Quaker Testimony: An Elizabeth Elliot Mystery

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Quaker instruction, mediocre crime mystery
Review: As a British Quaker, this book was of considerable interest to me. The picture it portrays of American Quaker life was a surprise in some ways - the intensity of the faith and the faithfulness of daily behaviour struck me as extremely 'other worldly'. Elizabeth is a likeable woman, and concern for her kept me reading. However, the actual mystery was very predictable almost from the first, and the somewhat contrived accumulation of accident, would-be suicide and ultimate detection is not especially well structured. It is, however, courageous to write about murder amongst Quakers, and the Peace Testimony is very well explored, in the light of imperfect human beings, and their capacity for sin and self-deception. Rebecca Tope

Rating:
Summary: When the world comes in conflict with religious beliefs
Review: Elizabeth Elliot, protagonist of Quaker Testimony by Irene Allen, is the Clerk of a Quaker Meeting in Boston. At the center of this book is the question of what one must do when one's beliefs clash with the compromises most of us find necessary to live in modern society. The secondary question is how a community deals with those who choose to live by their beliefs when those beliefs appear to threaten some in that society. One Quaker family takes literally the teaching about war and refuses to pay that portion of their income taxes which goes to the military. Instead they donate this money to a society promoting peace. (As chapter introductions Ms. Allen includes statements of belief and action from various Quaker authorities.) The IRS is prepared to seize their last asset, their home, but the wife, Hope, is murdered before this can happen. Elizabeth is a suspect at first, and she feels compelled to investigate because this murder could bring dishonor upon the whole Quaker community. Elizabeth is a very believable character, independent, almost prickly with anyone who threatens or challenges her independence, but fully aware that at age 67 there are many things she physically cannot do. The story is very interesting and the dilemma a very real one. My only quarrel with the book is the style of writing. Ms. Allen, I think, tells too many of the quotidian activities of each day, things I do not need to know in order to enjoy the story, know the characters and understand the crime. The details sometimes slow the story down and pull me out of what is happening. I become aware that I am reading a story, not living it. In spite of this, I recommend the book for it forces the reader to think about the compromises we make between what we believe and what we must do in order to live in this world