Book Review: Old Habits Die Hard by Melissa Westemeier with Mariana Damon (Nun the Wiser Mysteries #1)

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: The two leads are nice

Cons: Pacing was way off

The Bottom Line:

Nun finds a body

I did like characters but

Pacing is way off

Sadly, I Don’t Think This Series Will Become a Habit

There are those series that sound promising, and Melissa Westemier’s Nun the Wiser was one of them. I couldn’t pass up the premise. But, sadly, I found the execution of the first book, Old Habits Die Hard, to be less than I’d hoped for. 

Sister Bernadette retired from teaching and her life as a nun, but she’s found herself living in The Abbey: Senior Living, the sight of the school where she taught for years now renovated into senior apartments. The residents are becoming a close-knit community, which is why, when the body of one of the residents is found, it upsets everyone. Especially since it doesn’t appear to be the obvious natural causes. The detective assigned to the case is AJ Lewis, one of Bernadette’s former students. Can the pair crack the case and figure out what really happened?

This book started out well. The body was found quickly and we got our first twist just as quickly. I settled in for a promising debut. 

And waited for the next big twist or revelation. 

Don’t get me wrong, we did still have a few things for the detectives to figure out along the way. But the clues and connections were slow in coming. The solution became obvious pretty early as well. Things made sense, but the plot needed some work. 

I was expecting Sister Bernadette to play a bigger role in the story. She shares viewpoint character duties with Detective AJ, but many of her scenes didn’t really advance the story. I liked her, but she didn’t contribute as much as I expected. She does provide a couple of pieces of the puzzle, but it was a small amount. 

Meanwhile, I also liked AJ. His scenes do add more to the story, which is good. I felt like he should have been the main character, which would have made the book stronger. 

There’s a bit of foul language in the book. It’s not excessive, but it’s certainly more than I expected for a book featuring a retired nun as one of the main characters. 

Plenty of people seem to enjoy this series, but Old Habits Die Hard just didn’t work for me.