Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O’Connor

Item: Murder in an Irish Village
Rating: 5
Author: BaronessMom

Posted May 4, 2022 by BaronessMom in Mystery, Review, Series / 0 Comments

Murder in an Irish Village

by Carlene O'Connor

Series: Irish Village Mystery #1
Series Rating:

Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation on March 23, 2016
Setting: Ireland
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Pages: 354
Format: Kindle
Goodreads
BookBub
Get Your Copy at: Amazon
Also in this series: Murder at an Irish Wedding, Murder at an Irish Chipper

A little slice of Heaven on the Emerald Isle… In the small village of Kilbane, County Cork, Ireland, Natalie’s Bistro has always been a warm and welcoming spot to visit with neighbors, enjoy some brown bread and tea, and get the local gossip. Nowadays twenty-two-year-old Siobhán O’Sullivan runs the family bistro named for her mother, along with her five siblings, after the death of their parents in a car crash almost a year ago. It’s been a rough year for the O’Sullivans, but it’s about to get rougher. One morning, as they’re opening the bistro, they discover a man seated at a table, dressed in a suit as if for his own funeral, a pair of hot pink barber scissors protruding from his chest. With the local garda suspecting the O’Sullivans, and their business in danger of being shunned—murder tends to spoil the appetite—it’s up to feisty redheaded Siobhán to solve the crime and save her beloved brood.

Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O’Connor is a beautiful start to what I see as a marvelous mystery series.

Will Siobhan find the killer and clear her brother, James’s name?

Siobhan O’Sullivan

Our sleuth is Siobhan O’Sullivan; she and her five brothers and sisters run a bistro in Kilbane, Ireland. She is the second oldest and guardian of her four younger siblings. The O’Sullivans have had a challenging year as their parents were killed in a car accident, and Siobhan stayed home from college to finish raising her siblings. I was immediately on Siobhan’s side. She is friendly, somewhat sweet, and a hard worker, and she stepped up to take care of her family. Her older brother is an alcoholic and, therefore, unfit to care for the young ones.

Siobhan feels that she must clear her brother’s name as the garda take the easy way out. I got what she was thinking. However, she really shouldn’t have enlisted the assistance of her charges. Although, those kids made some of the funniest scenes. Honestly, they couldn’t stop fighting with each other or keep their mouths closed.

“I never have any idea what’s going to come out the gobs next or why,” Siobhan said shaking her head. Macdara started to laugh, the second time Siobhan had heard him do that. Soon she was laughing at him.

“A French frog,” Macdara said again as they went back inside. “Do you think he wears a wee beret?”

“Le croak,” Siobhan said.

Siobhan has two possible suitors. Who will she choose, the handsome movie star-looking yank or the familiar garda, Macdara? And if she chooses now what to say, she can’t change her mind later.

The Mystery

Since Siobhan knows that James couldn’t have killed Niall, she sets out to figure out who did. Little does she know that finding the killer will upset the entire life that she has rebuilt. Then there is poor Courtney. James couldn’t have done that, especially since he was in jail. I honestly thought it was one of the red herrings right up until the big reveal. We get to know Siobhan and her siblings, plus the rest of the townsfolk. I enjoyed the little village and the people that live there.

Five Stars

My rating for Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O’Connor is five stars. I enjoyed everything about the Irish village, its townsfolk, and Siobhan, our sleuth. I hope to catch up in this series, but for now, I am off to the next book Karen has set up for me.

An Irish Village Mystery Series

This series is available on #KindleUnlimited, hardcover, paperback, or audible.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O’Connor.

Until the next time,

About Carlene O’Connor

Carlene O’Connor comes from a long line of Irish storytellers. Her great-grandmother emigrated from Ireland to America filled with tales and the stories have been flowing ever since. Of all of 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 Emerald Isle.

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