Not even the icy temperatures of a typical New England winter can match the bone-chilling scene of carnage discovered at the chapel of Our Lady of Divine Light. Within the cloistered convent lie two nuns–one dead, one critically injured–victims of an unspeakably savage attacker. The brutal crime appears to be without motive, but medical examiner Maura Isles’s autopsy of the dead woman yields a shocking surprise: Twenty-year-old Sister Camille gave birth before she was murdered. Then another body is found, mutilated beyond recognition. Together, Isles and homicide detective Jane Rizzoli uncover an ancient horror that connects these terrible slaughters. As long-buried secrets come to light, Maura Isles finds herself drawn inexorably toward the heart of an investigation that strikes close to home–and toward a dawning revelation about the killer’s identity too shattering to consider.
The Sinner
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From Publishers Weekly
A grisly murder at a convent baffles Medical Examiner Maura Isles and Det. Jane Rizzoli at the start of this assured, richly shaded seventh novel from bestseller Gerritsen (The Apprentice; The Surgeon, etc.). The popular duo are called to Boston's Graystones Abbey when two nuns are discovered in an abandoned chapel, one dead and the other near death, both brutally bludgeoned. Red herrings are everywhere: Isles's discovery that one of the murdered nuns had recently given birth (followed shortly by the discovery of the baby's body in a pond near the convent); the murder of a homeless derelict with her face and extremities removed by her killer; and the lurking menace of a multinational chemical company. Complicating matters further is the sudden arrival of Isles's ex-husband, Victor, a celebrity humanitarian with his own suspicious connection to the case, and Rizzoli's old flame, FBI agent Gabriel Dean, who's responsible for the baby now growing in Rizzoli's belly. The investigation is rather low-key, but Gerritsen gives atmospheric depth to her tale with descriptions of snowbound Boston and an exotic past tragedy. Isles's pleasantly bitchy coldness ("Go ahead and pass me, idiots. I've met too many drivers like you on my slab") gives a welcome edge to the proceedings, and the struggles of both Isles and Rizzoli to balance their tough professional acts with romantic drama are satisfyingly gritty.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
When two Boston nuns are found brutally beaten--one fatally and one with a scintilla of life left in her--it's up to homicide detective Jane Rizzoli to find the perpetrator. Medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles, nicknamed the Queen of the Dead, has the unlucky fortune to discover that the murdered nun, a young woman about to make her final vows, hid untold secrets from the rest of the aging convent. Both fallen Catholics, Rizzoli and Isles seek to reconcile the viciousness of the crimes with the seeming blind faith of the victims. Another dead body turns up, and the investigators must rely on their clinical analysis, lest they be sucked in to the drama unfolding before them. Each woman immerses herself in her work rather than face the outside world; Rizzoli refuses to face the truth of what her future holds, and Isles denies her own loneliness. Woven within the horror of this gruesome story is the old allegory of good versus evil, but by relating it through these two fascinating individuals, Gerritsen avoids cliches. Another captivating, horrific thriller in her extremely popular canon. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By RachelM
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you love mystery and murder and Rizzoli and Isles, you will love this novel.
Intelligent and thrilling, it will grab you from the first few pages and keep you reading until the very end.
The Rizzoli and Isles books read best in sequence.
Intelligent and thrilling, it will grab you from the first few pages and keep you reading until the very end.
The Rizzoli and Isles books read best in sequence.
By R. Hansen
Format:Hardcover
This is the second Tess Gerritsen novel I have read, following her first, "Harvest." I enjoyed The Sinner very much and was particularly drawn to each of the characters.
Some parts developing the romantic sub-plots and background flashbacks were a little slow, but they were short enough that I was able to wade through them and get back to the action and investigation.
I gave it three stars overall. The characters and their interactions with each other would get top marks. But the slower parts of the story, and the almost cheesy villain brought it down a few notches for me. Still a recommended read for me.
Some parts developing the romantic sub-plots and background flashbacks were a little slow, but they were short enough that I was able to wade through them and get back to the action and investigation.
I gave it three stars overall. The characters and their interactions with each other would get top marks. But the slower parts of the story, and the almost cheesy villain brought it down a few notches for me. Still a recommended read for me.
By Ez
Format:Hardcover
Medical examiner Dr Maura Isles and Detective Jane Rizzoli investigate when a nun is killed, another is about to die, and a woman with no face, hands or feet is murdered. Though the author has moved away from her earlier medical thrillers and into Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs territory, this was a very interesting read. (A)
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4.1 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Totally Satisfied!!!
This is my first Tess Gerritsen novel and I haven't been disappointed at all. Even though it does display much the same premise as the Kay Scarpetta novels,she still makes the... Read more
Published on Jun 22 2004 by laydeejay
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thrilling
In "The Sinner", Tess Gerritsen focuses on two strong women characters, homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles. Read more
Published on Jun 1 2004 by Daryl Rose
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best!
M.E. Maura Isles is called to a convent with her friend and colleague, Jane Rizzoli, to investigate the horrific bludgeoning of two nuns. Read more
Published on May 27 2004 by Beverley Strong
5.0 out of 5 stars
Some of her best writing is shown here..
Tess Gerritsen, a woman who is not afraid to bare all and BEAT THE CRAP out of King, Koontz, Palmer, Crichton, and Sanford. Read more
Published on May 26 2004 by Lance Felps
2.0 out of 5 stars
An Uncharacteristic Showing
I have been highly impressed by Tess Gerritsen's style of writing in her previous novels: Gravity, The Surgeon, Harvest, The Apprentice. Read more
Published on May 24 2004 by "ludwig_7776"
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tess Gerritsen scores again!
Detective Jane Rizzoli returns in Gerritsen's latest novel, The Sinner. She is joined by medical examiner Maura Isles. Read more
Published on April 25 2004 by C W Breaux
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good But I Expect More From Gerritson
After the nonstop focused excitement of Gerritsen's two previous books I wasn't quite as taken with this one. Read more
Published on Mar 15 2004 by Sires
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Clever
Two nuns are brutally attacked within the walls of a cloistered convent (one of the nuns survives the attack and the reason she survives is revealed eventually and it just blew my... Read more
Published on Mar 14 2004 by N. Sausser
3.0 out of 5 stars
ok thriller and bad melodrama
I can't call this novel a thriller for the simple reason that most of it is about feelings and love affairs of two main female characters (police officer and medical examiner. Read more
Published on Mar 12 2004 by Vahania63
3.0 out of 5 stars
Solid, but predictable
In Tess Gerritsen's book "The Sinner" even the Queen of the Dead, Medical Examiner Dr. Maura Isles, is disturbed by the savagery of the seemingly unrelated murders of two nuns, a... Read more
Published on Feb 14 2004 by Kxen
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