The Deadly Weed is the tenth Reverend Mother mystery set in Cork, Ireland in the 1920s. I appreciate Cora Harrison’s series for the history and atmospheric contrast between the poor and the slums of Cork and the moneyed class. But, this time, the book was repetitive, and, despite it’s relatively short length, it seemed to go on too long. However, the conclusion, and Reverend Mother Aquinas’ way of uncovering the truth was surprising.
Afterward, the Reverend Mother has regrets. Her second cousin, Mr. Robert Murphy, opened a cigarette factory not too far from the convent. In her eagerness to provide for her students, she suggested Mr. Murphy hire some of her girls to roll cigarettes. Ten fourteen-year-olds were hired. Reverend Mother even suggested that he build a privy for the girls. When the wooden privy caught fire one evening, a man was found dead inside from smoke inhalation. And, a neighbor woman, Mrs. Maloney reports that one of the girls, a redhead named Maureen McCarthy, was often seen staying late with the dead man. Then, the chief of the Fire Brigade informs Patrick the fire was arson.
Inspector Patrick Cashman, one of Reverend Mother’s former students, is forced by his supervisor to bring Maureen in for questioning. When she spits at the police superintendent, Maureen is thrown in jail. The bishop forbids Reverend Mother to go to the jail. But, that doesn’t mean several of Reverend Mother’s cousins won’t provide her the means to visit Murphy at his home, and ask enough questions to provide Patrick with assistance in the case.
Repetitive. I don’t know how many times Murphy and his sister can tell the story about Sir Walter Raleigh and tobacco. How many times can the Reverend Mother question herself about putting those ten girls to work at the cigarette factory? The mystery itself almost becomes secondary and unimportant when it comes to the stories about cigarettes and tobacco, the deadly weed.
Harrison’s series may have gone on a little too long. The interesting history of Cork has passed. The Reverend Mother is getting older. As much as I appreciate her and Patrick Cashman and another former student, Eileen McSweeney, it might be time to wrap up the series. The Deadly Weed was deadly boring at times, despite the ending.
Cora Harrison’s website is http://coraharrison.com/
The Deadly Weed by Cora Harrison. Severn House, 2023. ISBN 9781448309825 (hardcover), 240p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I read a galley from NetGalley in order to review the book for a journal.
