Review: An Early Wake By Sheila Connolly

Series: A County Cork Mystery (Book 3)
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: February 3, 2015
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425252531

Pub owner Maura Donovan may have Irish kin, but she doesn’t seem to have the luck of the Irish. Who could have foreseen that bringing live music back to Sullivan’s Pub would lead to a dead musician?

Summer is ending in County Cork, Ireland, and with it the tourist season. Expat Maura Donovan is determined to keep Sullivan’s Pub in the black as the days grow shorter—but how? When she hears that the place was once a hot spot for Irish musicians who’d come play in the back room, she wonders if bringing back live music might be Sullivan’s salvation.

As word gets out, legendary musicians begin to appear at the pub, and the first impromptu jam session brings in scores of music lovers. But things hit a sour note when Maura finds a dead musician in the back room the next morning. With a slew of potential suspects, it’s going to take more than a pint and a good think to force a murderer to face the music.

My Thoughts: 

What a pleasure it is to cross the pond and return once again to Sullivan's Pub and it's array of endearing characters!  In this third installment of the County Cork Mysteries by Sheila Connolly, American expat, Maura Donovan is slowly getting settled into her new role as Pub Owner but there's a long music history behind Sullivan's that Maura quickly discovers.  Bringing back the music to Sullivan's is just what Maura needs to keep Sullivan's afloat, but when a dead musician is discovered in the Pub will the taps quickly run dry at Sullivan's?  Filled with unexpected twists and turns throughout, "An Early Wake" is sure to please cozy mystery fans.  I absolutely adore the cast of characters, particularly Old Billy and Bridget; the two old-timers who always seem to be in the know of everything happening in Leap.  And of course, Maura's love life seems to be blossoming unexpectedly with not one, but two, potential suitors! Who will win her heart?  This is by far one of my favorite cozy series and I'm looking forward to the next installment, "A Turn For The Bad". FIVE Stars.

Books In The County Cork Series:

Review: Scandal In Skibbereen By Sheila Connolly

Series: A County Cork Mystery (Book 2)
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: February 4, 2014
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425252507

As the new owner of Sullivan’s Pub in County Cork, Ireland, Maura Donovan gets an earful of all the village gossip. But uncovering the truth about some local rumors may close her down for good…

Bostonian Maura is beginning to feel settled in her new Irish home, just in time for summer tourist season to bring fresh business to her pub. But the first traveler to arrive is thirsty for more than just a pint of Guinness. Althea Melville is hot on the trail of a long-lost Van Dyck painting.

Maura agrees to help Althea meet with the residents at the local manor house, the most likely location of the missing art. But when the manor’s gardener is found murdered, Maura wonders what Althea’s real motives are. Now, to solve the secret of the lost portrait and catch a killer, Maura will have to practice her Irish gift of gab and hunt down some local history before someone else is out of the picture…

My Thoughts:

Although I enjoyed the first installment of the County Cork Mystery series, I must admit this second installment was certainly much better than the first and I loved revisiting this endearing cast of characters as well as Ireland's countryside.  Just as Maura Donovan is settling into her new life as the owner of Sullivan's Pub and learning the customs and manners of her new surroundings, Althea Melville, an Art Historian from New York, makes a whirlwind entrance in her search for a previously unknown and extremely valuable Van Dyck painting.  However, Althea's demanding behavior and arrogance only hinders her search until Maura decides to assist Althea.  But, would Althea's determination and lack of patience lead her to murder?  When the gardener of the Manor suspected of housing the lost Van Dyck is found pushing up daisies, Maura is quick to question Althea's motives and finds herself digging into the Manor's history.  With endearing characters, wonderful historical research, a well-developed plot and sub-plots, as well as unexpected twists and turns, Sheila Connolly has created another wonderful cozy mystery.  Scandal In Skibbereen was just what I needed to chase away the winter chills!  FOUR stars.

Review: Buried In A Bog By Sheila Connolly

Series: A County Cork Mystery (Book 1)
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Berkley
February 5, 2013
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425251896

National bestselling and Agatha Award-nominated author Sheila Connolly introduces a brand-new series set in a small village in County Cork, Ireland, where buried secrets are about to rise to the surface...
Honoring the wish of her late grandmother, Maura Donovan visits the small Irish village where her Gran was born—though she never expected to get bogged down in a murder mystery. Nor had she planned to take a job in one of the local pubs, but she finds herself excited to get to know the people who knew her Gran.
In the pub, she’s swamped with drink orders as everyone in town gathers to talk about the recent discovery of a nearly one-hundred-year-old body in a nearby bog. When Maura realizes she may know something about the dead man—and that the body’s connected to another, more recent, death—she fears she’s about to become mired in a homicide investigation. After she discovers the death is connected to another from almost a century earlier, Maura has a sinking feeling she may really be getting in over her head...

My Thoughts:

In this debut to her new series, Connolly has captured the essence of Ireland's countryside with her attention to detail and culture. And, her cast of heart-warming characters is sure to charm any reader! As Maura Donavan struggles with her own grief of losing her grandmother and fulfilling her final wish, she suddenly finds herself in the small Irish village of Leap suddenly surrounded by people who are genuinely concerned for her well-being. But who would want to harm Maura Donavan? Could her encounter with danger be related to the two recently discovered deaths since her arrival? Filled with unpredictable suspense and plenty of red-herrings throughout, Connolly had me reading well into the late evening hours. I simply fell in love with the elderly characters, Bridget and Billy, with their Irish tales and wisdom of the old days. I sincerely hope these two will play a role in future books in this series. Very well written and one that I would recommend to fans of cozy mysteries...Four stars!