November 5, 2018
Connolly’s inviting seventh County Cork mystery (after 2018’s Many a Twist) finds transplanted American Maura Donovan better adjusting to life in the small Irish town of Leap. Her pub, Sullivan’s, is doing well enough to bring in a local band once a week, and she’s considering a kitchen remodel to offer food. Then, everything gets thrown off-kilter when a badly disfigured body is found near the pub. With the crime hitting so close to home, Maura determines to investigate how and why the body was dumped on her property. Could the nomadic group called the Travellers be responsible? Or the young man who suddenly appeared behind the bar to help one busy night and then disappeared just as quickly? As Maura’s questions begin to stir up fear and anger, she wonders whether the bucolic town has a seamy side and is harboring a killer. As usual, Connolly’s lively characters and lovely landscape enhance her well-wrought, thought-provoking plot. Series fans won’t be disappointed. Agent: Jessica Faust, BookEnds.
October 15, 2018
An Irish-American transplant continues her struggle to adjust to a new life in rural Ireland.Raised by her grandmother in Boston, Maura Donovan has inherited a pub and a cottage in Leap. She's so uncertain of her plans that she's done nothing to make her cottage homey, like stocking it with food. But Sullivan's Pub has a fairly steady business, and with the help of her swain, Mick Nolan, and Rose Sweeney, a talented young cook who plans to add food to the pub's offerings, Maura is making do. The addition of music has increased business, but the good times are threatened when Maura discovers a dead body under the bridge next to the pub. Maura calls the local Garda, Sean Murphy, whom she's helped solve several crimes (Many a Twist, 2018, etc.). The victim's face is smashed, and no one local is missing, so Maura and her little circle of friends think they'd better investigate before the pub's reputation is ruined. Maura, who's been concentrating on her own problems, which now include getting someone else to work at the pub, realizes she has no idea where to find help or how much to pay them. Rose introduces her to her cooking teacher, who runs a restaurant and introduces Maura to the shadowy world of undocumented workers. At a crowded music night at the pub, a stranger steps in to help tend bar and later vanishes. Could he be connected to the dead man, whose identity is still a mystery? Maura and her friends wonder if the victim was a hitchhiking tourist or a member of the Irish Traveller community. Slowly awakening from her oblivious state of indecision, Maura realizes that she must take control of her life, beginning with solving the murder.Although the mystery is cleverly woven into the story, it's the heroine's slow awakening and the marvelous local color that make this one of the best in a fine series.
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Starred review from December 1, 2018
Inheriting a pub and house in Ireland, Boston expat Maura Donovan is having a tough time making ends meet. The music nights are great, but it's hard to keep the pints flowing with just two behind the bar. She starts asking around for leads on possible employees when the body of a young man turns up on her property and her attention is diverted to working with the local Gardai to solve the obvious murder. Why was he dumped on her property? Who wanted him dead? Is his death meant as a message for her? Even after the body's identified, the tightly knit community won't talk. To protect herself and the pub's reputation, Maura must once again play detective and uncover the dark secrets that lurk beneath the beauty of the quiet Irish village. VERDICT This seventh in Anthony and Agatha Award nominee Connolly's "County Cork Mystery" series (after Many a Twist) is a thoughtfully executed and charmingly talkative cozy. The Irish setting is authentic, Maura is a delight, and the characters are gaining depth as this series matures.--Susan Clifford Braun, Bainbridge Island, WA
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