More than one Deathly Irish Secret come to light in this cozy summer read

A Deathly Irish Secret book on desk with typewriter, vintage phone and clock
‘Tis not unusual to discover there is many a hidden t’ing in Ireland and I’m not talking about the fairies, or the selkies or a hidden pot o’ gold but secrets I tell you. Now there are some secrets that may be taken to the grave and there are still others that may find you digging your own.

Blanche Murningham finds a bit of both in A Deathly Irish Secret.

In her fourth Blanche Murningham Mystery, author Nancy Nau Sullivan sends her journalist-amateur sleuth and her sister-cousin Haasi from the tropical Gulf Beaches of Santa Maria Island, Florida across the pond on what was meant to be a grand Irish holiday after Blanche’s beloved gran Maeve bequeaths her a share in an Irish castle and the cash for the trip.

After a murder takes place their first night in Castle Dunfaedan, Blanche’s holiday becomes a new investigation, where she is not only a witness but a suspect as well. The key to finding the killer lays with the accidental or not so-accidental death of a member of her Irish family tree.

I was hooked from the opening treasure hunt and enjoyed the rich characters, story (sans sister-cousins reference ad infinitum) and plot twists very much. However, I am the daughter of Annie O’Neill herself and according to Ancestry DNA have 47 percent Irish blood running through my veins. It may be a personal bias but I had hoped to feel just a wee bit more of the “home to Ireland” experience in my bones and carry it with me until I can visit the auld sod myself.

I recommend A Deathly Irish Secret to cozy mystery fans, to be enjoyed with a cuppa or a tall glass of your favorite iced tea. I received this advance reader copy courtesy of Book Sirens. This review is fair and impartial.

Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.

The Rising Tide

By Ann Cleeves

For 50 years a group of friends have met for a reunion weekend every five years on Holy Island. Located off the Northeastern coast of England, it gets isolated from the mainland with the surging tide.

There the group – a vicar, a television personality, a deli owner, and a retired school head, now with Alzheimer’s Disease – formed a powerful bond as classmates over the initial gathering a half-century earlier. 

Naturally one of the pensioners had to die there and as expected Northumberland’s Inspector Vera Stanhope and her team would solve the murder. 

That’s where presumption ends.

New York Times bestselling author Ann Cleeves and her characters take the reader on an emotional journey with as much nuance and as many turns as the sea revealing and concealing with the coastal tide.

While this is the author’s 10th Vera Stanhope novel, this is my first. A lover of British mystery dramas, I know Vera from watching award-winning actress Brenda Blethyn embody the character. I was thrilled at the opportunity to read and review the latest installment in the series.

I not only enjoyed the masterful puzzle Cleeves laid out in The Rising Tide. The beauty of her writing seamlessly showing the harshness and beauty of nature interspersed with the power of the ordinary is inspiring. 

I received an Advanced Reader Copy of The Rising Tide from St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur books through NetGalley. This review is fair and impartial. I look forward to going back and reading the nine previous titles in the Vera Stanhope series.

Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.

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