The Monastery Murders moves to Canada when Antony is invited to lecture on the British saints who inspired the founding of Toronto and Felicity couriers an ancient manuscript connected with Saint Patrick to monasteries in Montreal and Vancouver. A spectacular train journey across the breadth of the continent carries them even further away from the murder Felicity witnessed in England. Or does it?
5-Stars for this Cozy Read!
In Against All Fierce Hostility, Donna Fletcher Crow continues her signature brand of blending church history with the twists and turns of a cozy mystery as Antony and Felicity journey across Canada, dogged by shadowy people and circumstances. Crow sprinkles the clues and red herrings throughout the story so ably that I couldn’t figure out the villain until the shocking ending.
The marvelous details of Antony and Felicity’s trip across Canada give a glimpse into the country’s expansive geography and its youth as a country. Crow brings the Canadian setting to life–glaciers, mountains, northern lights, prairies filled with grain from horizon to horizon, lakes by the thousands–it’s a canvas that provides the perfect expanse to who’s after the original document from St. Patrick’s lifetime. And it provides the perfect crime scene for the astounding ending.
Lovers of PD James will enjoy this new twist on The Monastery Murders. Highly recommended!
Here’s some Praise for Against All Fierce Hostility to go along with my 5-Star Review:
In her signature lyrical prose, Donna Fletcher Crow crafts another tale full of contemporary mystery bound up in religious history. She weaves into an irresistible story fascinating academic references to early Christian fathers, evocative ancient poetry, and descriptions of liturgical practices exotic to this Baptist worshipper. Then she makes the whole thing even richer through the setting of a cross-Canada train trip, colourful as a glossy vacation brochure, that does justice to my home and native land. A thoroughly entertaining and satisfying read!
~Deb Elkink, The Third Grace and The Red Journal, Canadian award winners
Deception and intrigue at every turn, and we’re never quite sure who’s on the side of the angels until the very end. Someone wants the illuminated manuscript that Felicity and Anthony are carrying across Canada, and familiar faces keep showing up in unexpected places. As usual, Donna Fletcher Crow brings us a mystery wrapped in a fascinating cultural package. Her rich prose swept me along on the Canada journey and pulled me deeply into Felicity’s worship experiences despite my lack of liturgical background. Crow loves to bring in stories of the saints, and hear Anthony’s story-telling lecture series (the reason for the Canadian trip) does that brilliantly.
~Leanne Hardy, the Glastonbury Tor series
It’s an all-frills-and-chills-included journey— Janelle Watkins, The Scene in TO
You can buy it here:
Buy link Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/Against-Fierce-Hostility-Monastery-Murders-ebook/dp/B08GJ8BXMM/&linkCode=as2&tag=themonamurd-20
Donna Fletcher Crow, Novelist of British History, is a former English teacher, a lifelong Anglophile, and a native Idahoan who lives not far from the Canadian border. She is the author of 50 books, mostly novels of British history, including the award-winning Glastonbury, and three mystery series. Donna and her husband of 57 years have 4 adult children and 15 grandchildren—6 of them living in Canada.
Laurie, thank you so much for sharing this with your readers! My Canadian friends, readers and family are very important to me, so writing this book was a special experience.