June Wright had already published three popular mysteries by the time she created her most memorable detective, the Reverend Mother Mary St Paul of the Cross.

The kindly Mother Paul may seem vague and otherwordly, but little escapes her attention—she has a shrewd grasp of everything that’s going on beneath the surface. In Reservation for Murder, the first of three Mother Paul novels (originally published in 1958), she is in charge of a residential hostel for young women who work in offices and shops in Melbourne.

A tense atmosphere pervades the house—many of the residents have received unpleasant anonymous letters, and there is much speculation as to their author. When Mary Allen finds a stranger stabbed in the garden, who dies after uttering a mysterious name, and a few days later one of the residents is found drowned, an apparent suicide, the tension reaches fever pitch. Is there a connection between these two deaths? Or between them and the letters?

The police investigation, abetted by the resourceful Mary Allen, proceeds in fits and starts, but meanwhile Mother Paul pursues her own enquiries.

Author

June Wright

June Wright (b. 1919) - Wrote six detective novels between 1948-66, mostly in Melbourne settings and with female detectives. While wrapping food scraps in newspaper she saw an advertisement for a novel competition, run by the London publisher Hutchinson. She won the prize with Murder in the Telephone Exchange and Hutchinson published three of her novels. With Reservation for Murder (1966) she introduced her detective-nun, the formidable Mother Paul. The best of her novels is Faculty of Murder (1961), set in Melbourne University, with Ormond College's tower on the cover.

Country of Origin

Books:

Series:

Series: Maggie Byrnes

Series: Mother Paul

ISBN
B0848RB6C4
Year of Publication
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Book Number (in series)
1
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