, most of the teachers are priests, and the boys aspire to join the priesthood. A group of four teenage boys Matthew, Garr, Luc and Jonny, who call themselves the ‘Apostles’, are the main focus of ex-police officer Colin Buxton’s investigation into the murder of Sister Oran, in the third in the series.
We jump back and forth from 1995 to two years earlier, when Sister Oran’s body was found in the tunnels under the school, having lain dead for at least three weeks. Father Simon Young was convicted of her murder, but a number of people believe he is innocent. Colin is asked to take a ‘teaching’ job at the exclusive Holy Trinity College, but it’s really a cover so he can investigate the murder.
In a separate story, Colin’s mother is dying and he is staying with her to help neighbour Jeannie look after her. That’s what brought him back to Glasgow.
I can’t pretend that the story isn’t quite long, complicated and involved, and there are a lot of characters all of whom matter. My favourite is Caroline, with her home counties, cut glass accent, and her red Audi Quattro. She reminds me a bit of my art teacher, who drove an Austin Healey 3000. I should really dislike her, but she brings some light relief when it’s needed.
I probably have the advantage as a reader of having been to a Catholic Convent school in the late sixties, so there are some things I may understand better than many. The blind faith in miracles, the immaculate conception, the resurrection, transubstantiation etc can seem very odd to other religions, or especially to atheists. And if you believe some of the seemingly naive devotion to be far-fetched, trust me, it isn’t.
Maybe because of my background, I love a religious slant to a crime novel, probably because you can never quite leave your experiences totally behind.
Many thanks to @lovebookstours for inviting me to be part of the #APrayerBeforeKilling blog tour.
About the Authors
“We’re Chris Deans and Colin Thomas Begg, the bestselling writing duo behind the pen name CC Gilmartin.
“Scots born, we’ve lived in London, Sydney, Berlin, and Barcelona, but now call Glasgow home. With diverse backgrounds, we’ve come together to share our passion for crime fiction and suspense. The stories we create have dark secrets at their heart. Love, denial and betrayal drive, and sometimes destroy, our characters. We’re also inspired by the Scottish landscape and the great cities we’ve been lucky enough to live in.
“Want to know more about our books? Join the CC Gilmartin Readers Club at https://www.ccgilmartin.com/book-club and receive a FREE Colin Buxton story, plus regular updates on our writing and travels.”
Buy Links
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