Murder at an Irish Wedding (An Irish Village Mystery) by Carlene O'Connor
The O’Sullivan clan of County Cork, Ireland, are thrilled to be catering the matrimonial affairs of a celebrity couple—until a cunning killer turns an Irish wedding into an Irish wake . . . Any wedding is a big deal in the small village of Kilbane—even more so when the bride is a famous fashion model. It’s also good for business. Not only has customer traffic picked up at Naomi’s Bistro, Siobhán O’Sullivan and her five siblings have a full plate catering for the three-day affair. And Siobhán’s own beau, local garda Macdara Flannery, gladly steps in as best man after the groom’s first choice makes a drunken arse out of himself. Even if he hadn’t been disinvited to the wedding, the original best man wouldn’t have been able to show. He’s been found murdered in the woods, casting a pall over the nuptials. And when a second member of the wedding party is poisoned by a champagne flute engraved with Macdara’s name, the garda goes from being best man to prime suspect. With a killer at large and a string of robberies plaguing Kilbane, Siobhán feels more than a little protective of her village. She vows to clear Macdara’s name, but the suspect list is as long as the guest list. Like the bride walking down the aisle, Siobhán needs to watch her step. For as she gets closer to unveiling the truth, the murderer is planning a very chilly reception for her . . .
I adored this book!
Coming from an Irish family it was perfect for me to read and a great ending to a tiring day as I curled up with my cup of Barry’s tea to enjoy this lively murder mystery.
Siobhán makes a wonderful main character; this book actually reminded me a bit of an old tv show I used to watch called Murder She Wrote only this was the Irish version. I could hear the Irish brogue from the character’s dialogue as they spoke and the words flowed like a lyrical waterfall through the story. It was like listening to home as I was surrounded with the Irish phrases and words common there; my favorite being wanker – I have no idea why but that one always makes me laugh. I quite enjoyed getting to read an Irish mystery that actually used Irish dialect instead of ‘American’ that happened to be set in Ireland as so many of these tend to be written.
Carlene O’Connor is a wonderful author as she created complex characters with hidden motivations set against a picturesque backdrop. The bits of Irish history sprinkled among the descriptions made it that much more pleasurable to read. Such as why there’s so little forestry found in Ireland and the few walled towns that are left. I felt like I was actually walking around Kilbane.
I never saw the murderer coming or some of the other secrets that were permeating our characters until O’Connor finally began her big reveal on the way to the conclusion. I discovered later this is actually the second in a series so I’ll be looking for the first and hopefully more will be coming from her.
The only thing I didn’t like was that it ended as I could’ve happily continued spending my time in her story.
Thank you to Netgalley and Kensinton Books for allowing me to review this book.
*synopsis and pic from amazon.com