Murder on an Irish Farm
Although I own two books in this cozy mystery series prior to Murder on an Irish Farm, I was able to enjoy this book despite not knowing all of the past history and happenings in the previous seven novels.
This book was smartly written by O’Connor. It was well paced and because the protagonist is a Garda, Siobhán was able to circumvent the obstacles a typical amateur sleuth wouldn’t be able to do such as directly asking suspects questions such as their alibis. The red herrings were intertwined and had me guessing right close to the grand reveal of who dun it.
What I especially enjoyed was the family aspect, which helped provide the story a little more meaningful depth and I can tell the family is the main thread connecting all the series’ books.
Overall, this was a great cozy mystery if you’re looking for a little bit more realism in catching the killer.
Thank you Kensington Books for the advanced reader's copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Book Description
If only her mother could be here! The entire O’Sullivan brood—not to mention the regulars from Naomi’s Bistro—have gathered at St. Mary’s Church for the wedding of Siobhán and Macdara. It’s not every day you see two garda marrying each other. Only Siobhán’s brother James is missing. They can’t start without him.
But when James finally comes racing in, he’s covered in dirt and babbling he’s found a human skeleton in the old slurry pit at the farmhouse. What farmhouse? Macdara sheepishly admits he was saving it as a wedding surprise: he purchased an abandoned dairy farm. Duty calls, so the engaged garda decide to put the wedding on hold to investigate.
James leads them to a skeleton clothed in rags that resemble a tattered tuxedo. As an elderly neighbor approaches, she cries out that these must be the remains of her one true love who never showed up on their wedding day, fifty years ago. The garda have a cold case on their hands, which heats up the following day when a fresh corpse appears on top of the bridegroom’s bones. With a killer at large, they need to watch their backs—or the nearly wedded couple may be parted by death before they’ve even taken their vows. . .