Fatal Roots by Sheila Connolly

Item: Fatal Roots
Rating: 5
Author: BaronessMom

Posted June 29, 2023 by BaronessMom in Mystery, Review, Series / 0 Comments

Fatal Roots

by Sheila Connolly

Series: County Cork #8
Series Rating:

Published by Crooked Lane Books on January 7, 2020
Setting: Leap, Ireland
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Pages: 281
Format: ebook, Kindle
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon, Books-A-Million
Also in this series: Buried in a Bog, Cruel Winter , Scandal in Skibbereen, An Early Wake, A Turn for the Bad, Tied Up with A Bow, The Lost Traveller

Some secrets are too big to stay buried...
A few months ago, Boston expat Maura Donovan was rekindled with her mother after more than twenty years of absence. Since then, Maura has been getting accustomed to Irish living, complete with an inherited house and a pub named Sullivan's. But now, her mother has returned--and she's brought Maura's half-sister in tow. To make matters more confusing, a handful of Cork University students are knocking on Maura's door asking about a mystical fairy fort that happens to be located on Maura's piece of land.
The lore indicates that messing with the fort can cause bad luck, and most everyone is telling Maura not to get too involved for fear of its powers, but Maura is curious about her own land, and she definitely doesn't buy into the superstition. Then one of the students disappears after a day of scoping out the fort on Maura's property.
Maura treads carefully, asking the folks around town who might have an idea, but no one wants anything to do with these forts. She has to take matters into her own hand--it's her land, after all. But when she uncovers a decades-old corpse buried in the center of the fort, nothing is for certain.

Fatal Roots by Sheila Connolly is the story of Maura’s family.

Whose body is buried in the fairy fort, and how will it affect Maura?

Some university students end up at Maura’s door, asking to look at a fairy fort on old Mick Sullivan’s land, now Maura’s. Of course, Maura knows nothing about the fairy fort or the land, so she agrees and tags along.

Then one of the team disappears, and no one knows why. Mick and Maura investigate finding a long-buried dead body. Things get a bit strange as Maura feels responsible for the body. However, with some digging, Maura finds the man’s identity and part of her family’s legacy.

Updates on Sullivan’s Patrons and Staff

Maura’s Family

Helen, Maura’s mom, resurfaces, bringing her sixteen-year-old daughter, Susan, with her. Maura, Helen, and Susan all get along. Most people can see the family resemblance when looking at them together.

Niall and Sophie

The siblings from the last book stay in the rooms above Sullivan’s and help out when needed. They really aren’t in the story but are mentioned.

Bridget Nolan

Bridget is doing well. As it is summer, she’s feeling good. She shares a bit about her past and her relationship with Old Mick. Bridget is an intelligent lady. She has years of experience that the young in the area should tap into.

Billy

Billy is a little quieter in this installment. But he still makes it to the pub daily, even if only for a while. His memories are weighing on him.

Rose Sweeney

Rose is still taking her cooking and kitchen management classes in Skibbereen. She and Susan are becoming friends and getting the kitchen together. Rose’s life hasn’t been easy, but she is more than a survivor. She will be happy.

Maura and Mick

Maura is off balance a bit in this segment. She fears what this body means, and subconsciously it’s bothering her. Mick stands with her. He is perfect for her as he allows her to make her own decisions and face her problems her way. But he is there when she needs him. Hopefully, it will go both ways. The two of them make a good pair.

Conclusion

As this is the final installment in the series, whether it was planned that way or due to the author’s death, I found it to have wrapped things up quite well.

From the back of the book Acknowledgments, the author tells us that Sullivan’s in real life is Connolly’s Of Leap. It was insightful to see the images of Connolly’s compared to how I pictured Sullivan’s.

Five Stars

My rating for Fatal Roots by Sheila Connolly is five stars. I have enjoyed this series, but I like this book the best. It answers many questions I’ve had throughout the series and gives a good stopping point for Maura and the individuals in her life. I highly recommend the series.

County Cork Mysteries

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Fatal Roots by Sheila Connolly.

Until the next time,

About Sheila Connolly

Connolly was born in Rochester, New York, and later lived in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, California, and Massachusetts. In 1972, she graduated with honors from Wellesley College, then earned a Ph.D. in Fine Arts from Harvard University. When art history jobs proved elusive, she obtained an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. She worked as an art historian, a municipal financial advisor for U.S. cities and states, a non-profit fundraiser for institutions and two statewide political campaigns, and a professional genealogist. She included elements of all of these in her mysteries.

The Glassblowing Mystery series, written under the pen name Sarah Atwell, debuted in March 2008 with “Through a Glass, Deadly.” In the series, the protagonist, glassblower Em Dowell, manages her own glass shop and studio in Tucson, Arizona, and tries to find time to solve the occasional murder.

“Through a Glass, Deadly” was nominated for a national mystery award, the Agatha Award for Best First Book.

Connolly’s Orchard Mystery series opened with “One Bad Apple,” published in August 2008. Meg Corey inherits a drafty colonial house in western Massachusetts without even realizing it comes with an apple orchard. But since she’s been downsized out of her banking job in Boston, and the real estate market is so bad that she can’t sell the house, she decides to stay on in the small New England town and try to manage the orchard–if she can save it from developers. Her plan is nearly derailed when she finds the body of her ex-boyfriend stuffed in her septic tank.

Connolly’s Museum Mysteries began in October 2010 with “Fundraising the Dead”. Nell Pratt, development director for the prestigious Pennsylvania Antiquarian Society, is worried that the institution’s reputation will be threatened by the death of one of its key employees–whose body Nell found in the stacks. The police declare the death an accident, but Nell isn’t so sure, particularly when she finds information pointing in a different direction. Most recently, the author published Let’s Play Dead, set at a children’s museum based on the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A worker on an exhibit about a local children’s author is hurt by an electric shock, and then another worker is killed by a shock. Nell was present at the first incident, and she becomes involved in the inquiry into the second man’s death. the latest is Fire Engine Dead, about a fire at a warehouse housing the collections of a fire fighting museum.

Connolly was a member of Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime.

She was living in southeastern Massachusetts shortly before her death. She died on April 20, 2020, in Ireland.

(Info above from Wikipedia)

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