This is the third Carlene O’Connor book I have read in two different series. I would not have read a second, much less a third, if I did not enjoy them immensely.
Murder at an Irish Chipper (think of a shop that sells the British food staple, fish and chips) is book 10 in the author’s Irish Village Mystery collection. They feature a married couple who are law enforcement officers in Ireland. They live in a medieval walled village (Kilbane) near Dublin that exists only in these books.
Detective Sergeant Macdara Flannery and his wife Garda Siobhan O’Sullivan are members of the Irish national agency known as the Garda. The following description is from Wikipedia:
“The service is the main law enforcement and security agency in the state, acting at local and national levels. Its roles include crime detection and prevention, drug enforcement, road traffic enforcement and accident investigation, diplomatic and witness protection responsibilities; it also provides a community policing service.”
As the story opens, the Flannery/O’Sullivan clan is about to embark on a much needed vacation in the seaside village of Lahinch. The area is a popular Irish surfing region. Most of the shops in the story are from the author’s imagination but there is at least one that is real. The O’Sullivan family had owned a bistro in Kilbane but that is gone from the family’s world. Instead, they are focusing on Eoin’s (one of Siobhan’s younger brothers) new venture, a farm to table restaurant located in the barn on the farm that the O’Sullivans own. It is to be called O’Sullivan’s Six in honor of Siobhan, Eoin, James, Ciaran, Grainne and Ann O’Sullivan. They are in a hiatus in construction while waiting for building permits so they have free time. And it will be a delayed honeymoon for Siobhan and Macdara.
When they arrive in Lahinch, they find a small crowd in front of Mrs. Chips, an old established fish and chips eatery. It is well past the store’s opening time. When Siobhan and Macdara get to the front door, they see a body on the floor. John Healy, a local handyman, is in the queue in front of the store. His grandson is the local Detective Sergeant Liam Healy. John offers to open the door with his chain saw. The body is that of the “chippers” owner Mrs. Vera Cowley, recently divorced from Corman Cowley.
After the divorce (a forty-year marriage gone in a flash), Corman had opened a competing “chipper” across the street from his ex-wife’s store. He was also having an extramarital affair with Vera’s best friend, Tara Flaherty, another local shop owner and artist. To rub salt into the wound of the divorce, Tara was hired by Corman to paint a large mural over the front of his shop. Vera had to look at it every waking moment.
This is a “locked room” mystery. Both the front and rear doors of Vera’s shop were locked from the inside when her body was found. DS Liam Healy takes charge of the investigation. A few days later, his healthy grandfather John Healy dies by poisoning during Vera’s wake. He had consumed a pot of curry sauce made by Eoin from a recipe created by Vera with John’s help.
There are a lot of suspects for both murders. Is it one murderer or two different ones? What are the motives? This is what Siobhan, Macdara, and Liam must find out. Eoin is a suspect as are John, Tara, Corman, and a couple of other local merchants including the town’s respected banker. Romance connects two of the O’Sullivans with locals complicating plot. The clues were there but I did not connect them. Once the crimes are solved, it all made sense.
If you are a mystery fan, take on Carlene O’Connors books. You will not regret that decision. In addition, you will learn a little bit about Ireland. It is all great fun. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Many thanks to Kensington Publishing Corporation for feeding my love of books and reading. It is one of the largest family-owned book publishing companies in the world. Its marketing department has provided me with a free copy of the book I am currently reviewing. That has not influenced my opinion of the quality of the book.
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–Jim Harris, retired book sales rep
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