Margot DouaihyCritiques

This book had me hooked from the start, really engaged. It felt like a 5-star read for sure. But then it bogged down about a third of the way in. It was so slow I dreaded picking the book up again. But I did, and finally finished it. Overall, it is no better than a 3-star book. Not great; but certainly not terrible.

The book was full of unnecessary elevated language, just for the author to prove she could. After a while, we get it, you are smart, message received. But in using this type of language, you are sabotaging your own book in order to drill that message into the reader’s head. This was a serious distraction from the story.

The book contained too many characters. Every minor character with only a single appearance was named. I counted about 70 characters in the book. Way too many. The author also used too many flashbacks to fill in Sister Holiday’s past. Many of the flashbacks came without any warning, right in the middle of a paragraph about the present, which became confusing after a while. Less flashbacks would have been better.

Finally, the ending was rushed and ridiculous. Sister Holiday who had spent 300 pages finding the arsonist, then helps her escape? That was totally out of character as was Sister Augustine’s final actions.

The author has written a sequel, which I will read, but at least, based upon this book, I am not expecting much.

addictive-series, unputdownable, apprentice PI, suspense, snarky, verbal-humor, LGBT, investigations, NOLA, tattoos, twisty, thriller, murder, mystery, catholic-nun, queer, convent, private-investigators, detective-fiction, riveting, ex-cop, flooding, hard-reality, teamwork, series, missing-persons, siblings, mental-health-issues, mental-health-awareness*****

Complex believable characters and a demanding plot make this a totally addictive series. I'll have to get an audio when available so that I can fully enjoy it as it is Not TTS enabled for visually impaired.
I requested and received a free temporary EARC from Zando, Gillian Flynn Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
Pub Date 12 Mar 2024
A Sister Holiday Mystery (#2)
Not TTS enabled for visually impaired

4 / 5 ⭐️‘s

“Scorched Grace" by Margot Douaihy

I was worried at first that this one would be too much about religion and God for me. I mean its about a nun, so of course its going to cover some religion and does throw out a few bible verses but it wasn’t the main focus.

I found the concept to be unique and fun. I mean how can you go wrong with a chain-smoking, crime solving queer nun!

The ending provided a good twist and it was

Truly dreadful. Not a mystery. Not Catholic. Lousy writing. Nothing that should entice you to read this book.

Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy is an unusual mystery because the sleuthing nun protaganist is a tattooed lesbia who loves using four letter words. Otherwise this is standard mystery writing with the usual red herrings and a predictable ending.

This debut mystery starring a lesbian punk nun didn’t live up to its promise (nor justify its long spot on my hold list). Read my full review here.½

If nun mysteries are a sub-genre, then queer-ex-punkrocker-nun mysteries must be a sub-subgenre. And we are better for it. Margot Douaihy's Sister Holiday is as engaging a sleuth as you will ever meet--she has a dark past like Luther (the cop, not the monk-turned-Protestant icon), the chutzpah of Vera, and some certain original je ne sais quoi that made this a very enjoyable read.

Douaihy, who has published several collections of poetry, has jumped into the genre with welcome audacity. Set in New Orleans, at a Catholic school run by a small cadre of Sisters of the Sublime Blood, the book is brimming with humidity, sweat, music, smoke, and all the distinctive sounds and smells of New Orleans. The characters are bold, although there were times I felt Sister Honor and Rosemary Flynn were overwritten. Most intriguing is Detective Riveaux who tangos with Sister Holiday as equal parts protagonist and antagonist, depending on the context. Douaihy's gift of language sets this apart from a lot of offerings in the genre, and sometimes descriptive language pours forth like an exploding geyser when you least expect it. But it makes for amazing multi-sensory grit.

She slowly reveals just enough of Sister Holiday's secrets to make us want the next installment. Where the rhythm became a bit too rushed is at the end. When we finally learn who has set the fires and committed the murders there's too much that doesn't get explained. I could offer more nuance in that critique, but I'd have to post spoilers and I'd rather not.

This is a fresh and unique heroine--extremely flawed, but heroic all the same. I hope we get a series because there's a lot to unpack in this character, and Douaihy writes a great mystery.

I couldn't resist the description of the main character of this mystery as a chain-smoking queer nun, and she didn't disappoint. Sister Holiday is as irreverent as I'd hoped, and a hard-boiled detective to boot. Her small enclave of nuns in New Orleans is threatened by arson in their abbey and school, and Sister Holiday is impatient with the progress the police are making. As she delves deeper into the crimes she puts herself in danger and at risk of being accused of arson herself. The complexity of the characters, the uncovering of their secrets, and the dialog all make this an entertaining read, and we can hope that the series is quickly on the way.

Looms and lace provide many of the images and metaphors embedded in these poems, whose author draws on local history of the Scranton Lace Company, a once thriving factory that employed thousands of people, mostly women, during its 120 years of productivity. The poet and the illustrator used actual pieces of lace, long stored and disused, to inspire their work, even making relief prints from those pieces dipped in ink. Some of the poems seem beyond understanding for a reader not involved in their creation, but others reward multiple readings. In particular, I cannot leave "Looming", a pantoum, alone. It's mesmerizing. The 13 connected pieces featuring Nour and Elizabeth, two lace workers, are the heart of the collection, as I see it, but the logic of dispersing them among the other selections is so far not clear to me. I recommend this collection to anyone serious about the form, and suspect I am missing a lot by not being well-enough "versed" in it myself.½

Quirky characters, a dog, New Orleans, black sheep nun, secrets and plenty of red herrings.

Nun On the Run
Review of the Zando audiobook (Feb. 21, 2023) released simultaneously with the Gillian Flynn Books hardcover (Feb. 21, 2023).

This seems to be a month for celebrity writer imprints. I recently read I'll Stop the World the first book from Mindy Kaling's Mindy's Book Studio and here we also have the first book from Gillian Flynn Books. The two books make for quite a contrast, one being a YA mystery and the other a queer noir.

Tattooed, chain-smoking, lesbian punk rock guitarist Holiday Walsh from Brooklyn, NY is seeking redemption for her past. That is a backstory which you will only gradually discover during Scorched Grace. You meet her first as Sister Holiday of the Sisters of the Sublime Blood, and as the music teacher at Saint Sebastian’s Catholic School in New Orleans, Louisiana.

See illustration at https://static01.nyt.com/images/2023/02/12/books/review/12Crime/12Crime-superJum...
Illustration for the NYTimes Book Review of 'Scorched Grace', see Link below.

An arsonist is setting fires at Saint Sebastian's and it seems as if Sister Holiday is being set up as the scapegoat with her personal effects being scattered at the ignition sites. Her place of refuge is under attack and it appears to be an inside job and her instinct is to both clear her name and to uncover the culprit. She faces uncooperative authorities in both her nun colleagues and the police & fire departments.

The New Orleans story alternates with Holiday's back story in Brooklyn, New York where she was a guitarist in a punk rock band and in a relationship with Nina, another member. Holiday has a stormy relationship with her parents (a police chief & a former nun) and her partner. It all leads to a tragedy from which she has to escape and for which she seeks to do penance, taking her to New Orleans.

I have to say that tension and suspense of the present day investigation was somewhat sidelined by the drama of the backstory with which it kept toggling back and forth. As this was an origin and introductory book, it was hard to escape that. Author Douaihy has certainly built an interesting character though and I look forward to further stories.

The narration by Mara Wilson was excellent in all voices, and although it avoided the authenticity of a Brooklyn accent (except for a bit for the father), I think that was for the best. A whole book in Brooklynese might get a bit tiresome.

I read/listened to Scorched Grace thanks to an enthusiastic review by GR friend Barbara.

Other Reviews
A Nun With Very Bad Habits, by Sarah Weinman, New York Times, February 10, 2023.
Scorched Grace, by Erin Clemence, Mystery and Suspense, December 4, 2022.

Trivia and Links
There is an article you can read about Why Gillian Flynn launched her book imprint with a Debut Noir about a Rebel Nun, by Jim Ruland, Los Angeles Times, February 17, 2023.

Scorched Grace is listed as the first in an expected series of Sister Holiday Mysteries. The second book is tentatively titled as Blessed Water (not yet listed on Goodreads, possible 2024 release?).

Scorched Grace has also been optioned for a TV adaptation and you can watch for updates on that at IMDb.½

Fantastic read! An intriguing story with really intriguing characters that were written, so raw and so real, that I was thinking about them even when I wasn't reading. The mystery was gripping and set against the absolutely unrelenting heat of New Orleans. The author wrote that heat so skillfully it became a secondary character to the story. The book is full of characters holding really painful emotion and maybe it was a bit too much for the short length of the book and I found the initial writing a bit choppy with very short, terse sentences that I thought were awkward to read. But, can I mention that cover? Gorgeous! It's been a very long time since I have seen one that so perfectly depicts the reading experience. TW: while in no way graphic, there is a disturbing animal death. Many thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy

NOLA, thriller, mystery, LGBT, arson, amateur-sleuth, hard-boiled, twisty, tattoos, convent, high-school, murder, investigations, unputdownable, private-schools, suspense, musicians, law-enforcement, snarky, framed, verbal-humor, catholic, queer, abuse, mental-health-issues, juvenile-diabetes, grief, grieving, erotica, Brooklyn,*****

Sister Holiday was born and raised in a tough part of Brooklyn and the deep problems of her life there never left her for a minute. The current story in NOLA alternates with her past life in Brooklyn. All too filled with reality. The story is wrenching yet riveting. The whodunit is intricately well done.
I definitely am hoping for more chapters in the life of Sister Holiday or whoever she becomes next.
Narrator Mara Wilson was spectacular. Perfect for this story with her excellent acting ability and ability to differentiate characters clearly and voice the emotions as they came along. But it was my choice to listen at a faster pace.
I requested and received a free temporary audio copy from Zando via NetGalley. Thank you!

I was awarded this ARC through the Publisher's Weekly Grab-A-Galley giveaway and accessed through Netgalley. I was interested in this title from the description: "Sister Holiday, a chain-smoking, heavily tattooed, queer nun, puts her amateur sleuthing skills to the test." I mean, how could you not be interested in that? This is a first-in-a-series title for Gillian Flynn Books at Zando Projects Publishing so you know it's going to go to some dark places, and it does. Sister Holiday investigates arson and murder at St. Sebastian's in New Orleans. This book has a heavy noir feel to it and Sister Holiday is about as hard-boiled as they come having been knocked around in the school of life. Plenty of quirky and unsavory characters to enjoy and as we learn more about Sister Holiday's back story, and the more heart-breaking the overall story becomes. I'm honestly not sure how this is going to continue as a series. There was a lot of back story in this first installment that perhaps you will need to know as the series continues? How does the author do that without becoming repetitive to those following every book. This is why I'm not a writer! :-) I had a couple of editorial quibbles too, one being a character with an episode of hypoglycemia who is administered insulin. I may be wrong but I think that is the exact wrong treatment for hypoglycemia and the character should have been killed off that way. I also did not care for how Sister Holiday's ex-lover that she obsessed over, dropped into the story at the end for no apparent reason other than to ratchet up more tension. It wasn't built up to at all so much so that I had to go back and reread to make sure I understood exactly what was going on! Overall this is a really good read and a great start to a character motivated series and I'm looking forward to more. I've heard that this title has already been acquired for TV by the same people that produced Station Eleven and The Lincoln Lawyer (the McConaughey film).