I rarely like the first book in a series, but this grabbed me and held on tight. The tensions in this book run high as the characters question their beliefs as they attempt to find the murderer.

This is one of those books that, although very good, makes you feel like your brain could use a shower afterwards. It’s nothing to do with the writing but more to do with the plot, which is based on actual circumstances.

With Our Blessing is a contemporary crime novel set in Ireland that weaves in the sordid history of the Magdalene Laundries. These notorious and secretive institutions, run by Roman Catholic orders in Ireland from the 18th to the late 20th centuries and assisted by a blind eye from the government, housed “fallen women.” As the author explains at one point in the story:

“The laundries had been originally conceived as charitable refuges for ‘fallen’ or abandoned women but evolved into dumping grounds for all sorts of women regarded as ‘difficult’ by a judgmental society, heavily influenced by the Catholic Church. Some of the laundry inmates had babies out of wedlock, others had reported abuse by a family member or neighbor, while some just ended up there because they were homeless, had committed a minor crime, or were moved from other institutions. The women claimed they were shamefully mistreated - forced to work from morning until night for not pay, underfed, beaten, abused, and generally treated like prisoners.”

After a mass grave was found in the covent grounds of one of the laundries in 1993, an inquiry was launched and the case against the laundries was taken to the UN Committee Against Torture. It wasn’t until 2001 that the Irish Government admitted the laundries were less than salubrious. In 2013 the UN committee published its report finding that significant violations had taken place in the laundries, including cases of torture and rape. Babies were taken from pregnant mothers and sold. Nuns upset by what was taking place were afraid to speak out. Ireland issued a formal state apology after the report was issued.

As this story begins, a body is found in Dublin of an older woman who had been tortured ritualistically and crucified. She was soon identified as Reverend Mother Attracta, head of the convent Sisters of Pity in Limerick. Sisters of Pity had formerly been a Magdalene Laundry before Ireland shut them all down in 1996.

Several detectives from the Dublin murder squad, led by Detective Inspector Tom Reynolds of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigations, traveled to the convent to investigate the crime. Before long there was another murder at the convent, and the detectives know they are in a race against time to find out who is the perpetrator before there are more victims. Because they suspect the killings have something to do with the convent’s history as a laundry, part of their investigation involves digging through the records of the convent from that time, and exposing its dark past.

Evaluation: The author does a good job of educating readers about the Magdalene Laundries without sounding didactic, and of presenting the nuances of a case in which practically no one, including the police, thinks the victims weren’t deserving of their fates. In fact, the murderer muses: “I don’t live in a society where you’re allowed to take justice into your own hands. And yet, I don’t live in a society where real justice is delivered unless you dish it out yourself.”

It’s a chilling story, and well done. ( )

The murder of a nun leads the police to her convent, which formerly housed a Magdalene laundry. This contained lots of the history of the laundries and of what went on in them, which was both interesting and tragic.

It was a bit long and there were too many nuns to keep straight in my head. I read most of it in one sitting, and am looking forward to the next in the series. ( )

With our Blessing – A Stunning debut

With our Blessing is the stunning debut thriller from former journalist and political advisor Jo Spain, and it is easy to understand why this book has been shortlisted for the Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller competition. Her debut is both atmospheric and compelling while picking at an open sore in Irish history that is casting along shadow over the church and state.

With our Blessing introduces us to Detective Inspector Tom Reynolds and his team based in Dublin, when a body is discovered in a local cruising area, a body of a female, has been crucified and a message adorns her body, and her tongue has been cut out. When they discover the murdered female is a nun they are shaken to the core, especially as Christmas is approaching upon them.

Things start turning dark for Reynolds and his team when they realise that the victim was a member of an order and lived in what was a Magdalene Laundry which also had a mother and baby home. As they have to travel out to the convent which is out in the Irish countryside and need help from the local Kilcross garda station.

It is not helped that they have to stay in the convent and the winter is turning bad all around them, it enforces the eerie desolation of the former Magdalene Laundry as there are so few nuns left living there. All the detectives while out in Kilcross and staying at the Laundry have to face some of their own inner demons.

While Reynolds is investigating Father Seamus also is found murdered which adds to the complexity of the investigation. It also calls in the behaviour of the Catholic Church and the role of the state, as they dig deeper, as they know it is only by looking back they will be able to find the truth and the killer.

This is a wonderfully dark noir thriller that casts light on some parts of Irish history that both Church and State would rather remain hidden. This is a wonderfully vivid thriller that explores those dark depths and shows the more you try to hide the truth the more likely it is to come out in to the light.

This is a brilliantly researched and written debut novel, that has a complex twisted plot, not afraid to use misdirection in her story, Jo Spain shows us she has the potential to be one of the top Irish crime writers. Jo Spain manages to get under your skin and gives you a kick when she thinks as a reader you are getting too complacent and think you know who the killer is.

A truly superb debut, promising a bright future for Irish writing. ( )