A Body at the Bakery by Lucy Connelly

Hello my cozy friends, 

Today I am reviewing “ A Body at the Bakery” by Lucy Connelly the 6th instalment in the " A Mercy McCarthy Mystery" series. 

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St. Patrick’s Day in Shamrock Cove has brought out countless Irish flags, streams of green bunting, lots of good-natured cheer… and the body of the local baker.

One of Mercy McCarthy’s daily haunts is the patisserie at the heart of Shamrock Cove’s main street, run by her good friend Paisley. The enticing aroma of rich chocolate and perfectly baked sweets is a treat she can rarely resist. She never expected that her pastry run would turn deadly.

Following the breadcrumbs with her trusty canine pal, Mr. Poe, Mercy freezes in terror when she stumbles across the lifeless body of Paisley’s ex-husband, John. All fingers point to Paisley, but Mercy is determined to prove her dear friend’s innocence.

John’s cousins refuse to help Mercy’s investigation just as a suspicious stranger starts lurking around the bakery. Mercy is worried that Paisley could be next, so she enlists the help of her neighbours to catch the killer before another body turns up at the bakery. With her friends at her side, Mercy is sure the case will be a piece of cake.

Then another devastating murder happens in front of Mercy’s own eyes. With the St. Patrick’s Day parade just around the corner, can Mercy catch her killer before another innocent bystander at the bakery becomes toast?

An utterly compelling and totally Irish cozy mystery. Fans of Agatha Christie, Carlene O’Connor and Faith Martin will absolutely love the Mercy McCarthy series!

I really enjoyed visiting Shamrock Cove, Ireland again. I enjoy the relationship between Mercy and Lizzie, and the other residents in the court.  This time it's almost St. Patrick's Day and I loved seeing all the town preparations for the celebration.

Mercy finds another body at the local patisserie and  is concerned for her friend Paisley as she becomes suspect number one.  There’s plenty of family drama and intrigue thrown in that it made for a an exciting story - I couldn't put it down!  It was entertaining, full of twists and turns and I didn’t completely guess whodunnit until Mercy did.  

I highly recommend this series to all my cozy loving friends and I can’t wait for book 7 to come out!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I requested and received an advanced readers copy from Bookouture and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my OWN.

Please join the conversation and comment below.  Have you read… If so what did you think/like

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Bury the Wren by Carlene O'Connor

Hello my friends,

Today I am reviewing “Bury the Wren” by Carlene O’Connor it's the 4th instalment in the County Kerry Series, grapples with death, friendships, and secrets…

Amidst the stark, lonely beauty of southwest Ireland’s windswept coast, veterinarian Dimpna Wilde wrangles with dark traditions, village folklore, and a killer’s motives during the annual Wren Day celebration in this deeply atmospheric and suspenseful County Kerry novel for readers of Dervla McTiernan, Lin Anderson, and Louise Penny.

Dingle is a town steeped in folklore, where old traditions like Wren Day linger like mist on the Kerry mountains. On the day after Christmas, St. Stephen’s Day, the wren boys—local lads from competing neighborhoods—paint their faces and dress in straw garb to march through town. In times past, the tiny body of a wren would be displayed during the parade. According to legend, the little bird deserved to die for betraying St. Stephen’s hiding place to his enemies.

These days, Wren Day is a kinder affair, with different groups vying to raise money for charity. But this year’s celebration gets off to an ominous start when Dimpna finds a dead wren on her doorstep. Things take a darker turn when one of the wren boys is found strangled, thick fisherman rope still around his neck. Then Dimpna goes to return her friend Paul Byrne’s dog to his house and discovers Paul dead—with a wren’s body beside him.

Is someone sending a message that Paul was a traitor, or this an effort to cast suspicion on the wren boys? And how are the deaths connected? While Detective Sergeant Cormac O’Brien, visiting from Dublin, begins to investigate, Dimpna immerses herself in tangled motives that harken back to past tragedies, and a case that has become deeply personal.  For it’s not only traditions that persist here, grudges and secrets do too . . .

The story is character-driven and also very descriptive you feel like you are right there in Dingle, Ireland.  I’m a huge fan of the authors other mystery series set in Ireland , but her more gritty and suspenseful mystery novels are becoming my favorite.   

Veterinarian Dimpna Wilde wrangles with dark traditions, village folklore, and a killer’s motives during the annual Wren Day celebration.  Dimpna immerses herself in tangled motives that harken back to past tragedies, and a case that has become deeply personal.  For it’s not only traditions that persist here, grudges and secrets do too . . .

The mystery is interesting and had lots of twists which kept me guessing. With so many suspects to follow I was surprised I guessed just before it was revealed.  

I highly recommend this book to all my Irish Mystery loving friends.

I requested and received an Advanced Readers Copy from the publisher and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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I always love reading comments and getting to know my fellow cozy lovers.

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Murder Unabridged by P. J. Nelson

Hello my cozy friends, 

Today I am reviewing Murder Unabridged by P. J. Nelson the 3rd instalment in An Old Juniper Bookshop Mystery series.  

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The Old Juniper Bookstore is the scene for an unexpected mystery when a late night visitor confesses to a long-ago unsolved murder, then turns up dead by morning.

Madeline Brimley is still getting used to running The Old Juniper Bookstore in Enigma, Georgia. When she inherited it from her aunt, it came at an opportune time. Madeline's acting career had slowed down to the point that it was exhibiting no signs of life so returning home to the small Georgia college town of Enigma actually sounded like a good idea. And, except for a murder, arson, and a long-dead body found in the front garden, it's actually turned out well. But when an old man, claiming to be a distant relative named Trilby, shows up in the middle of the night, then confesses to an unremembered murder that happened in the Victorian house that is now The Old Juniper Bookstore, Madeline is...to put it mildly...poleaxed. Given the inclement weather and time of night, Madeline puts him up for the night, hoping to turn him over to the local police in the morning. A plan that goes wrong when, next morning, Trilby is found to have died overnight. And not of natural causes - he was poisoned. Now the bookstore is a crime scene and Madeline a possible suspect.

Now Madeline has both an old and a new mystery to solve if she is to clear her own name before she finds herself taking the fall for this unusual and unexpected death.

I really enjoyed this latest instalment, the characters are quirky, but wonderful including her honorary aunt Philomena, Gloria and her clerk Jennifer. The interaction between the characters  is what makes these books so interesting and special. 

It was entertaining, full of twists and turns and I did guess whodunnit but that did not distract from the story.  

I recommend this series to all my cozy loving friends and I can’t wait for book 3 to come out!

I requested and received an advanced readers copy from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley.  All thoughts and opinions are my OWN.

Please join the conversation and comment below.  Have you read… If so what did you think/like

Thank you for stopping by and visiting my little blog!

I always love reading comments and getting to know my fellow cozy lovers.

Hugs,

Follow my blog with Bloglovin