Murder on an Irish Farm by Carlene O’Connor

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Contemporary, Mystery, Part of a Series4 Comments

Murder on an Irish Farm (Irish Village Mystery, #8)Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: Irish Village Mystery #8
Publication Date: 2/22/22
Period: Contemporary Kilbane village in County Cork, Ireland
Number of Pages: 304

Ah! What a delightfully satisfying read! We start with the wedding that wasn’t, end with the wedding that was, and everything between was absolutely wonderful. The mystery was interesting with a plethora of murder suspects for Dara and Siobhan to sort through and not one, but two murders to solve. Are the murders related even though they are fifty years apart? Who knows – you’ll have to read the book to find out.

Garda Siobhan O’Sullivan and Detective Sergeant Macdara Flannery are at the altar saying their vows when her older brother, James, flies through the door with news of a body having been found – on their new property. They postpone the wedding and the investigation begins and what a twisted mess it is. The body, it appears, has been in that pit for years – and that proves to be correct. Now, everybody knows what happened to Tommy Caffrey on his wedding day fifty years earlier. He didn’t skip out on the wedding; he was lying dead in a cow pit. Before Dara and Siobhan can get the first body cleared there is another body. This time it is Alan O’Leary, the man who would have become Tommy’s brother-in-law. Alan’s body was discovered directly on top of Tommy’s bones. Surely the two murders are connected – or are they?

I absolutely love the way Dara and Siobhan work together – their love and support for one another is very special and their complementary skills assure the villains will be caught. When you add in Siobhan’s brood of brothers and sisters, you have an absolutely delightful cast of characters to accompany an equally delightful mystery.

This is the eighth book in the series, and I have read and adored all eight of them. I highly recommend both the book and the series. You could read this as a standalone, but if you want to understand the complete dynamic of all of the relationships, you really need to read all of the books in order. The characters have grown so far and it was such a delight to see that growth happen from book to book.

I highly recommend this well-written mystery filled with delightful support characters and vile villains – and goodness, there are even trained hawks to pique your interest. Happy reading!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

View all my reviews

Say You’ll Be My Lady by Kate Pembrooke

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Say You'll Be My Lady (The Unconventional Ladies of Mayfair, #2)Say You’ll Be My Lady by Kate Pembrooke

Tracy’s rating: 2.5/3 of 5 stars

Series: The Unconventional Ladies of Mayfair, #2

Release Date: February 22, 2022

Lady Serena Wynter never plans to marry, she has focused her attention on her charitable causes and the ladies club she started – the Ladies Wednesday Afternoon Social Club. When she courts a bit of trouble while working on one of her causes, her friend Charles Townshend steps in to keep her safe. While she doesn’t want to marry, she doesn’t deny her attraction to Charles and in true Serena fashion, she sets out to explore that attraction but Charles is not willing to entertain a closer connection.

Charles loves Serena, but he doesn’t feel worthy of her and feels he has nothing to offer and harbors a secret that could be ruinous if the truth gets out. But as much as he knows he should stay away from her and knows nothing can come of his feelings, he just can’t deny her and when she puts herself in harm’s way, nothing will stop him from protecting her. He spends more time with her and his feelings deepen, but he still plans to keep her at arm’s length – too bad Serena doesn’t agree with that plan!

This was my first book by this author and I have mixed feelings, I thought the idea of the story was fun, I love a good friends-to-lovers trope, but the story lacked consistency and a steady pace. I also felt like I was missing something, I didn’t read the first book in the series and wonder if that would have given me a different perspective of the existing relationship between Serena and Charles. The book was OK, I don’t regret reading it, but it did have a lot of dropped plotlines, virtually no heat, and several story points that felt a bit clichéd, but on the other hand, it had wonderful characters and a great supporting cast. Overall, while this book was not a hit for me, you might want to give this book a try if you like a slow-burn, low-heat, friends-to-lovers romance.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*