Murder in an Irish Village

Irish Village Mystery #1

Carlene O’Connor

ISBN 9781496753670

carleneoconnor.net

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie

Synopsis:

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.

Review:

This exciting novel and its series is being re-released in trade size paperbacks, and I am delighted for this opportunity to start reading it from the beginning. Visiting Ireland has long been a bucket-list item, and this series is sharing a side of Ireland that I might have missed on a tour. I appreciate the author for including a list of how to pronounce several names and a glossary of Irish words.

Siobhan, only twenty-two, has been in charge of her siblings since the terrible accident that stole the lives of their parents almost exactly a year ago. They were almost home after a few days away, and were hit head-on by a drunk driver, Billy Murphy. Billy has been in prison since. Their death led to Siobhan to give up attending college on scholarship with her friends. To her, it was more important to take care of her four younger siblings, as their oldest brother, James, was unreliable. To his credit, he was sober almost six months this time. They all worked, even the youngest, at their family’s restaurant, Naomi’s Bistro, as they had when their parents were alive.

Billy’s brother, Niall, moved to Dublin shortly after Billy went to prison. He had just returned to Kilbane and was working at Seamus’s Cycle Shop. Siobhan stopped there to look at the scooter she yearned to purchase. She wasn’t happy to see Niall, especially when he barged into her personal space. He also tried to extort ten thousand euros from her. He claimed to have a witness and video that would prove someone else caused Billy’s accident that killed her parents.

Niall came into the Bistro the next day, shocking the family. He and James had a fight that almost came to blows, with Niall shouting nonsense. Siobhan then had to admit to her brother about the attempted extortion.

The next morning, Siobhan went for an early run. When she returned, her four younger siblings were in the kitchen preparing a huge surprise breakfast for them before they opened. James had not come home, and Siobahn prayed that he hadn’t begun drinking again. When passing through the dining room, she saw someone at the table where Niall sat the day before. She told her brothers and sisters, and they armed themselves with kitchen implements. The man had not fallen asleep as they thought. They were horrified to see it was Niall, stabbed with a pair of pink-handled scissors given out by the salon owner. The bistro was locked – how did Niall and his killer get in?

The breakfast they prepared that morning commemorated the one-year anniversary of the last time they had breakfast together with their parents. Today ended with another death and the possibility that James could go to prison. He was the only suspect, despite the constable, Macdara Flannery, being sweet on Siobhan. Leaping off the wagon into a drunken blackout didn’t help James, either, as he couldn’t remember anything. A couple days later, the woman who inherited the property they leased for the bistro came in. She had a buyer for the property, and the new owner wanted to establish his business there.

We have a dual focus – the mystery of Niall’s murder and an engaging family drama. The characters were drawn with care, and we get to know each one better as they converse amongst family or friends, as well as their behaviors. It was easy to become heavily invested in Siobhan, and each of her five siblings to a lesser degree. Each seemed true to their ages, circumstances, and weight of grief. I appreciate the huge responsibility Siobhan carried. I especially enjoyed little brother Cieran; he brought much needed laughter with his innocence and lack of filters.

Siobhan knew James would only be released if the real killer was found. The mystery was difficult to solve, especially since Siobhan had no experience. Niall had more than one enemy in the village, and his strange behavior since his return didn’t help. The police had thoroughly studied the car crash, finding no evidence of another person’s involvement. I admired Siobhan for visiting Niall’s mother, setting up a fundraiser for his funeral costs, and visiting Billy in prison in hopes to learn what Billy knew about Niall and the accident.

The resolution was not what I would have chosen, but the killer was correctly identified, and the betrayal and deception were devastating. Other resolutions were very satisfying, and I am looking forward to the next in series. This presented an amazing picture of Ireland, and I learned much that I hadn’t considered. I highly recommend this novel, especially to those who appreciate an armchair trip to Ireland!