Carol Ann O’Marie Books In Order

Publication Order of Sister Mary Helen Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Carol Ann O’Marie was an American author known for her mystery novels.

She passed away on May 27, 2009 due to Parkinson’s disease. She belonged to the Roman Catholic order and was a sister of St. Joseph.

She was born on August 28, 1933 in San Francisco. It was a setting that she would use for the majority of her books. She ran a shelter with friend Sister Maureen for homeless women in Oakland, California as well when alive.

O’Marie is the creator and author of the Sister Mary Helen mystery series. The series kicked off with the release of the debut novel in the series, which is titled Novena for Murder. It came out in 1984 and was followed by the publication of the sequel, titled Advent of Dying. There would be more books in the series– eleven in total.

The mystery series deals with the tales of a nun who may be older but still has a passion for solving mysteries. She’s adept at taking on crimes and figuring out who did it in the end. Who would ever expect an older sister to be taking on cases like these and putting her mind to the test?

Carol also wrote a book titled Like a Swarm of Bees that came out in 2010 from Graphic Visions. The manuscript was completed just a little while before the author passed. The book was written with the purpose of recalling a prophecy that was spoken in France in 1805 by Abbe Piron. He foresaw that the Sisters of St. Joseph surely would go on to increase in number. They would spread everywhere, just like bees in a swarm would.

Novena for Murder is the first novel in the Sister Mary Helen series. If you love interesting mystery novels and you want to try something new, check out the premier book in this unique series written by an actual nun who hails from California.

Many readers have already come to enjoy the adventures of Sister Mary Helen. She may be in her seventies, but she has the uncanny ability to figure out when trouble is about. She is a nun and also has a natural talent for taking on murder mystery cases and figuring out exactly what is going on, often getting into quite a bit of trouble in the process.

She’s not your average woman of 70 years old either in that she is clever and really spry for her age. It’s all about how old you feel, not how old you are. Once you meet this sister you will be interested in what else she gets up to!

Most women her age would be considering getting ready to retire. But when it comes to that, Mary Helen is just not quite there yet. She’d rather keep busy and do what she’s interested in than just sit around doing nothing. Mary has decided to stay engaged with work life and decides to teach history at a local college for women in San Francisco.

She’s determined to try and shake up her life, but a natural disaster takes care of that before she can get to it. When an earthquake hits the local area, it seems that this event has managed to take one victim. There’s a dead body among the rubble, and it appears that the earthquakes has gotten to someone.

But is it the work of a quake or was it in truth murder? Things are really heating up in this premier mystery novel. Was it something done by God or was it the work of a flawed human that perhaps had a grudge to bear? If it really was someone who killed the victim, will they be able to close in on a motive?

As one of the nuns that Sister Helen knows starts a novena, she directs it to the way of Saint Dismas. She ends up predicting that not only will the saint be able to show who the killer is, they will do it within a time frame of 9 days. It seems unlikely, but what are the odds that it could be true?

The police do end up grabbing someone and pulling them in. However, Mary thinks that it could potentially just not be the right person. Is the suspect that they have nabbed the right guy? It’s up to this sister to find the killer and bring them in.

Can Mary Helen do justice in the end or will a murderer continue to walk the streets? It’s anyone’s guess, but one thing this sister knows for sure is that she has faith on her side. With divine inspiration backing her sleuthing, this nun is out to make sure that evil gets its day in court and finds itself sentenced for what it has done.

Can she take down a killer or will it be the other way around? Find out by picking up the first novel in this fun series from acclaimed author Carol Ann O’Marie!

Advent of Dying is the second novel in O’Marie’s popular murder mystery series. Find out what’s going on in this exciting sequel and follow these adventures for yourself!

Mary and Eileen are good at solving mysteries and even better at taking down killers. This mystery series of fiction is a breath of fresh air that adds equal part suspense and humor for a combination that can’t be beat!

Age is just a number, and Sister Mary Helen has a knack for staying young through her hobby. That would be cracking cases and solving murders. When Mary gets invited out with Eileen and their friend Anne to the Sea Wench Bar to hear Suzanne Barnes sing, she’s really excited.

Suzanne is a good secretary but when she sang the blues, it was a totally different mood. Or it was supposed to be, as this was going to be her first performance. It was also her last, because someone put a letter opener made of silver into the secretary’s beating heart.

Stunned by the killing, Mary is going to crack this case and figure out just who killed Suzanne. Can she do it? Read this sequel to find out!

One Response to “Carol Ann O’Marie”

1. Marsha Price: 2 years ago

   It’s so good to see the list of the books in the Sister Mary Helen series. I read and enjoyed all of them in the years while they were being written. Now that I am in my early 70s, I would like to read them again. I just wish that they would become available as audiobooks!

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