The Good Friday Murder

A Christine Bennett Mystery, Book 1

By: Lee Harris

Narrated by: Dee Macaluso

Christine Bennett has left the cloistered world of nuns for the profane world of New York State, where murder and madness are often linked. At a town meeting, Christine volunteers to investigate a 40-year-old murder case long since closed. Now she'll move heaven and earth to exonerate a pair of retarded savant twins, now senior citizens, of their mother's murder on Good Friday in 1950.

©1992 Lee Harris (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Great Story

The reader for this interesting mystery did a wonderful job. I didn’t want to stop listening.

Excellent first book of a wonderful series

I somehow have read almost every book in this fantastic series without adventuring into the first book of the series, this one. It was one of my favorites.

The narration is always great, and the ending of this well written murder mystery brought tears to my eyes, and a smile to my face almost simultaneously.

It was fascinating to learn of her beginnings, after leaving the convent and her endearing meeting of her love interest.

After reading so many books in the series, I thought that going back to the very first book would be somewhat boring, but surprisingly it was not. I cannot speak more highly of this first book of the series. It perfectly sets the foundation for all the rest.

Good story to listen 👂to.

Good dramatic 🎭 story. I really enjoyed it. This story is engaging and I couldn't wait to pick it up again.

On this series

I enjoy this series, but it will not be for everyone. The series is very cozy, kind of mellow, truly comfort listening: There is not a lot of action, there is not a lot of sex, but there is enough going on that I rarely find them boring.

I enjoy Dee Macaluso's readings, and while some people may (and have) found her boring, I find her easy to listen to and her differentiations of characters are good (though occasionally there will be a voice used in one book that has been used already for a different character in another book - but unless you marathon the books you probably wouldn't notice.)

Now, here is something that Audible does that drives me bonkers: they get most books in a series, but leave some out in the middle. Why? WHY????? With this series they leave out a couple in the middle, then add one of the books with a different reader. Again - WHY????

I wish it was cleaner

I loved this well written mystery. But the f-bombs were a deal breaker. They just hit me too hard, and I refuse to try to get used to it.

Good mystery series beginning

So this is going to be awkward. Somehow, this book was very good almost in spite of itself! It was never a fast-action, edge of your seat sort of book. There was a budding romantic relationship between the policeman who helped Christine, who was just several weeks out of the convent, deal with the crime aspect--so a bit of a stretch there. There was a touch more religious aspect than seemed necessary, one of the key characters was not introduced until the last quarter of the book (surely a good mystery no-no), and it was sort of unbelievable how Christine just knocked on doors, called people and got whatever info she wanted about a 40 year old crime.

This book is like "The Little Engine That Could." It just keeps chugging, and does the job beautifully against all odds. I felt I should have given this book fewer stars for all the ways it felt kind of amateurish. Except that I couldn't, because I was glued to it the whole time. (Narrator could have been better, even that did'nt stop my interest).

I think the things that held this book together were all about the subject matter. A pair of now elderly male twins, who were perhaps amazing autistic savants, had been accused of their mother's murder 40 years previously, after only a cursory police investigation. Christine undertakes to find out whether they were innocent, though reader please note, not necessarily to find who was guilty instead (though that naturally goes with it, but a distinction should be made to understand some of what made the book a little unusual).

The author left me almost in tears as she depicted what the life of these brilliant young men had been, as a result of public ignorance about this condition, and that of others who are different. The two time periods in the book were the early 1950's and roughly 1990-1991 or so. She did a wonderful job of exposing the hurtful (even willful) ignorance and biased attitudes towards people with developmental delays in the two eras, and left little question that while there has been improvement, there is a way yet to go. The author's choice of handling such a sensitive subject matter was a bold, brave move. If future books will be as good as this one was, I'm in line to hear them all.

While this book was technically a mystery, I recommend reading it more because the author chose a daring topic to put at the heart of this mystery. I would like to hope that as she finds her way into more experienced writing, some of the awkwardness of the style will smooth itself out. One reads a mystery expecting a lot of cerebral challenge but in this one, there seemed to be a great challenge to the heart as well. I recommend it as a surprisingly good read.

Different but good

This book is different. I have never read a book with a religious person as a lead. I admit I was a bit nervous that the religion aspect would take over the plot. That did not happen. What did happen was an interesting and entertaining book with an engrossing subject matter. The lead character, Christine Bennett, just left the convent and is trying to find her way in the secular world when she gets thrown into a murder investigation. Not just any murder, but one that happened 50 years ago and involved intellectually disabled twins. This is not a typical cozy mystery. It read like a police procedural with a heavy and serious storyline. Unlike the typical light and fluffy situations in a cozy mystery. The only humor comes with Christine's struggle to fit into her new life as a woman and not a nun. Although it is a serious book, it is good and I will read the next one. Hopefully it lightens up a bit.

Intriguing mystery of a cold case

Any additional comments?

The storyline of this book really held my attention. I was very interested in the mystery of who killed the mother of a pair of savant twins in 1950 NYC. I found the descriptions of NY and the methods used to research the cold case interesting, and I found the characters emotionally involving. The narrator's sunshiney former nun Chris Bennett is spot on with my mental image (I had read this book once in the past). The ending was emotionally satisfying and I continued on to others in the series. I would like to mention that the twins in the story are repeatedly referred to as retarded (which felt outdated) though they seem to be based on cases of well known autistic savants and as the mother of an autistic child I would have preferred that word.

Mellow, Thoughtful, Clean Listen REALLY GOOD!!!

After 15 years as a cloistered nun, Christine Bennett has left the order after inheriting her aunt's home and becoming guardian for her mentally handicapped cousin, Gene. When the group home wants to locate in the neighborhood, a ruckus arises because one of the residents in the group home is supposedly a murderer. While visiting Gene, Christine (Chris) learns that the 40 year old murder case was never solved, and that the twin brothers accused of killing their mother, both mentally challenged, were never formally convicted. Known at the time as "idiot savants", James and Robert, were separated immediately after the murder, and no further investigation was conducted into the murder. When Christine met with the neighborhood residents and the Greenwillow Institution (who wanted to move the group home into their area), she found herself in the odd position of being asked to head up the investigation to prove the twins innocence. With the help of local police officer, Jack Brooks, Christine begins to look into the 40 year old murder. This story is one of the most thought provoking, gentle and kind tales I've ever listened to. And I absolutely love it. The kindness of Chris (fifteen years a nun) who regularly visited her mentally retarded cousin, Gene; the issue of group homes among the neighborhoods of ordinary residents; and the exploitation of those who are different than ourselves, gives us much to think about. I will definitely be listening to the next in the series. Great book!!!

Great story, great attitude

I was a bit worried getting a story about a nun who leaves the convent because i dont like my light reading to preach to me either for or against religion or politics. i was pleasantly surprised. there is balance and no demagoguery here. the mystery is well contracted and the characters are compeling and likable. will definitely continue the series.