Felicity is excited to join a group of her fellow ordinands singing from the top of the tower at the College of the Transfiguration on this Ascension morning. Unfortunately, she has forgotten to turn her alarm on and it's now too late to do anything but watch as the group climbs the steps to the top. As she watches them a sudden noise startles her and this "shuddering thud" reveals itself to be caused by a body that seconds before had hurtled over the top of the tower. All she can hear now is her own screams.

So begins a book that tries to be both a murder mystery and a travel account and ultimately manages to be neither one. "An Unholy Communion", by Donna Fletcher Crow, is billed as the third book in 'The Monastery Murders', but doesn't come close to being a mystery and, without giving too much away, may not even include a murder. A look at the authors website does provide some information: she herself went on the same pilgrimage through Wales as her characters do and many of her photos of her travels are mirrored in the book as locations these people visit. There is even a photo of a blonde girl labeled "Felicity". It leads to the question, did she go on the pilgrimage with plans to write a book, or did she decide to write a book based on her travels? Regardless, a vast majority of the book consists of the group trekking through Wales following the path of a pilgrim route from the Middle Ages. Bodies show up about 300 pages apart (and the police have virtually no involvement either time) which doesn't a mystery make.

The location of the book (southern Wales) is very interesting. Where is tends to fall apart is with the characters. The pilgrimage group consists of mainly young people (it's billed as a 'Youth Walk'), Felicity, Father Antony, Michael (the driver), and other folks. Some are written to be deliberately shady (one girl has 'magenta' hair and another dresses in all black) and that always means that there will be some sort of redemptive occurrence at some point, which is a tiresome plot device. Felicity herself is either mopey and depressed, creepily mooning over her fiancé (the aforementioned leader of the group, Father Antony), or finding evilness in the wind and rain. She is either weeping, convinced that they will all die, or caught with a scream in her throat and all that gets tiresome very quickly. Father Antony, on the other hand, seems to be the most sane person of the group. Because the book has loads of religious things going on (going through the Stations of the Cross, daily homilies, and the like) he keeps busy reminding everyone of why they are taking this trip and the religious aspects of everything around them. The one thing he doesn't do is appear to be as devoted to Felicity as she is to him. Peculiar. The others in the hiking group consist of young teens who have an encyclopedic knowledge of Roman times in Wales, no particular reason for being on the hike, and/or ulterior motives. All in all, a mixed cast of characters that don't seem to belong in the same book.

If this book were written as a non-fiction account of the authors pilgrimage, it would have been a great read. The historical parts are fascinating although they are seemingly juxtaposed into the story merely to reflect the authors personal account of her own pilgrimage and really don't add anything to the main plot. Surprisingly, for such a religious book there is a lot of reliance on occult happenings and theories. With no knowledge of the first two books in the series, it cannot be determined if this book stays the course for the 'Monastery Murders' series. Ultimately, the book is not what is wants to be nor is it a bad book - it just isn't consistent. If you enjoy reading about Roman history in Wales, those parts of the book are interesting. For those readers who enjoy 'clerical thrillers', this is the book for you. For those that are looking for a good mystery set in Wales, you may need to look elsewhere. ( )

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. This is the third book in a series by Donna Fletcher Crowe. I would have liked to have read the other two books in the series prior to reading this because of the main character’s (Felicity and Father Antony) history with each other. There were things about them that I didn’t know and was left on my own to surmise. The book is interesting and you learn some of the history of Wales. The walking tour was a great device in the book. I am going to read the first two books because this one was so well done. ( )

This book confused me twice. The write up of the book made me originally think that it was like Cadfael or Sister Fidelma, taking place in the middle ages at a monastery. It's not, it's a very modern setting with stories going way back. The second thing that through me off was I assumed it was a cozy murder mystery like an Agatha Christie. While there was a 'murder' and there was a mystery the sleuthing was so-so and there was a bit of supernatural going on.

I enjoyed reading the book and it was filled with little historical stories and they are what made the book enjoyable, the mystery wasn't well written nor the detecting well done. Overall, I think the author would do better writing books to bring the past back to life, instead of trying to write mysteries. History is her expertise and you can tell, she did that very well. ( )

Felicity is an American Theology student in Britain, engaged to Father Antony, a priest- presumably Anglican. He ropes her into assisting him in leading a youth pilgrimage in Wales and there are adventures involving occult signs and Evil doings. The book is reasonably well written and I enjoyed getting a sense of the Welsh contryside. I like many novels involving aspects of church/religious themes, but am not a big fan of the occult. I did enjoy the book, and may read more in the series, but only because I think they are a bit more conventional theologically. ( )

As the third book in the Monastery Murders series begins, Felicity is looking forward to Ascension morning. Running late to the tower at the College of Transfiguration, Felicity can hear the heavenly sound of voices singing. Tragically, as she looks up at the tower, a figure in black plummets to earth and lands before her. As Felicity steps away, the hand of the dead man releases a simple scrap of paper with a strange emblem on it. The police are quick to dismiss the incident as a suicide. However, neither Felicity's fiancé, Father Antony, nor the man's widow believes it.

Hoping for a little peace and quiet, Father Antony encourages Felicity to accompany him as he leads a youth pilgrimage through Wales. Unfortunately, evil influences and sightings of the strange emblem seem to be around every corner. The group encounters a series of sinister, almost paranormal, events aimed at defeating their progress. As the group makes their way to St. David's, the paranormal events become even more sinister and seem to threaten their very lives. However, along the way, the group learns to work together and with the power of prayer they struggle to overcome the sinister force. Meanwhile, as Felicity and Father Antony tend to the pilgrims, they must try to solve the mystery of one man's death before anyone else gets hurt.

The Bottom Line: Fans of crime fiction featuring clerical sleuths will want to check this series out. Also, those who enjoy mysteries set in the English countryside may want to give this one a try. An Unholy Communion is chock full of historical information making this book an interesting read. The themes of teamwork, friendship, and good overcoming evil make this book a worthwhile read. Although I have not read the first two books in the series, I was able to pick up this installment and read it without feeling like I was missing anything. While this isn't a quick weekend read, I did enjoy the author's ability to make the English countryside come alive. Finally, this book includes a glossary for those of us not familiar with British history and terminology. ( )