A Death at St. Anselm's

by Isabelle Holland

Murder causes all sorts of problems for a wealthy New York City Episcopal church, its congregation, and its ordained female pastor, who directs a psychological counseling service

Genres: Mystery, Gothic, Fiction

229 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Isabelle Christian Holland (born June 16, 1920 in Basel, Switzerland — died February 9, 2002) was an author of children and adult fiction. Her father was the American Consul in Liverpool, England during WWII. She moved to America in 1940 due to the war. She wrote Gothic novels, adult mysteries, romantic thrillers, and many books for children and young adults. She wrote over 50 books in her lifetime, and was still working at the time of her death at age 81 in New York City.

Two of her novels have been made into movies:

Bump in the Night, 1991,
The Man Without a Face, 1993

Both of these novels deal with issues or allegations of pedophilia.

Reviews

[Carole Jarvis]

This was a thoroughly enjoyable murder mystery for me. Actually, it's a re-read because I remember liking it many years ago and now want to read further in the series.

The mystery plot was well crafted, with interesting characters, just the right number to be able to keep up with. I had a slight suspicion as to the murder's identity toward the end, but still wasn't sure. I liked that the protagonist is a member of the clergy at a fairly wealthy Episcopal church in New York and enjoyed the glimpses of church life and administration. Best of all is the character depth and complexity, such as Claire's stepdaughter dealing with anorexia and how that tied in with Claire's marriage and husband's death.

Something that I found fascinating is how, if I didn't know this story was originally published in 1984, I would have thought it to be recently released because of the social justice storylines. Elements of dissenting views between liberal and conservative church members, ministering to the homeless, attitudes toward the middle class, etc., mirror a lot that's going on today.

I look forward to further character development as the series progresses, including a possible romance between Claire and Brett.

** Mainstream fiction, mild profanity

[Helen Geng]

Dated murder mystery set in a NY Episcopal church that is like St. Bart’s.

The FMC is slightly unpleasant. She also didn’t seem to be quite believable as an Episcopal pastor.

I guessed who-did-it. The ending is unsatisfactory.

Read June 2024

[Debi Emerson]

An excellent gothic style mystery!

[Sherry]

An old favorite.

[Julie Golding Page]

This is an early (1980s) female Anglican/Episcopal clerical mystery that is a "must-read" for anyone interested in the genre. At first, I was not sure whether I would like the book, as it seemed rather obviously to dwell on various Anglican/Episcopal theological flash points. However, I read on and came to realize that this focus was a product of its era, and of its early entry into the subgenre.

By the end, I was thoroughly engrossed in the book, having come to appreciate the avant-garde nature of the story and even genre at the time when it was written. Too bad these books are no longer widely available new, as they would be interesting and profitable (historical) reads for those of us now fascinated by mysteries featuring female priests. I'll definitely be reading the others in the series.

[Lance Lumley]

I saw this Large Print Version book at a Thrift Store. After the appeal of the cover and reading the back, it sounded like a great read. However, the more I read it, the more I got bored. I thought it would be about a murder in the church and the typical who done it, ala Agatha Christie. However, most of the book was dealing the the main character's relationship with her step daughter and her struggle with anorexia, and the suspects of the murder seemed secondary. After searching the author online, I found out that most of her works deal with adult themes and sicknesses within the books. I felt the book would be better if it was not a First-Person narrative, but a Third-Person and followed more of the other characters in determining the culprit (I also figured out who did it way before the ending of the story).
I did not feel this was the kind of book for me.

[Rosemary]

A fine little mystery with a clever device that kept me in suspense for the first half of the book. Ultimately, there were far too many red herrings for my taste, and the characterizations grew less interesting. I could, as it turned out, only suspend my disbelief for a little more than a hundred pages, after which I read on to confirm for myself that the murderer was exactly who I thought it was.

[Christine]

A good read that starts slow but picks up as the story moves along.