Henry Dolan's granddaughter, Martha Lynch, adopted 23 years earlier, wants to find her birth parents. Her adopted parents are frantic over the idea of losing her, so Henry seeks out Father Dowling for help. Meanwhile, Martha's birth father, Nathaniel Fleck, who left before Martha's birth, has contacted Martha's real mother, Madeline, for details about Martha. Madeline panics, afraid he won't leave her alone, and turns to Amos Cadbury, a lawyer, for...

Gregory Barrett, a classmate of Father Dowling's, left the priesthood twenty-five years ago. Now, after all these years, a woman threatens to bring a multimillion-dollar suit against him, alleging he sexually exploited her when he was still a priest and she was sixteen. Barrett has no memory of her, but is devastated at what these claims will do to his career as a radio host and to his new family. So he comes to Father Dowling for advice. Father Dowling,...

Grieving over the death of her husband and falling prey to the machinations of her spouse's greedy relatives, widow Cristiana Helyngton enlists the aid of Dame Frevisse of St. Frideswide's nunnery to help her save herself and her daughters.

When the local diocese offers to pay for renovations to Our Lady of Hope monastery in exchange for housing a novice nun from a different order, the contemplative order becomes the target of violent threats after the arrival of the boisterous Sister Jo.

Set in West Africa, this is the story of Scobie, an assistant police commissioner, and his personal and professional corruption.

While attending the Oyster Festival in the village of Ballyclarin, Ireland, with Sister Eileen, Sister Mary Helen finds a corpse in the ladies' room of the Monk's Table, a local pub, and assists the Irish police in solving the crime.