Review: MURDER IN AN IRISH CHURCHYARD, Carlene O'Connor

• 
  this edition a large print published by W F Howes 2021
  
• first published 2018
• ISBN 978-1-00404-114-5
• 405 pages
• Irish Village Mystery #3

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

Kilbane has a new garda, and her first case is a grave matter indeed...
After solving two murders in the County Cork village of Kilbane, Siobhán O’Sullivan has accepted her calling and decided to join the Garda Síochána. The O’Sullivan clan couldn’t be prouder, but there’s no time to celebrate as she’s already on another case, summoned by the local priest who just found a dead man in the St. Mary’s graveyard—aboveground.

He’s a stranger, but the priest has heard talk of an American tourist in town, searching for his Irish ancestor. As Siobhán begins to dig for a motive among the gnarled roots of the victim’s family tree, she will need to stay two steps ahead of the killer or end up with more than one foot in the grave. 

My Take

An engaging cozy, focussing on Siobhán O’Sullivan's first case as a Garda.

The local priest wakes her after he hears a gunshot in his local churchyard. He follows that by finding the body of an American tourist.  This case is really above Siobhán's pay grade and a garda from Dublin is brought in to work with her.

Set in the small village of Kilbane, the case is an interesting mix of current police procedural and historical investigation. The American is the head of a successful food chain who has come to Ireland to search his past. He has brought with him his current (3rd) wife, his brother, a nurse, and his two adult children, and a documentary maker who will film their journey.

In addition Siobhán O’Sullivan has a restaurant to run and personal problems to resolve.

I have already begun another series by this author (see below)

My rating: 4.4

I've also read

4.5, NO STRANGERS HERE - #1 Kerry Mystery series

Review: BROKEN BAY, Margaret Hickey

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on Libby provided through my local library
  
• Published: 30 July 2024??
• ISBN: 9781761344541
• Imprint: Penguin
• Pages: 384
  

Synopsis (publisher)

Old loyalties and decades-long feuds rise to the surface in this stunning crime novel, set in a spectacular Australian landscape known for its jagged cliffs and hidden caves.

Detective Sergeant Mark Ariti has taken a few days’ holiday in Broken Bay at precisely the wrong time. The small fishing town on South Australia’s Limestone Coast is now the scene of a terrible tragedy.

Renowned cave diver Mya Rennik has drowned while exploring a sinkhole on the land of wealthy farmer Frank Doyle. As the press descends, Mark’s boss orders him to stay put and assist the police operation.

But when they retrieve Mya's body, a whole new mystery is opened up, around the disappearance of a young local woman twenty years before . . .

Suddenly Mark is diving deep into the town’s history - and in particular the simmering rivalry between its two most prominent families, the Doyles and Sinclairs.

Then a murder takes place at the Sinclairs’ old home – and Mark is left wondering which is more dangerous: Broken Bay’s hidden subterranean world or the secretive town above it . . . 

My Take

Very very readable.

I enjoyed catching up with Mark Ariti in the small Limestone Coast town of Broken Bay. Mark just happens to be holidaying in the area when renowned cave diver Mya Rennik drowns in a newly discovered sink hole.

Mark accidentally becomes head of the investigation, holding the fort until a crime investigation team arrives, when a second body is discovered in the sink hole.  And then his stay in the town is extended when his car's windscreen is shattered, and he has to stay waiting for repairs to take place. 

As Mark investigates the history of various families, he follows glimmerings that seem out of place, showing us what makes him such a good detective.

My rating: 4.5

I've also read

• 4.7, CUTTER'S END - Mark Ariti #1
• 4.6, STONE TOWN - Mark Ariti #2
  

Review: NO STRANGERS HERE, Carlene O'Connor

• 
  this edition borrowed from my local library in large print
  
• #1 in County Kerry Mystery series
• first printed in 2022
• Large print edition W F Howes 2023
• ISBN 978-1-00410-664-6 

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

On a rocky beach in the southwest of Ireland, the body of a wealthy racehorse owner Johnny O’Reilly has been discovered. In a town like Dingle, everyone knows a little something about everyone else. But dig a bit deeper, and there’s always much more to find. And when Detective Inspector Cormac O'Brien is dispatched out of Killarney to lead the murder inquiry, he's determined to unearth every last buried secret.
 
Dimpna Wilde hasn’t been home in years. But faced with a triple bombshell—her mother is rumored to have been in a relationship with Johnny, her father’s dementia is escalating, and her brother is avoiding her calls—Dimpna moves back to Dingle to clear her family of suspicion. And as she takes over the family practice, she finds herself in a race with the detective inspector to uncover the dark, twisting truth behind murder, no matter how close to home it strikes...

My Take

This a cracking good yarn. Plenty of mystery. Plenty of secrets.

Dimpna Wilde left Dingle 27 years ago. After she was raped and after the racehorse in her care was killed in a traffic accident.

She has established a career as a renowned vet  despite her diminutive size. But her husband committed suicide a year ago and really she has nowhere to go but Dingle where she has family.

She arrives in time to hear of the murder Johnny O'Reilly, wealthy race horse owner, and to witness the arrival of Cormac O'Brien, Detective. Cormac will be challenged as he tries to crack the secrets of the town.

There is a lot for the reader to get up to speed on, and Dimpna becomes our eyes and ears, as we delve into the past and the present.

I'm impressed enough by this book to be looking for the next in the series SOME OF US ARE LOOKING.

My rating: 4.5

About the author
Carlene O'Connor comes from a long line of Irish storytellers. Her great-grandmother emigrated from Ireland to America during the Troubles, and the stories have been flowing ever since. Of all the places across the pond she's wandered, she fell most in love with a walled town in County Limerick and was inspired to create the town of Kilbane, County Cork. Carlene currently divides her time between New York and the Emerald Isle. 

Review: THE YOUNGER WIFE, Sally Hepworth

• 
  This edition a large print one from my local library
  
• published in 2022 by Wheeler Publishing
• ISBN 978-1-4326-9708-6
• 477 pages
• author website  
  

Synopsis (author website)

Stephen Aston is getting married again. The only problem is, he's still married to his first wife, even though she is in a care facility for dementia. But he'll take care of that easily, by divorcing her--even if his adult daughters protest.

Tully and Rachel Aston look upon Heather as nothing but an interloper. Heather is the same age as Rachel and even younger than Tully. Clearly she's a golddigger and after their father's money. Heather has secrets that she's keeping close, and reasons of her own for wanting to marry Stephen.

With their mother unable to speak for herself, Tully and Rachel are determined to get to the truth about their family's secrets, the new wife closing in, and who their father really is. But will getting to the truth unleash the most dangerous impulses...in all of them? 

My Take

This is the second time I've read this novel within 12 months. My first review is here. I'm relieved to find that I've given it the same rating.

So why am I reading it again? For discussion with my U3A crime fiction discussion group.

So this time I want to put down some of the things about the book that I want to discuss with them. So Spoiler Alert. Particularly if you have not yet read the book.

• Should Stephen Aston be divorcing Pam (his wife with dementia) and marrying again?
• Were you shocked at the age difference between Heather and Stephen?
• Do you think Heather should have agreed to marry Stephen and then allow him to discard Pam?
• How have Tully and Rachel reacted to stress in their lives?
• Where did the money in the hot water bottle come from?
• Who was Fiona Arthur? 
• Was Stephen abusive? What evidence is there?
• Was Stephen's death justified?
• What issues did the book make you consider?
• What did you think of the structure of the book: the narration by a person at the wedding; the fact that we know something dreadful has happened but not exactly what; the continued intervention by this narrator; her final toast to Stephen.
  

My rating: 4.7

I've also read

• 4.5, THE MOTHER IN LAW
• 4.7, THE YOUNGER WIFE 
• 4.7, THE SOULMATE
• 4.8, DARLING GIRLS

 

Review: WHAT HAPPENED TO NINA? Dervla McTiernan

• 
  This edition available on Kindle from Amazon
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CKCKQVVD
  
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins (1 March 2024)
• 336 pages

Synopsis (Amazon) 

Nina and Simon are the perfect couple. Young, fun and deeply in love. Until they leave for a weekend at his family's cabin in Vermont, and only Simon comes home.

WHAT HAPPENED TO NINA?

Nobody knows. Simon's explanation about what happened in their last hours together doesn't add up. Nina's parents push the police for answers, and Simon's parents rush to protect him. They hire expensive lawyers and a PR firm that quickly ramps up a vicious, nothing-is-off-limits media campaign.

HOW FAR WILL HIS FAMILY GO TO KEEP HIM SAFE?

Soon, facts are lost in a swirl of accusation and counter-accusation. Everyone chooses a side, and the story goes viral, fueled by armchair investigators and wild conspiracy theories and illustrated with pretty pictures taken from Nina's social media accounts. Journalists descend on their small Vermont town, followed by a few obsessive "fans."

HOW FAR WILL HER FAMILY GO TO GET TO THE TRUTH?

Nina's family is under siege, but they never lose sight of the only thing that really matters -- finding their daughter. Out-gunned by Simon's wealthy, powerful family, Nina's parents recognize that if playing by the rules won't get them anywhere, it's time to break them.

My Take:

Nina and Simon, a young couple attending separate universities in Vermont, go away together for a week's holiday, but at the end of a week Simon returns alone. He says he left Nina alone at the holiday cabin, but concerns are raised when Nina does not contact her parents. Simon says they broke up on their last night together, but gives differing versions of why it happened.

As Nina's parents become concerned the police become involved and the rumour mill begins.

This plot has lots of twists, and the compelling story is told through a number of voices.

Inside stories for both families are revealed for the reader.

Dervla McTiernan, Australian/Irish, is certainly one to watch

My Rating: 4.8

I've also read

• 4.8, THE RUIN
• 4.8, THE SCHOLAR
• 4.8, THE GOOD TURN  
• 4.6, THE MURDER RULE
• 4.6, THE MURDER RULE 

Review: THE BLOOD CARD, Elly Griffiths

• 
  This edition from my local library
  
• Published by First Mariner Books 201
• ISBN 978-1-328-51192-8
• 372 pages
• #3 in the Brighton Mysteries
• author website
  

Synopsis (author website)

Elizabeth II’s coronation is looming, but the murder of their wartime commander, Colonel Cartwright, spoils the happy mood for DI Edgar Stephens and magician Max Mephisto. A playbill featuring another deceased comrade is found in Colonel Cartwright’s possession, and a playing card, the ace of hearts: the blood card. The wartime connection and the suggestion of magic are enough for him to put Stephens and Mephisto on the case.

Edgar’s investigation into the death of Brighton fortune-teller Madame Zabini is put on hold. Max is busy rehearsing for a spectacular Coronation Day variety show – and his television debut – so it’s Edgar who is sent to New York, a land of plenty worlds away from still-rationed England. He’s on the trail of a small-town mesmerist who may provide the key, but someone else silences him first. It’s Sergeant Emma Holmes who finds the clue, buried in the files of the Zabini case, that leads them to an anarchist group intent on providing an explosive finale to Coronation Day.

Now it’s up to Edgar, Max and Emma to foil the plot, and find out who it is who’s been dealing the cards.

My Take

I read this novel partly to catch up with books that I have missed in this series, mainly when I jumped from #2 to #4. I have discovered I already have #7 to catch up with.

I really enjoyed the historical setting of  the imminent coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. This coincides with the advent of television which those who attend Variety Theatre are fearful with mean the demise of live theatre.

The novel also filled in for me details that I had missed in the personal lives of Edgar, Max, and Emma.

An enjoyable and well written read.

My Rating: 4.5

I've also read

• 4.8, THE ZIG ZAG GIRL - Brighton Mysteries #1
• 4.5, SMOKE AND MIRRORS - Brighton Mysteries #2
  
• 4.4, THE VANISHING BOX - Brighton Mysteries #4 
• 4.6, NOW YOU SEE THEM- Brighton Mysteries #5
  
• 4.5, THE MIDNIGHT HOUR- Brighton Mysteries #6

Also

• 4.6, THE CROSSING PLACES - Ruth Galloway #1
  
• 4.6, THE JANUS STONE - Ruth Galloway #2
• 4.6, THE HOUSE AT SEA'S END - Ruth Galloway #3
• 4.5, A ROOM FULL OF BONES - Ruth Galloway #4
• 4.8, DYING FALL- audio book - Ruth Galloway #5
• 4.5, THE GHOST FIELDS, Elly Griffiths - audio book - Ruth Galloway #7
• 4.7, THE OUTCAST DEAD, Elly Griffiths - audio book - Ruth Galloway #6
• 4.7, THE WOMAN IN BLUE - Ruth Galloway #8
• 4.7, THE CHALK PIT - Ruth Galloway #9
• 4.6, THE STRANGER DIARIES - Harbinder Kaur #1
  
• 4.4, THE POSTSCRIPT MURDERS - Harbinder Kaur #2
  
• 4.7, THE LANTERN MEN - Ruth Galloway #12
• 5.0, THE STONE CIRCLE - Ruth Galloway #11 
• 4.8, THE DARK ANGEL - Ruth Galloway #10
• 4.7, THE NIGHT HAWKS - Ruth Galloway #13
  
• 5.0, THE LOCKED ROOM - Ruth Galloway #14
• 4.6, BLEEDING HEART YARD - Harbinder Kaur #3
• 5.0, THE LAST REMAINS - Ruth Galloway #15
  

Review: THE HEIGHTS, Louise Candlish

• 
  this edition from my local library
  
• published by Simon & Schuster 2021
• 432 pages
• ISBN 978-1-4711-8349-2

Synopsis (publisher)

There is nothing as powerful as a mother’s love. But will Ellen’s put her whole family in danger?

Ellen Saint is just your average mum. Devoted to her family, she’s no different from any other mother who wants the best for her kids. But when her teenage son Lucas brings a new friend home, cracks start to appear in Ellen’s perfect family life.
Kieran Watts isn’t like Lucas. He’s rude, obnoxious and reckless, and Ellen can only watch in despair as her son falls deeper under his influence.
Then Ellen’s whole world implodes and she embarks on an obsessive need to get revenge.

There is nothing you won’t do for your children – even murder . . . 

My Take

From the back cover:

The Heights is a tall, slender apartment building among warehouses in London. Its roof terrace is so discreet, you wouldn’t know it existed if you weren’t standing at the window of the flat directly opposite. But you are. And that’s when you see a man up there—a man you’d recognize anywhere. He may be older now, but it’s definitely him.

But that can’t be because he’s been dead for over two years. You know this for a fact.

Because you’re the one who killed him.

I must confess that it wasn't the publisher's blurb that got me into this one, but the stuff from the back cover.

This intriguingly structured novel requires the reader to exercise those "little grey cells" to solve all the mysteries - and there is more than one. There are several voices in this novel, so do take notice of anything that helps you distinguish one from another. 

We hear most of the story from "the horse's mouth", beginning in September 2012, when a 16 year old disadvantaged boy, Kieran Watts, joins Lucas Gordon's class at Foxwell Academy, and attaches himself to Lucas like an evil limpet. From that point, in Ellen's own words, it is just one disastrous mistake after another.

And from my point of view, Ellen Saint is far from your "average mum".

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

• 5.0, THE OTHER PASSENGER
• 4.7, OUR HOUSE
• 4.8, THE ONLY SUSPECT