Murder at an Irish Bakery (Irish Village Mystery #9)

by Carlene O'Connor

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Return to the Irish countryside of the Village Mystery series with a cozy police procedural set around a baking competition that goes horribly wrong. With a contestant dead and a complex list of suspects, the timer is ticking before more contestants get burned … or murdered.

Set in a charming Irish village, the latest in this cozy mystery series by USA Today bestselling author Carlene O’Connor (“queen of the cozy police procedural”—Publishers Weekly) sees a reality baking show coming to Kilbane, only to find a killer turning up the heat.
 
In Kilbane, opinions are plentiful and rarely in alignment. But there’s one thing everyone does agree on—the bakery in the old flour mill, just outside town, is the best in County Cork, well worth the short drive and the long lines. No wonder it’s about to be featured on a reality baking show. All six contestants in the show are coming to Kilbane to participate, and the town is simmering with excitement . . .
 
Aside from munching on free samples, the locals—including Siobhan—get a chance to appear in the opening shots. As for the competitors, not all are as sweet as their confections. There are shenanigans on the first day of filming that put everyone on edge, but that’s nothing compared to day two, when the top contestant is found face-down in her signature pie.
 
The producers decide to continue filming while Siobhan and her husband, Garda Macdara Flannery, sift through the suspects. Was this a case of rivalry turned lethal, or are their other motives hidden in the mix? And can they uncover the truth before another baker is eliminated permanently . . .
 
Praise for Murder on an Irish Farm
 
“Fans of charming Irish mysteries will delight in the ways this convoluted case ensnares the heroine and her supporting cast.” —Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781496730879
Publisher:	Kensington
Publication date:	02/21/2023
Series:	Irish Village Mystery Series , #9
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	1,331
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

USA Today bestselling author Carlene O’Connor comes from a long line of Irish storytellers. Her great-grandmother emigrated from Ireland filled with tales and the stories have been flowing ever since. Of all the places across the pond she’s wandered, she fell most in love with a walled town in County Limerick and was inspired to create the town of Kilbane, County Cork. Carlene currently divides her time between New York and the Emerald Isle. She is currently at work on the next book in the Irish Village Mystery series.
USA Today bestselling author Carlene O’Connor comes from a long line of Irish storytellers. Her great-grandmother emigrated from Ireland filled with tales and the stories have been flowing ever since. Of all the places across the pond she’s wandered, she fell most in love with a walled town in County Limerick and was inspired to create the town of Kilbane, County Cork. Carlene currently divides her time between New York and the Emerald Isle.

Editorial Reviews

★ 01/30/2023

At the start of O’Connor’s excellent ninth Irish Village mystery (after 2022’s Murder on an Irish Farm), a protester shouts, “Join the health revolution. Sugar is not your friend,” outside Pie Pie Love, “Kilbane’s best bakery housed in a historic flour mill,” where a reality baking show is about to be filmed over the coming week. “Neither is noise-pollution before coffee,” thinks garda Siobhán O’Sullivan, who’s part of the security team for the show. The anti-sugar protestor collapses, possibly from an allergic reaction, after one of the contestants, Aoife McBride (aka “the Queen baker of Ireland”), puts makeup on his face for the camera. Later, a representative of the show’s anonymous sponsor creates complications by providing the contestants with what he calls “secret weapons,” which could be “a special ingredient, a new piece of equipment, or a coveted recipe.” When one of the contestants dies under mysterious circumstances, Siobhán investigates, even as the show must go on. Distinctive, captivating characters match a gripping plot full of surprises. O’Connor reinforces her place among the top rank of cozy writers. Agent: Evan Marshall, Evan Marshall Agency. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Murder at an Irish Bakery by Carlene O’Connor
 
“Excellent…. Distinctive, captivating characters match a gripping plot full of surprises. O’Connor reinforces her place among the top rank of cozy writers.” —Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
 
“Siobhan and her Garda husband Macdara Flannery add humor and zest to this follow-up to Murder on an Irish Farm…Fans of competitive baking shows or Amy Patricia Meade’s cozy mysteries will enjoy it.” —Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW

“A sweet assignment turns sour for dessert-loving Garda Siobhan O’Sullivan…Plenty of likely prospects and an endless supply of sweet treats brighten the path to the solution.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A healthy balance of whodunit and bitchy competition.” —First Clue Revue

From the Publisher

★ 02/01/2023

Ireland's best bakers gather at the historic flour mill in Kilbane to compete in a bake-off. Garda Siobhan O'Sullivan considers herself lucky. Maybe she can sample treats while having easy duty providing security. But before the competition opens, there's trouble. There's a protestor outside shouting that sugar is poison, trying to shut down the show. Soon after the queen of Irish bakers, Aoife McBride, appears to powder the protestor's face for the cameras, the young man collapses. Siobhan suspects poisoning, but the show must go on. The protestor is rushed to the hospital, and filming begins with a full slate of excellent bakers and judges who play up the rivalries. Then the anonymous sponsor sends in a lawyer with secret twists for the competitors. Siobhan is horrified when those twists are nasty, and one ends in death for a baker. Something sinister and coordinated is happening right under Siobhan's nose, and it's up to her and the other garda to set a sweet trap for a mastermind. VERDICT Siobhan and her Garda husband Macdara Flannery add humor and zest to this follow-up to Murder on an Irish Farm. Fans of competitive baking shows or Amy Patricia Meade's cozy mysteries will enjoy it.—Lesa Holstine

Library Journal

2022-12-24
A sweet assignment turns sour for dessert-loving Garda Siobhán O’Sullivan.

A bakery housed in a small-town flour mill is hosting a TV baking competition being funded by an anonymous benefactor and featuring famous Irish baker Aoife McBride, who recently had a “freak-out” at a Fan Club Appreciation Day. The show gets off to a rocky start when a man chanting “Sugar kills!” gets his sweaty nose powdered by Aoife, who says she only wants to help him look better on TV; shortly afterward, he has some kind of attack that sends him to the hospital. Once the show starts filming, the hosts seem intent on setting the bakers against each other. The protestor’s death in the hospital prompts an investigation as William Bains, a closemouthed solicitor who represents the anonymous funder, arrives with messages and packages containing secret weapons to help with the next round. After four hours in which contestants are free to bake whatever they want, some masterpieces emerge, but so does the dead body of Aoife, facedown in a cherry pie. Two accidental deaths seem a bit much, and the solicitor, who might have provided answers, has vanished. Siobhán’s husband, DS Macdara Flannery, who’s even more addicted to sweets than she is, takes over the case. The show goes on, if only to keep all the suspects in town while the married sleuths look to the past and present for motives.

Plenty of likely prospects and an endless supply of sweet treats brighten the path to the solution.

Kirkus Reviews