I just finished reading my second stand-alone Dorothy Gilman, The Clairvoyant Countess. This book was really a collection of stories about Madame Karitska and her policeman friend, Detective-Lieutenant Pruden. Madame Karitska meets Pruden when he comes calling to find out why her address was in a murdered girl’s house. The girl has come to visit Madame Karitska earlier in the week and left in a huff when Karitska told the girl not to trust the person the girl trusted the most. As a spoiler, that “trusted” person wound up murdering the girl, and Karitska helped out Pruden by giving him information on what she picked up about the girl. Other cases include robberies at a boarding school, a man dying of a voodoo curse, a woman accused of being a witch, and a missing girl, who was first believed to be dead. The stories are quick, and the same characters weave in and out of the stories. The book is a short one, but a very enjoyable read. I found myself rooting for Madame Karitska. I think that Dorothy Gilman must have had some interesting experiences with spiritualism because both this and A Nun in the Closet have elements that encourage the characters, and the reader, to investigate how the brain and the soul work. Madame Karistka uses psychometry, touching objects owned or worn by someone, to get information about the person’s past and future. There was a later sequel, published in 2002, calledKaleidoscope. I’ll give that one a try too, but I’ve read that it is not up to par withThe Clairvoyant Countess. I wonder if Ms. Gilman was already experiencing some Alzheimer problems, which crept into her work. The disease is a sad one because it robs the person of himself/herself.
February 2nd was a sad day for Mrs. Pollifax fans. Dorothy Gilman died at 88 years of age from Alzheimer’s disease complications. I’ve read most, if not all, of the Mrs. Pollifax books. However, I never read any of the standalone books that Ms. Gilman wrote. I decided in her honor that I would rectify that lapse, and finally got around to A Nun in the Closet. The nun in the closet isn’t a real nun. It’s “Sister Ursula,” a seriously injured man found by two Benedictine nuns in a house the abbey inherited. Sister Ursula wasn’t the only things that Sisters John and Hyacinthe found on the property. They also found a suitcase with over $400,000 hidden in a well and 50 pounds of cocaine hidden in sugar jars. Since the book was published in 1975, Gilman sprinkled in some hippies, and Sister John had a militant awakening. Before the book ended, the Mafia and the FBI made appearances.The book reminded me of the Pollifax books. Good won out in the end, and no likable character died. Sister John was the most interesting of the bunch because she had an awakening from her cloistered existence. The book was a nice, light, enjoyable read. Nothing substantial, but that’s not what I expect from some books. A Nun in the Closet is a book that should be read on a nice spring day, while you sit outside on a swing, sipping a cold drink, and nibbling on cookies.
