Siobhan is busy training a new garda and thinking about a wedding date. She is excited by the grand opening of a new bookshop, but is put off by the attitude of one of the shop’s owners. He stocks only literary works, and one must respond correctly with a quote or be denied entry. Needless to say, Siobhan fails to make the cut and she is not happy! She is finally allowed in for crowd control at an authors’ signing. It doesn’t end well for one of the authors, and now the detectives must find out who hated her enough to kill her. It’s quite an interesting mystery. The story is well written, and the main characters are well developed and likable. The Irish setting is practically a character in its own right, and the audio version, well performed by Caroline Lennon, adds much to the enjoyment of the story. ( )

When a new literary bookstore is slated to open in a tiny Irish village, everyone in town is psyched, including some local Irish authors who plan to hold readings there. But the authors clash with one another on nearly everything -- and then one of them ends up dead. It's up to policewoman Siobhan to find out who killed the author and why.

It's been a bit of time since I finished reading this book and am now reviewing it, so I'm already light on particulars. The author was probably trying to be more inclusive and therefore added a LGBT couple and a Black detective. For the latter, however, she kept making a point to call out the woman's race and heritage in a way that was cringe-worthy and felt like mere tokenism.

In general, I do recall thinking this book felt a little "meh" compared to earlier titles in the series. Sometimes when a series keeps going and going, it starts to lose steam and just becomes too predictable in its characterizations and so forth. I think that is what is happening with this series. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the mystery enough that I will probably try the next in the series when I can get my hands on it. ( )

This seventh book in, "An Irish Village Mystery" series by cozy mystery writer, Carlene O'Connor holds all the charm and wit of its predecessors. The setting is a small Irish village where everyone knows each other's business, where the craic is grand and curry chips are to die for. The main characters have been developing over the course of the series and there are some major decisions to be made by a few of them. But all decision-making is set aside as a couple of corpses pop up at the new town bookstore. Garda Siobhán O’Sullivan and her beau, Detective Sergeant Macdara Flannery are on the case and breaking in the new Garda Aretta Dabiri with her on-the-job training.

This is a fun cozy mystery with charming Irish scenes, lingo and cuisine. The red herrings are plentiful and the characters quirky and fun. Definitely an enjoyable read. ( )

Everyone in Kilbane is caught up in the opening of a bookstore in their little village. One of the two owners is very selective about the type of books they’ll be selling and for the grand opening is inviting a select group of Irish authors. One of which is a favorite cowboy western writer of MacDarra. During the grand opening, there’s a murder in the middle of a power outage which has Sioban and MacDarra investigating lots of suspects and a new recruit to train before solving the case and making a decision about their future. ( )

The small village of Kilbane, County Cork, Ireland is buzzing with excitement over the opening of a new bookstore along with a number of visiting Irish authors. This is their first bookstore and Siobhan O’Sullivan, oldest sibling of the O’Sullivan six, is hoping to encourage her siblings to become readers – and she’d kind of like to kindle a spark for reading within herself as well. Of course, there is a damper on those high spirits when a body is found near the bookshop – and later, a second one inside the bookshop. Oh! My! Goodness! It looks as if Detective Sergeant Macdara Flannery and Gardai Siobhan O’Sullivan will be doing a lot more than training new Gardai Aretta Dabiri.

There are a lot of suspects – The new bookshop owners, Padraig and Oran McCarthy, any of the Irish authors and agent attending the opening, any number of townspeople who had access, or even a mysterious stranger who has been lurking about town. Clues are aplenty, but none seem to lead anywhere except in circles. Everybody seems to be keeping secrets and pointing fingers. With the case awash in red herrings, twists, and turns, the garda definitely has their work cut out for them. I’m sure you’ll figure out the name of the murderous villain before it is revealed – but – the method is totally unique and unexpected.

I have loved this series from the first book, and this is a lovely addition to it. It is so much fun to come to know all of the shops and inhabitants of Kilbane as we have over the last six books. Seeing the growth of Siobhan and her siblings has been particularly delightful, but seeing the relationship between Siobhan and Macdara develop has been heartwarming. The wedding plans are moving along and maybe we’ll have a wedding in the next book.

I can definitely recommend this read and hope you will enjoy it as much as I did. The mystery is a good one, the clues are excellently handled, the villain is just dastardly enough to make you thoroughly dislike him/her, and the added romance is lovely. You just can’t go wrong with all of that.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. ( )