An Irish Village Mystery Book 12
Author: Carlene O'Connor
Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496744463
Kensington Cozies
288 Pages
$27.00; $12.99 Amazon
February 24, 2026
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
As pregnant Siobhan O'Sullivan awaits bringing her new life into the world, she's bringing new life to her village of Kilbane in County Cork, Ireland, with a music and matchmaking festival. But one matchmaker is about to find out that Cupid's arrow can be fatal...
Siobhan loves to see the joy playing trad music brings to her brother Ciaran, but his concern that he'll never find a mate pulls at her heartstrings. So she proposes that Kilbane host a music and matchmaking festival to draw single trad musicians. While renowned matchmaker Liam Noone plays Cupid with his Lucky Book, music -- and hopefully love -- will fill the pubs and the autumn air.
Turning over his precious Lucky Book to Siobhan for safekeeping, Liam takes the stage to introduce matched musician couples who will kick off the festival in the town square. Suddenly all goes black. When the lights come back on, the matchmaker has met his maker, impaled through the heart with an arrow made from the sharpened bow of a bass.
Was it the fiddle player, the flute player, the drummer, the piper, the squeeze box player, or the bass player who struck a sour note? Garda Siobhan and her husband Macdara must pick up the tempo to make whoever committed this crime of passion face the music...
✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽
Detective Sergeant Siobhan O'Sullivan lives in the small village of Kilbane, County Cork, Ireland, with her husband and several of her siblings. She has raised them since their parents' untimely death years ago. But when her youngest brother Ciaran tells her that he is thinking of moving to Australia to find a mate, she's upset.
Since Ciaran is a fiddle player, she contacts a matchmaker that specializes in connecting musicians with one another, and he arrives soon for a weekend of events and trad sessions of music. Siobhan takes an instant dislike to Liam Noone, but decides to keep a far berth, knowing this is for Ciaran. It doesn't last long when on the first night Liam is found dead, shot through the heart with a makeshift arrow -- the bow from a double bass.
All the attendees are now suspects, including Liam's two assistants who traveled with him. When Siobhan and her husband, Detective Sergeant Macdara, start investigating, the find that Liam had made many enemies along the way, and there is more to the matches he made than meets the eye. In fact, it seems that all of them are arguing among themselves, and she discovers that secrets run deep, and lies abound.
It doesn't help that Siobhan is pregnant with twins, and feeling queasy at the most inopportune times with morning sickness. But she's determined to do her job, and get to the truth, no matter what it takes. Unfortunately, it may take more than she's at first aware of, and all she knows is that there is still a killer out there who might not be done with the game...
This is the 12th book in the series, and I have grown to love these characters. The books have evolved, and the characters are growing right along with the books. We have watched them as children now grown, with all the problems that comes with it. There is no doubt that Siobhan loves her family and would do anything for them; and loves her husband so much that she is willing to put up with his overbearing mother, who is trying to make sure that Siobhan's job doesn't harm "her grandchildren." All I can say about that is that I am glad I have the mother-in-law that I do. I am more grateful for her each day. (ha).
The mystery itself is done well and it's not easy to decipher the murderer, which is how a mystery should be. There are plenty of red herrings, and suspects are everywhere. You must sift through the issues and the lies to get to the truth; and not everyone is forthcoming about their privacy. It makes it tough going for the garda, and a most intriguing mystery.
In the end, it all comes together nicely, as the murderer is indeed a surprise. The reasons for the killing are as old as time, but we can never see into the mind of a killer, nor, I think, would many of us want to do so. It would make for a rough life. But as with the other books in this series, this one is a delight to read, and I look forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Carlene O'Connor's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/o/carlene-oconnor/
No comments:
Post a Comment