We return to Kilbane, County Cork, for the latest files of Gardai Macdara Flannery and Siobhan O’Sullivan. In this mystery, visiting authors and a literary agent promising to sign only one of them are the star attraction to the town’s newest venture, a bookshop specialising in literary works. All goes well – at first. Sparks flying among the competing authors are taken as entertainment. Then during a power outage, one of the authors is killed.

MURDER IN AN IRISH BOOKSHOP is one of those delightfully edgy stories which brings us a little way into the world of the independent author compared to the traditionally published one. Deirdre Walsh, Nessa Lamb and Lorcan Murphy have all been moderately successful but would rather be signed by a major house. Agent Darren Kilroy, who represents the hermit and alleged drunk Michael O’Mara with dragon fantasy fiction, is scouting for new talent. But the rivalries and accusations mean when someone kills one of the scribes, the Gardai have to suspect the bitter competition. This includes a comic book store owner who fears losing trade.

Siobhan, who is our confident main character, has plenty of other concerns. She lives at home with a large and busy brood of siblings, some of whom run a bistro. At the start, she’s also trying to decide on a date to marry her fiancé Macdara. And will she or won’t she do this before her thirtieth birthday a year from tomorrow. Yes, the latest major crime occurs on her birthday, a sufficient reason for her not to be as observant as usual.

New characters to the ‘Irish Village Mystery’ series include cheerful couple Oran and Padraig, two men who open a bookshop despite having differing literary tastes. Aretta Dabiri, a new trainee garda, is originally from Nigeria, living in Ireland since childhood, and fairly represents the force’s efforts to be inclusive. Regular readers will be glad to know many of the usual town residents put in appearances, helpful or not as the case might be.

I’m astonished that this is the seventh book in Carlene O’Connor’s series, as it means I’ve missed a few, and I shall have to go find them. Wit, charm, and plenty of goings-on accompany MURDER IN AN IRISH BOOKSHOP, with characters who are at once larger than life and quite sympathetic. This is a small-town police procedural with a cosy feel and more than one twist in the tale.

Book Summary