Murder in an Irish Village

 Murder in an Irish Village is a charming cozy to kick off the Irish Village series by Carlene O'Connor.  The descriptions of the village are wonderful and welcoming. The authenticity of the terminology and characteristics are a welcome feature.   It is hard not to want to grab a plane ticket and head over to the Emerald Isle after reading this book.  

The O'Sullivan clan is a well-written family unit with its share of squabbles and differences while being a tight-knit crew.  The mysterious death of a family rival in their bistro was enough to put a strain on those tight bonds and to create suspicion among all of the village residents.  It is hard to imagine anyone you have known all your life to be a murderer but that is the case unless it is the outsider, the Yank.   Sioban and her siblings work to investigate and clear James' name.  Unfortunately, their discoveries open many wounds and secrets.  The Village of Kilbane will not recover any time soon.  I plan to read the next in the series to see how it comes along.  

Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O'Connor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An authentic feeling book set in Ireland. The use of Irish phrases and words adds a truly authentic feel to the characters. It’s easy to visualize the countryside around Cork and in Kilbane in particular. The mystery is well written including the why and who. The small village was leveraged to add to the difficulty in solving because who wants to suspect someone they’ve known their whole lives and who have reached out to help your family. Add to it the mysterious Yank with unknown intentions and everyone is looking at each other sideways. Siobhan is a character that is dealing with internal struggles between her dreams and her sense of obligation. I look forward to reading more about this family and village.

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Challenge Prompts

The Challenge Prompts I will use this for are:  

1. Goodreads and Reading by the Numbers #ReadingByNumbers2023 Book #  29
2. Library Love  #LibraryLoveChallenge  Book #  25 
3. Literary Escapes  #LiteraryEscapes Ireland
4. Stacking the Series  #stackingseries2023 1
5. Series Catchup #seriescatchup2023 -1
6. Virtual Mount TBR #VirtualMountTBR2023   Book #27
7. Back List Reader  #Backlistreader  Book #22
8. Cruisin thru Cozies  Free choice #7
9. Cloak & Dagger  #CloakDaggerChal  Book #23
10. Craving for Cozies  Book #20
11. Six Shooter Challenge  Target # 98 Shot #1
12. Medical Examiner Challenge 2 Toe Tags stabbed
13. Around the Year in 52 Books #20. A book with a cover or title that includes a route of travel
14. HP Quidditch 23 #49 Slothgrip Roll: A book that’s taken you a long time to read
15. Nerd Daily #thenerddaily #nerdreading2023 #38. ROMANTIC INTEREST STARTS WITH 'M'
16. Pick your Poison  # 53 A book your initial reaction to is "I know I'll love this"
17. Read with Allison #18 Book in a Series
18. Uncorked Reader #UncorkedReading2023 #26 Ireland: Ireland Books | Ireland Movies
19. Read Your Bookshelf The title has to start with the next letter in the alphabet from your February book
20. TBRChallenge  #TBRChallenge Baggage