AN IRISH COUNTRY COTTAGE looks so picturesque, with whitewashed walls and thatched roof. Disaster strikes not long after Christmas. Doctor Barry Laverty stops his car by the roadside where Constable Malcolm Mulligan is supervising a blazing cottage. Yes, the thatch caught fire. The family of Donal Donnelly managed to escape, but they have no home now, and this is the coldest time of year in County Antrim.

I enjoyed the local turns of phrase, and I particularly like that pets, mainly dogs, are accepted as part of the family. On the other hand we must expect that some distressing scenes are part of the village doctor's routine, and get recorded as part of life. I thought it a good reminder of how medical practice was carried out at that time -- fifty years ago, believe it or not. We also get worried mentions, this far out in the countryside, of how the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association has advised against a protest march, in case a backlash causes violence on the streets. Unlike the Republic of Ireland, at this time, civil rights issues were very much a factor in people's lives, so the author Patrick Taylor was right to include mentions, even as his main focus remains on housing the Donnellys.

As the long-running saga has a wide and varied cast, we meet plenty of people and hear their backstories in passing. A romantic chapter shows us the Paris of that time. Books and plays are of great importance, since there isn't much on television. Anyone who is charmed by this wintry village, precariously poised between isolation and mayhem, will probably want to hunt out the earlier installments and settle down for a long, friendly read. AN IRISH COUNTRY COTTAGE is the heart of the village.

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