Murder on an Irish Farm: A Charming Irish Cozy Mystery

by Carlene O'Connor

Overview

In this enchanting new read in the fan-favorite series from a USA Today bestselling author, garda of County Cork, Ireland, Siobhán O’Sullivan and Macdaras Flannery, are about to get married at last. But just as the rowdy O’Sullivan brood and all the regulars of the local bistro have gathered at the church, the nuptials come to an abrupt halt when the discovery of an unidentified skeleton puts the wedding on pause…

If only her mother could be here! The entire O’Sullivan brood—not to mention the regulars from Naomi’s Bistro—have gathered at St. Mary’s Church for the wedding of Siobhán and Macdara. It’s not every day you see two garda marrying each other. Only Siobhán’s brother James is missing. They can’t start without him.

But when James finally comes racing in, he’s covered in dirt and babbling he’s found a human skeleton in the old slurry pit at the farmhouse. What farmhouse? Macdara sheepishly admits he was saving it as a wedding surprise: he purchased an abandoned dairy farm. Duty calls, so the engaged garda decide to put the wedding on hold to investigate.

James leads them to a skeleton clothed in rags that resemble a tattered tuxedo. As an elderly neighbor approaches, she cries out that these must be the remains of her one true love who never showed up on their wedding day, fifty years ago. The garda have a cold case on their hands, which heats up the following day when a fresh corpse appears on top of the bridegroom’s bones. With a killer at large, they need to watch their backs—or the nearly wedded couple may be parted by death before they’ve even taken their vows. . .

“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:	9781496730800
Publisher:	Kensington
Publication date:	02/22/2022
Series:	Irish Village Mystery Series , #8
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	71,984
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Carlene O’Connor is the USA Today bestselling author of the acclaimed Irish Village Mysteries, the County Kerry Novels, and the Home to Ireland Mysteries. Born into a long line of Irish storytellers, her great-grandmother emigrated from Ireland filled with tales in 1897 and the stories have been flowing ever since. Of all the places she’s wandered across the pond, she fell most in love with a walled town in County Limerick and was inspired to create the town of Kilbane, County Cork, the setting of her Irish Village Mystery series. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, and currently divides her time between Southern California and the Emerald Isle. Please visit her online at CarleneOConnor.net.

Editorial Reviews

01/17/2022

O’Connor’s solid eighth Irish Village mystery (after 2020’s Murder at an Irish Christmas) finds garda Siobhán O’Sullivan and her fiancé, Det. Sgt. Macdara Flannery, about to say their “I Do’s” when Siobhán’s eldest brother bursts into the church in Kilbane, County Cork, to announce he’s discovered a skeleton in a slurry pit. The couple postpone their wedding as investigating the case soon takes priority after Siobhán’s new neighbor, Gladys Burns, realizes the body is that of Tommy Caffrey, her fiancé, who stood her up at the altar 50 years earlier. Siobhán and Macdara discover that Gladys as well as her family members had many bones to pick with the deceased ne’er-do-well. Each clue leads to more revelations from the past, and the family’s complex relationships seem to hold the key to the crime. When a second body appears, and suspects begin pointing fingers at each other, Siobhán and Macdara realize no one’s telling the truth. The quaint Irish setting and facts about falconry boost the well-paced plot, though the ending requires some willing suspension of disbelief. Cozy fans will be well satisfied. Agent: Evan Marshall, Evan Marshall Agency. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

2021-11-30
The much-anticipated nuptials of DS Macdara Flannery and Garda Siobhán O’Sullivan are rudely interrupted when the best man shows up late and reports a dead body.

In preparation for the blessed event, Dara’s purchased an abandoned dairy farm for their new home. Not to be outdone, Siobhán’s brother, James, has discovered a skeleton in its long-disused slurry pit. The couple’s new neighbors, Gladys and Benji Burns, tentatively identify the body as that of Tommy Caffrey, who vanished the morning of his planned wedding to Gladys, leaving disaster in his wake, 50 years ago to the day. Also missing at the time was 30,000 pounds that Gladys’ brother Alan O’Leary and his friend Howard Dunn had planned to use to start a business. The whole family remains oddly intertwined with Benji’s first wife, Rose, who works with birds of prey, and their adopted son, Joseph, now a potter, who lives nearby. All of them are less than truthful in their descriptions of past events, and Siobhán’s convinced that someone deliberately manipulated her wedding day to commemorate the anniversary of Tommy’s death. When the family sneaks into the crime scene to pay their respects, they find Alan dead in the pit. The fresh corpse and the threats it betokens to the living make solving the mystery even more urgent and even more uncomfortable, since the likely suspects are all family members.

Fans of charming Irish mysteries will delight in the ways this convoluted case ensnares the heroine and her supporting cast.

Kirkus Reviews

Praise for the Irish Village Mystery Series

“Outstanding…O’Connor reinforces her place as the queen of the cozy police procedural.” —Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW for Murder in An Irish Bookshop
 
“A fun read for those who enjoy a cosy mystery.” —Toronto.com on Murder in An Irish Bookshop
 
“A charming combination of Christmas cheer, Irish customs, and a mystery awash in red herrings.” —Kirkus Reviews on Murder at An Irish Christmas
 
“Murder at an Irish Christmas has elements of a police procedural that add more detail, atmosphere, and humor than are often found in the cozy subgenre.” —Christian Science Monitor on Murder at An Irish Christmas
 
“Fully realized characters enhance this skillfully plotted tale as it builds to a twist ending. This seasonal Irish treat is sure to please cozy fans.” —Publishers Weekly on Murder at An Irish Christmas

“Exceptional…Cozy readers will have a hard time putting this one down.” —Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW for Murder in An Irish Cottage
 
“A good-old fashioned finale in which the killer is exposed at a gathering of all the suspects closes this eerie tale with a bang.” —BookPage on Murder in An Irish Cottage
 
“[An] atmospheric story filled with Irish superstitions, legends, and colorful characters. Vivid descriptions of the countryside will appeal to lovers of Ireland.” —Library Journal on Murder in An Irish Cottage

“Delivered with a healthy dose of rural Irish charm…along with a lyrical narrative and a fantastic setting.” —Mystery Scene Magazine on Murder in An Irish Cottage
 
“Carlene O’Connor has continued to evolve the storylines of each of her characters into people that are likeable and engaging. She has done an outstanding job of crafting distraction and misdirection that is essential to any successful murder mystery. As the plot unfolds in this current tale, there are loads of twists and turns that keeps the reader riveted to their seats, guessing whodunit until the very end.” —New York Journal of Books on Murder in An Irish Pub
 
“Plenty of surprising twists and oodles of Irish charm make this an entertaining read.” —Kirkus Reviews on Murder in An Irish Pub
 
“A delightful combination of Irish village life, family dynamics, and romance.” —Booklist on Murder in An Irish Pub
 
“A clever twist on the locked-room mystery and the convivial village community will leave cozy readers well satisfied.” —Publishers Weekly on Murder in An Irish Pub
 
“The intricate puzzle and continuing Irish atmosphere make this the series’ best to date.” —Kirkus Reviews on Murder in An Irish Pub
 
“The main protagonist, an Irish Nancy Drew, Siobhan is an endearing, maternal woman whose love of her orphaned siblings and her man are evident and whose gut-instinct-driven, crime-solving, puzzle-unraveling mind is quite impressive. She makes an excellent star of the show and her likable fellow Garda boyfriend boss Macdara makes a perfect sidekick.” —Mystery Scene on Murder in An Irish Pub
 
“A delightful read that put me right into the atmosphere and locale.” —Criminal Element on Murder in An Irish Pub
 
“Carlene O’Connor is a wonderful storyteller.” —Newport Plain Talk on Murder in An Irish Pub

From the Publisher