The Seventh Sinner

 by Elizabeth Peters
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jaqueline Kirby is introduced in this novel and she is somewhat of a cipher. She is kept in the background and all the other characters are better drawn.

Santi Cosma e Damiano

This is one the first of Peters published books in the mystery genre and it was a little uneven. Kirby working in Rome meets a group of young students who hang to gather as a group and they refer to themselves as the seven sinners. They are all studying various subjects such as art, architecture and history. They meet after work for drinks and other activities. The least of the group is a messy, slightly crazy young man who gets tagged the seventh of the group. These young people would rather he found somewhere else to be but he hangs on until one day when the group is experiencing some catacombs he is murdered. He leaves a dying message in the sand by his now motionless hand. It is seven.

While there are others in the catacombs it is most likely that the murderer is one of the student group. The police are working at it and Jacqueline herself feels that what she must do is protect the one girl who actually saw the message. The girl seems awfully prone to near fatal accidents and Kirby recognizes these incidents for attempts on her life.


I  liked the location, the history and the interesting trips into catacombs, old churches as a search for a murderer spreads out .

Since the clue left at the murder site is a seven, we get to learn about seven saints, seven churches, seven hills of Rome and more.

None of the students seems to have reason to kill anyone, much less this particular person, as odd as he was. Kirby encourages the exploration of Roman artifacts and location because sooner or later the culprit will reveal himself.

The liberal use of google images really added to the enjoyment of the book. I was able to look up so many of the structures and locations that I had a mini trip of my own. As I was doing this I did get a yearning to see the areas for my self. Someday maybe.