A Vow of Silence cover art

A Vow of Silence

Sister Joan Murder Mystery, Book 1

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Thousands of incredible audiobooks and podcasts to take wherever you go.
Immerse yourself in a world of storytelling with the Plus Catalogue - unlimited listening to thousands of select audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

A Vow of Silence

By: Veronica Black
Narrated by: Jennifer Ness
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Discover a dramatic new mystery series set in a Cornish convent. Perfect for fans of Black Narcissus, Daphne du Maurier and Margaret Frazer.

The sisters at a lonely Cornish convent share a chilling secret they cannot confess...Sister Sophia is dead. Another disappears. And a mysterious last letter from a dying nun is sent to the prioress. Sister Joan has faced her own demons. Now she is sent to the convent to investigate, as well as teach the local children. There are whispers of virgin sacrifice and suicide, and the mother prioress certainly wears pink nail varnish. And who is the young man hiding in the bracken?

Meet Sister Joan, a rebel nun who vows to find out the truth.

©2021 Veronica Black (P)2021 W F Howes
Detective Fiction Historical Mystery Women Sleuths Women's Fiction
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Death at the Auction cover art
The Cornish Wedding Murder cover art
The Murder Mystery cover art
Sisters of the Southern Cross cover art
A Murder of Crows cover art
The Convent cover art
Murder in the Village cover art
A Date to Die For cover art
The Silver Ladies Do Lunch cover art
Lady Helena Investigates: Book One of the Scott-De Quincy Mysteries cover art
See No Evil cover art
Ashton Hall cover art
Mystery on Hidden Lane: An Utterly Gripping Cozy Mystery Novel cover art
Whistler's Lane cover art
An English Garden Murder cover art
Knitted and Knifed cover art

Critic reviews

“Outstanding.” (Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about A Vow of Silence

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    15
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    14
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    14
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

A Vow of silence

Good narration. An interesting and unusual mystery story for readers who enjoy a crime fiction without a lot of violence

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Intriguing

Easy going listen, charming and like a cloistered Miss Marple. The story uses ecclesiastical terms that are either well researched or written by someone with experience of the religious life. Now that would be an ecumenical question.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Not what I expected

This didn't progress as I had expected. I almost gave up but continued as I needed to know what happened. Fairly interesting though the thought of the nuns sleeping in cells, as they were referred to, didn't fill you with comfort. Narration was quite calming I thought.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Is missing nun the first

Missing nun causes problems with plenty of red herrings. Religious vows do not help solve the case

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it!!

I can never resist novels set in a religious community. I came across the Sister Joan books via an Amazon recommendation. They seem to be out of print except on Kindle. Second hand copies are all at least £25 and ship from USA, so I tried book 1 on Audible.
It was excellent! Really fresh and modern religious themes. Sister Joan is an amazing heroine. The natrator is excellent.
If only the 8 other books were on Audible. Surely they will be? or will be reissued in paperback? It almost tempts me to acquire Kindle even though I hatr reading on screens. But it is either that or going bankrupt on second hand prices.
But I am addicted now. I MUST have more of this series!!!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Spoiled a bit by the narration

Overall, I enjoyed the book as it is rather different from the normal whodunnit.

I didn’t much like the narration however. The reader has a very nasal voice, a strange way of enunciating each syllable separately in a long word and doesn’t really do different voices for the different characters.

What I found really, really irritating was the pronunciation at the beginning of the book of the word ‘novitiate’ (which naturally appears often in a book set in a convent). The reader pronounces this ‘novitate’ instead of ‘novishiate’ in the first couple of chapters, although someone must have put her right and she changes it after that. Yes, I know I’m picky but I have a thing about stuff like that!

Beyond that, the story is gently listenable-to but not the most remarkable I’ve ever heard.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Different

Very drawn out. Feel it could have been much,much, shorter - padded out and somewhat repetitive.
Not a bad plot, crazy nuns are always believable.
Some have criticised the narrator- but I thought she was just right.
Don’t think I’d buy another tho.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Rubbish

No wonder these are free they are useless Long winded, tedious, stupid books. I guess these free ones are new authors !

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Utter twaddle!

I have never read a sillier story, totally ridiculous and not in a good way. I cannot understand how it got to be recorded when there are so many good stories out there. Record Margaret Frazer tales and give us something worth listening to! Nuns wearing nail varnish for heaven's sake. Whoever decided to include this should be sacked.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

unbelievable

cannot give it a minus rating that it deserves. Totally incredulous. it was absolute rubbish.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!