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In Carlene O'Connor's seventh installment of her USA Today bestselling Irish Village Mystery series, the grand opening of a new bookstore in Kilbane becomes the closing chapter of an author's life--and a whodunit that tests even Garda Siobhán O'Sullivan's deductive reasoning... "A mélange of clues from classic mysteries plus plenty of Irish charm produce an enjoyable read."--Kirkus Reviews Join a bestselling author and travel to County Cork in Ireland to solve a bookish mystery full of twists in a cozy whodunit perfect for fans of Sheila Connolly, Kate Carlisle, and Laura Childs! Between training the new town garda and trying to set a wedding date with her fiancé, Macdara Flannery, Siobhán O'Sullivan is feeling a bit overwhelmed. She's looking forward to visiting the new bookshop and curling up with an exciting novel--only to discover the shelves contain nothing but Literature with a capital L. The owner not only refuses to stock romances, mysteries, and science fiction, but won't even let customers enter his store unless they can quote James Joyce or Sean Hennessey. Despite the owner deliberately limiting his clientele, he's hosting a reading and autographing event featuring up and coming Irish writers who will be taking up residency in Kilbane for a month. Among them is indie author Deirdre Walsh, who spends more time complaining about the unfairness of the publishing industry and megastar bestsellers instead of her own creative works, causing a heated debate among the writers. She seems to have a particular distaste for the novels of Nessa Lamb. Then Deirdre's body is found the next day in the back of the store--with pages torn from Nessa's books stuffed in her mouth. Now, Siobhán must uncover which of Kilbane's literary guests took Deirdre's criticisms so personally they'd engage in foul play . . .
Featured Series
7 primary booksIrish Village Mystery is a 7-book series with 8 primary works first released in 2016 with contributions by Carlene O'Connor. The next book is scheduled for release on .
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I don't think I have ever started a series at book 7, but this held up perfectly as a standalone. I was never lost or confused, nor felt I needed more background to enjoy the story. So kudos to the author for that. I enjoyed this book a lot. It was well written. I adored the setting. The mystery was well plotted. A lot of twists and red herrings to keep us guessing, and the characters (a plethora of them) were likable. I definitely want to go back and read the first 6 now!
However, there was one minor issue I had. The timeline. A character gets murdered in the new bookshop and they seemingly leave her body there for days?! I skimmed other reviews, and no one seems to have mentioned this, so maybe it was just me.