Tied Up with A Bow
by Sheila Connolly
Series: County Cork #6.5
Series Rating:
Published by Beyond the Page Publishing on November 30, 2018
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Pages: 78
Format: ebook, Kindle
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon
Also in this series: Buried in a Bog, Cruel Winter , Scandal in Skibbereen, An Early Wake, A Turn for the Bad, The Lost Traveller, Fatal Roots
Pub owner Maura Donovan is still learning the local customs of the Irish village she now calls home, and with the holidays approaching she’s unsure how much, or how little, to decorate. She’s also puzzled by the small construction project going on across the street, which is shrouded in secrecy and has the whole of West Cork guessing what it might be. But most troubling of all is the secretive young boy who shows up at the pub’s door, hinting that he and his mother had to leave Dublin—in a hurry.
Sensing danger, Maura becomes more alarmed when an unknown man shows up and begins lurking around the pub. With so many questions on her mind and so few answers, Maura knows she’ll have to turn to her new village friends to help her sort out all the mysterious goings-on—and maybe deliver an unexpected gift to someone in need.
About the Author:
Sheila Connolly is an Anthony and Agatha Award–nominated author of numerous bestselling cozy mystery series, including the Orchard Mysteries, the Museum Mysteries, the County Cork Mysteries, and the Relatively Dead Mysteries. In addition, she has published Once She Knew, a romantic suspense; Reunion with Death, a traditional mystery set in Tuscany; and a number of short stories. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and three cats and travels to Ireland as often as possible.
Tied Up With a Bow by Sheila Connolly is a quick holiday read that finds the best gift is kindness.
Will Danny and Hannah find safety?
It’s almost Christmas in Leap, and County Cork is building a holiday sculpture across from Sullivan’s. Danny, a young boy, and his mother, Hannah, arrive in Leap and seem on the run. Hannah is a cousin of Anne’s, and she is working at the hotel across the street. Danny is brave and courteous. Hannah seems like a hard worker and a bit down on her luck.
No real mystery in this installment. It’s a good tale filled with holiday spirit.
Maura Donovan
It was a short read. However, we see that Maura is following Gran’s example and helping those less fortunate. It’s nice to see Mick standing beside her. The people in Maura’s life notice more than she expects them to. I still find Maura to be a fascinating character.
Five Stars
My rating for Tied Up With a Bow by Sheila Connolly is five stars. I was entertained and enjoyed how the village stepped in to celebrate the Thing and helped Danny and Hannah.
Be sure to catch the rest of the series, as this novella is marvelous. I highly recommend County Cork Mystery Series.
County Cork Mysteries
Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Tied Up With a Bow 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)
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
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