基本信息出版社：Minotaur Books
页码：272 页
出版日期：2007年10月
ISBN：0312322127
International Standard Book Number：0312322127
条形码：9780312322120
EAN：9780312322120
装帧：精装
正文语种：英语

内容简介 Our Lady of Hope Monastery can't catch a break. Situated in rural New Mexico, the cloistered monastery squeaks by on donations and various craft and skilled jobs suited to their cloistered, contemplative life. But when a stolen SUV crashes through their outside walls, they are faced with financial demands that far exceed their means. So when a major donor offers a great deal of money for what seems a simple task, they are quick to accept. The very ill John Gutierrez is looking for his estranged niece, believed to be in the area, and having heard of Sister Agatha, the extern nun, and her investigative skills, he turns to them for help. All Sister Agatha has to do is track down the woman, and the monastery's financial worries will be over.
But nothing is ever as simple as it seems. Sister Agatha's investigation quickly lands her in the midst of a deadly situation, and it's up to her to uncover the truth before it all takes a deadly turn for everyone involved.
作者简介 AIMEE AND DAVID THURLO are the authors of numerous books, including the Ella Clah mysteries, and three previous novels featuring Sister Agatha. They live in Corrales, New Mexico.
媒体推荐 "Charming...Sister Agatha, with her winsome ways and no-nonsense faith, is sure to delight readers." --Publishers Weekly on PREY FOR A MIRACLE “Fascinating…[Sister Agatha is] intelligent, deteremined, funny, and deeply religious, yet completely unstuffy, and adds both interest and appeal to this thoughtful mystery series.” --Dallas Morning News on BAD FAITH "THIEF IN RETREAT is a thoroughly absorbing, sharply drawn story with a protagonist who is courageous, intelligent, and endearing. Sister Agatha, with her restored Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and ex-police dog Pax are a dynamic team that's hard to beat... I eagerly await Sister Agatha's next adventure." --Earlene Fowler, author of DELECTABLE MOUNTAINS
专业书评 From Publishers Weekly

The pallid fourth Sister Agatha mystery from the Thurlo husband-and-wife team (after 2006's Prey for a Miracle) piles on New Mexico smalltown color, but lacks a challenging puzzle. Agatha is an extern-authorized to interact with the outside world-for Our Lady of Hope Monastery, a small community on the cusp of financial ruin. When a drunk driver crashes his SUV into its security gate, the nuns must scramble to find the funds for repairs. Meanwhile, a hacker is disrupting the computer work the community relies upon for much of its income, and the adjacent vineyard may be sold to a developer. Salvation seems at hand when dying millionaire John Guttierez, aware of Agatha's reputation as an amateur investigator, offers her a lucrative payday if she succeeds in tracing his estranged niece. The descriptions of monastic life are compelling, but too-pat miracles and too-simple mysteries will disappoint all but the most devoted series fans. (Oct.)
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文摘 Chapter 1
It was a beautiful, sunny new mexico morning, and Sister Agatha unlocked the parlor doors in preparation for the new day. Standing on the front step, she gazed back at Our Lady of Hope Monastery. Though it was scarcely grand, she liked to think of the reconverted adobe farmhouse with its new bell tower as God’s fortress in a world increasingly determined to forget Him.
Inside, the sisters lived and prayed in quiet seclusion. That blessed stillness, almost always absent on the outside, defined their monastery and became an ever-present companion that drew them closer to the One they served.
Contrary to what some people believed, the locks on the doors and the grille that separated the cloistered sisters from the world weren’t there to keep anyone in. They were a line of defense meant to keep the secular world out.
Soon Sister Bernarda, who’d asked for a few moments alone in chapel again this morning, came into the parlor. Sister Agatha hurried inside, worried about her. She could tell Sister Bernarda had been crying.
“Are you all right?” Sister Agatha asked gently.
“Of course,” she answered briskly. “I’m ready to take over as portress. You have other pressing business.”
As soon as Sister Bernarda took a seat behind the old oak desk, the phone rang. Externs like Sister Bernarda, Sister Agatha, and Sister de Lourdes were not bound by a vow of enclosure. They were a vital link between the monastery and the world.
Knowing her fellow extern was not ready to talk about whatever was troubling her, Sister Agatha left her to her work and hurried down the hall. When she arrived at the scriptorium, Sister de Lourdes was working at the server—the main computer.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Sister de Lourdes said with a grim smile. “I’ve done everything I know to get the computer to work r
……