Sanctity

by Orania Papazoglou

Kat O'Brien, Annie Bliss, and Jane Galloway, three postulants, begin their training at the convent of the Society of Mary, where they witness a string of mysterious and sinister events

Genres: Mystery

372 pages, Hardcover

First published May 7, 1986

About the author

Jane Haddam (b. 1951) is an American author of mysteries. Born Orania Papazoglou, she worked as a college professor and magazine editor before publishing her Edgar Award–nominated first novel, Sweet, Savage Death, in 1984. This mystery introduced Patience McKenna, a sleuthing scribe who would go on to appear in four more books, including Wicked, Loving Murder (1985) and Rich, Radiant Slaughter (1988).

Not a Creature Was Stirring (1990) introduced Haddam’s best-known character, former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian. The series spans more than twenty novels, many of them holiday-themed, including Murder Superior (1993), Fountain of Death (1995), and Wanting Sheila Dead (2005). Haddam’s most recent novels are Blood in the Water (2012) and Hearts of Sand (2013).

Pen name of Jane Haddam.

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so difficult to follow and never enticing all the way through until near the end and even then it was not an ending that made me say " this actually ended up being a good book with the closure of it...wouldn't have picked it up for myself but it was given to me as a suggested read-Why???

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A group of novices in a convent realize there is a killer among them. I found this fascinating because of all the details of convent life and the various secrets each young woman keeps (one hides a pair of pearl earrings; another her high school yearbook; another reads trashy novels) I was surprised by the solution to the mystery but even more so by which of the novices stayed to become nuns and which did not. I read this book many years ago and never forgot it. I didn't realize that Oriana Papzoglou wrote several other series as jane Haddam. I'll have to check those out.

[James Cooper · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't think it was that great. Not sure if I quite got what happened. I think one nun entered a convent, with the sole purpose of writing a book about the experience. Well, she got more than she bargained for. Within the same class of nuns, there was one who drugged a couple of others, to the point that the two drugged nuns didn't know which one of them killed a fellow Sister.

[Pauline]

non de plume of Jane Haddam