MURDER MAKES A PILGRIMAGE

Elderly Sister Mary Helen of San Francisco's Mount St. Francis College (Murder in Ordinary Time, etc.) has won a week's pilgrimage to Santiago, Spain, sponsored by a local restaurant. Accompanied by friend Sister Eileen, she joins tour guide Pepe and the other winners on the overseas flight: Professor DeAngelo and his supercilious wife Bootsie; the earthy Bowmans, Bud and Cora; dentist Neil Fong and fitness-obsessed wife Rita; and dumpy young Heidi Williams, whose guest is Lisa Springer, her sometime best friend. Sister Mary Helen becomes aware of tensions building in the group, seemingly focused on the gorgeous Lisa, but she's shocked when, a day after their arrival, she discovers Lisa's strangled corpse in the town's magnificent cathedral. Over the next few days Mary Helen survives a series of accidents, and it becomes apparent to Comisario Angel Serrano that her life is at risk. Working with the Sisters' police friends back in the US, he uncovers a vital connection, but the puzzle's final piece is provided by Sister Mary Helen's sharp eyes. Those attuned to religious history may enjoy the colorful depiction of an area steeped in it. But the plot and characters are all but buried under fussy, repetitive details of clothes, meals, minor ailments, spats, and irrelevant chitchat. A mostly dull, overextended trip.