In USA Today bestselling author Carlene O'Connor's eighth Irish Village Mystery, the long-engaged 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...
The first three books in An Irish Village Mystery series are included in this edition. In Murder in an Irish Village (Book 1), twenty-two-year-old Siobhán O’Sullivan runs her family’s bistro in the small village of Kilbane, County Cork, Ireland. One morning they find a man at a table with a pair of scissors protruding from his chest—and now it’s up to feisty redheaded Siobhán to solve the crime and save her beloved brood. In Murder at an Irish Wedding (Book 2), Siobhán and her five siblings have their plates full catering a celebrity wedding. But the celebratory mood suddenly turns sober when the best man is found murdered in the woods. In Murder in an Irish Churchyard (Book 3), Siobhán has accepted her calling and has decided to join the Garda Síochána. But her first case brings Macdara Flannery back into her life....
In Galway County, a chance at redemption is denied by an unforgiving killer ... Former New Yorker and interior designer Tara Meehan is eagerly anticipating the grand opening of her architectural salvage shop Renewals in her newly adopted home of Galway. She's in the midst of preparations when heiress Veronica O'Farrell bursts in to announce she's ready for some renewal of her own. To celebrate one year of sobriety, she's invited seven people she wronged in her drinking days to historic Ballynahinch Castle Hotel in neighboring Connemara to make amends in style. But perhaps one among them is not so eager to pardon her past misdeeds. Veronica is found lying in the ruins of manor house Clifden Castle with an antique Tara Brooch buried in her heart-the same brooch Tara Meehan admired in her shop the day before, posting a photo with the caption: #Killerbrooch. Now she's a prime suspect, along with Veronica's guests, all of whom had motives to stab the heiress. It's up to Tara to pin down the guilty party ...
'Tis the season for hot chocolate and mouthwatering treats. But sometimes too much of a good thing can be downright deadly . . .
Siobhán O'Sullivan's hopes for a quiet Irish Christmas are dashed when the local Santa turns up dead in a carnival dunk tank of hot cocoa. Now instead of hunting down holiday gifts, she's pursuing a heartless killer. Seems the dead Santa was no angel either, stealing neighborhood dogs to guide his sleigh. But was it his holiday antics-or worse-that led to his death by chocolate?
Between training the new town garda and trying to set a wedding date with her fiancé, Macdara Flannery, Siobhán 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...
This December in Kilbane, if you're planning to warm up with a cuppa tea at Naomi's Bistro, you may have a bit of a wait-the entire O'Sullivan brood has gone off to West Cork to spend the holidays with brother James's fiancée Elise's family, including her grandfather, the famous orchestral conductor Enda Elliot. Siobhán is so happy for James and Elise, but she's also quietly disappointed that she must put her own wedding to fellow garda Macdara Flannery on hold. Mac will have to join them later, so he can spend part of the holidays with his mam. When the O'Sullivans learn everyone will choose a name from a hat to buy a music-related Christmas gift for someone else at the gathering, it seems like their greatest concern-until the cantankerous conductor is discovered crushed under a ninety-pound harp in a local concert hall. With the extended family-including Enda's much-younger new wife Leah, a virtuoso violinist-suspected in his murder, it's up to Siobhán to ensure the guilty party faces the music. But as a snowstorm strands both families in a lavish farmhouse on a cliff, Siobhán had better pick up the tempo before the killer orchestrates another untimely demise...
New Yorker Tara Meehans first trip to Galway may be her last Tara never imagined her introduction to Ireland like thiscarrying her mams ashes to honor her final request: Tell Johnny Im sorry Take me home. Shes never met her mams estranged brother, Johnny Meehan, who owns an architectural salvage business in Galway. Although Tara is immediately charmed by the medieval city, the locals seem wary of strangers and a gypsy warns her that death is all around. When Tara arrives at her uncles stone cottage, the prophesy seems true. A dead man lies sprawled over the threshold in a pool of blood. The victim turns out to be Johnnys wealthiest client, and her missing uncle is the gardas numberone suspect. In trying to find Johnny and solve the crime, Tara uncovers her mam and uncles troubled past. But with a desperate killer about, she had better mind herself, or theyll be tossing her ashes in Galway Bay
Family is everything to Siobhán: her five siblings; her dear departed mother for whom the family business, Naomi's Bistro, is named; and now her fiancé, Macdara Flannery. So precious is her engagement that Siobhán wants to keep it just between the two of them for a little longer. But Macdara is her family, which is why when his cousin Jane frantically calls for his help, Siobhán is at his side as the two garda rush from Kilbane to the rural village where Jane and her mother have recently moved. Unfortunately, tragedy awaits them. They find Jane, who is blind, outside the cottage, in a state. Inside, Aunt Ellen lies on her bed in a fancy red dress, no longer breathing. A pillow on the floor and a nearby teacup suggest the mode of death to their trained eyes: the woman has been poisoned and smothered. Someone wanted to make sure she was dead. But who? Devout believers in Irish folklore, the villagers insist the cottage is cursed-built on a fairy path. It turns out Ellen Delaney was not the first to die mysteriously in this cottage. Although the townsfolk blame malevolent fairies, Siobhán and Macdara must follow the path of a murderer all too human-but just as evil...
'CHRISTMAS COCOA MURDER' by Carlene O'Connor
Siobhán O'Sullivan's hopes for a quiet Irish Christmas are dashed when the local Santa turns up dead in a carnival dunk tank of hot cocoa. Now instead of hunting down holiday gifts, she's pursuing a heartless killer. Seems the dead Santa was no angel either, stealing neighborhood dogs to guide his sleigh. But was it his holiday antics-or worse-that led to his death by chocolate?
'CHRISTMAS COCOA AND A CORPSE' by Maddie Day
When local businessman Jed Greenberg is found dead with a Chocolate lab whimpering over his body, the police start sniffing around Robbie Jordan's country restaurant for answers. Was it something in Robbie's hot cocoa that killed Jed, or was it Cocoa the dog? As the suspects pile as high as her holiday tree, Robbie attempts to get to the bottom of the sickly-sweet murder . . .
'DEATH BY HOT COCOA' by Alex Erickson
A Christmas-themed escape game seems like the perfect pre-holiday treat for bookstore cafe owner Krissy Hancock and her best friend. But when the host is found dead in a pool of hot cocoa, it's up to Krissy and her team to catch the killer-or escape before getting killed.
The small village of Kilbane is hosting a poker tournament at the local pub, and card sharp Eamon Foley, a tinker out of Dublin, is set to win the tournament. But when Foley is found at the end of a rope, it's time for the garda to take matters into their own hands. Macdara Flannery would lay odds it's a simple suicide, but Siobhán suspects foul play, as does Foley's pregnant widow. Perhaps one of Foley's fellow finalists just raised the stakes to life and death. With conflicting theories on the crime, tensions are running high. Soon it's up to Siobhán to call a killer's bluff, but if she doesn't play her cards right, she may be the next one taken out of the game.
Murder in an Irish Village: Booktrack Edition adds an immersive musical soundtrack to your audiobook listening experience! In the small village of Kilbane, County Cork, Ireland, Natalie's Bistro has always been warm and welcoming. Nowadays twenty-two-year-old Siobhan O'Sullivan runs the family bistro named for her mother, along with her five siblings, after the death of their parents in a car crash almost a year ago. It's been a rough year for the O'Sullivans, but it's about to get rougher. One morning, as they're opening the bistro, they discover a man seated at a table with a pair of hot pink barber scissors protruding from his chest. With the local garda suspecting the O'Sullivans, and their business in danger of being shunned. It's up to feisty redheaded Siobhán to solve the crime and save her beloved brood.
It's official! Siobhan is now Garda O'Sullivan, and her five siblings couldn't be prouder. While her brother James runs Naomi's Bistro, Siobhan is doing her part to keep the village safe. Of course, Kilbane is pretty quiet compared to a place like Dublin, where Macdara Flannery has gone to be a detective sergeant. Then one night the local priest summons Siobhan to the church cemetery. There's a dead man in the graveyard-aboveground. He's a stranger, but the priest has heard talk of an American tourist in town searching for an Irish ancestor. A detective sergeant is dispatched from Dublin to assist with the case, and, as fate would have it, it's Macdara. Things have been awkward between him and Siobhan since he left, but their partnership soon unearths that the victim was from Dublin, Ohio. As they dig for a motive among the gnarled roots of his family tree, long-buried secrets are unearthed. Now, they'll have to stay two steps ahead of the killer...or they'll end up with more than one foot in the grave.
