MURDER IN AN IRISH BOOKSHOP

Garda Siobhán O’Sullivan dithers over her wedding plans and learns some important life lessons while solving two murders.

Siobhán and her fiance, DS MacDara Flannery, are eagerly anticipating the opening of a new bookshop in Kilbane when the body of book lover Margaret O’Shea is found near the shop, a long way from the Twins' Inn, where she lived. Margaret had been in declining health but still full of life, and Siobhán’s uneasy over her death. Author Deirdre Walsh is in town for the opening along with fellow authors Nessa Lamb and Lorcan Murphy and literary agent Darren Kilroy, whose client Michael O’Mara, author of a wildly popular fantasy dragon series, is rumored to be in danger because of his drinking. Siobhán notices there’s no lost love between the authors as they snipe at each other and vie to be signed by Kilroy. An event at the bookshop is combined with a surprise for Siobhán’s 29th birthday. While the lights are out, someone kills Deirdre. The obvious suspects are the other authors, who the Garda find are all hiding secrets. But the list of suspects expands when the pathologist finds that both Deirdre and Margaret were killed with arsenic placed on old wallpaper stuck under their tongues.

A mélange of clues from classic mysteries plus plenty of Irish charm produce an enjoyable read, middling for this series.