Book Review: An Unholy Communion- Book 3, The Monastery Murders {LitFuse Blog Tour}

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The newest offering in The Monastery Murders series, An Unholy Communion (Lion Fiction).

Following the ancient tradition, ordinands from the College of the Transfiguration gather at first light on Ascension morning to sing their praises from the top of the college's tallest tower. Not one to miss any liturgy, Felicity finds herself swept up in worship as she listens to the timeless words. But her delight quickly turns to horror when a black-robed body hurtles over the precipice and lands at her feet. Her investigative instincts immediately kick in when she sees a double-headed snake emblem clutched in the lifeless hand. Was this suicide? Or murder?
Purchase a copy: http://ow.ly/keus1

Meet Donna:

Donna Fletcher Crow is author of more than thirty-five novels. She has twice won first place in the Historical Fiction category from the National Association of Press Women, and has also been a finalist for "Best Inspirational Novel" from the Romance Writers of America. She is a member of The Arts Centre Group, and Sisters in Crime.

Find out more about Donna Fletcher athttp://www.donnafletchercrow.com.

Read other reviews: http://litfusegroup.com/author/dcrow
My thoughts:

I really wasn’t too impressed with the book. It starts out with action and suspense right away but it fails to hold it up. I read this book because it is outside my usual subject matter. It is heavy on Catholic history and references, many I didn’t get. It does have quite a bit of historical fiction. The descriptions of the pilgrimage stops are very well done and I found it very interesting to research the actual places that the characters visited in the book. Much of the book otherwise wasn’t very interesting. Some details felt like simply like filler for the book. It’s 382 pages long and ‘something’ happens only a few times; a death at the start and finish of the book; a few unexplained troubles along the way. And a few details are thrown in to throw the reader off the trail, but they really just are confusing or unnecessary. I did have it figured out who-done-it as well as why but one or two people I had a little off.

The characters, Father Antony, Felicity, and the members of the youth group on pilgrimage, Michael, Lydia, Nancy, Adam, Jared, Evie, Kaylyn, Ryan, Colin, and later Chloe, are not very well developed in this book. The main characters, namely Antony and Felicity, may be more so in the first book {which I’ve not read}. None of the characters meant anything to me; I didn’t feel an attachment to any of them.

I didn’t like the ‘dark’ feel of the book. You would think with a book that has murder as the theme would be dark anyway but it’s not that kind of dark. There is a scene where an occult is holding what is intended to be a sacrifice and Crow puts in print the supposed chant of the group. I skimmed it because I didn’t feel comfortable reading it.

So like I said, I didn’t really appreciate this book as much as others may. If not for the descriptions of the historical places and the historical fiction tossed in, I’m not entirely sure I could have finished the book.

***Disclaimer: I received this book free from LitFuse, in exchange for an honest review and participation in the LitFuse Blog Tour. No compensation was given and all opinions are my own. See Disclosure/Policies.***