Christine Bennett Series by Lee Harris

Christine Bennett has left the cloistered world of nuns for the profane world of New York State, where murder and madness are often linked. At a town meeting, Christine volunteers to investigate a forty-year-old murder case long since closed. Now she'll move heaven and earth to exonerate a pair of retarded savant twins, now senior citizens, of their mother's murder on Good Friday in 1950.

A CELEBRATION OF ABUNDANCE BECOMES A DAY OF LOSS.More than a year ago Natalie Gordon went to buy a balloon at the Thanksgiving Day Parade and dissolved into thin air. The police and a private investigator still have no leads. So when Natalie's despairing husband pleads with ex-nun Christine Bennett to help, she can't say no.Not only are Natalie's present whereabouts a mystery, but so is her past. Someone has stripped her personnel file in her old office... moreA CELEBRATION OF ABUNDANCE BECOMES A DAY OF LOSS.More than a year ago Natalie Gordon went to buy a balloon at the Thanksgiving Day Parade and dissolved into thin air. The police and a private investigator still have no leads. So when Natalie's despairing husband pleads with ex-nun Christine Bennett to help, she can't say no.Not only are Natalie's present whereabouts a mystery, but so is her past. Someone has stripped her personnel file in her old office. Even her husband knows strangely little about her.Starting with a cardboard box of Natalie's belongings--a few books, keys, some cosmetics--Chris searches for a life someone has tried very hard to erase and finds a cast of characters so chilling that murder seems not only inevitable but likely to happen again. . . . less

THE PARTY'S OVEROn December 30, Susan Stark was dropped off in front of her parents' house. She hasn't been heard from since. Not a good scenario, especially in New York.Former nun (now crime investigator) Christine Bennett fears the worst. Armed with only a few phone numbers and a photo of Susan, she steps into the missing girl's life--and meets a Susan that neither her parents nor her boyfriend knew existed . . moreTHE PARTY'S OVEROn December 30, Susan Stark was dropped off in front of her parents' house. She hasn't been heard from since. Not a good scenario, especially in New York.Former nun (now crime investigator) Christine Bennett fears the worst. Armed with only a few phone numbers and a photo of Susan, she steps into the missing girl's life--and meets a Susan that neither her parents nor her boyfriend knew existed . . . with strange obsessions and a secret life that may have lured her to a deadly end. less

IT’S PARTY TIME FOR A KILLERSuburban sleuth Christine Bennett is moved and intrigued by two poignant mementos treasured by her late Aunt May. The first is a sad little note mourning the death of a young man lost in a Connecticut wood; the other, an obituary honoring a wealthy local manufacturer who committed suicide just after his splendid fiftieth birthday celebration... moreIT’S PARTY TIME FOR A KILLERSuburban sleuth Christine Bennett is moved and intrigued by two poignant mementos treasured by her late Aunt May. The first is a sad little note mourning the death of a young man lost in a Connecticut wood; the other, an obituary honoring a wealthy local manufacturer who committed suicide just after his splendid fiftieth birthday celebration.Why did her aunt never mention these virtually simultaneous tragedies? Chris’s investigative instincts are irresistibly whetted–especially by the bizarre discovery that the victims, though strangers, were found wearing each other’s sneakers. And as she slices through the layers of the past, she uncovers the horrible truth that murder was just the icing on the cake. . . . less