Murder in an Irish Castle (A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery Book 12)
by Verity Bright
ISBN 9781803148274
Pub Date 28 Nov 2022
Bookouture
I had a pile of books I’d planned to read, but when I saw this—a cozy mystery set in the west of Ireland at Christmastime—how could I possibly resist? I couldn’t. I am very pleased with my lack of willpower too, because this is a delightful book.
Lady Eleanor Swift has inherited her uncle’s estate, which includes the wonderful butler, Clifford, and property in Ireland, as well as his property in Britain. She has yet to visit the Irish property, but when she gets an invitation to the Derrydee village Christmas 1923 festivities, she is eager to go. Clifford accompanies her. They making their way to the big house in lashing down rain when Clifford slams on the brakes. They get out to find a man in the road, just barely alive. They get him into the Rolls and to the nearest place with a telephone, which is the abbey. The nuns are not thrilled at this turn of events, but they take the guy to a distant room and call the Garda (police), doctor, and priest. Alas, he does not make it. But who is he, how did he get there, and who killed him? On Christmas Eve, the caretaker’s cottage burns down. Was it an accident? The locals aren’t talking and seem to be acting in ways Lady Eleanor finds strange, although since it is during the Irish civil war and the fight for independence from British colonization, she assumes some of it can be put down to that. Lady Eleanor and Clifford decide to find answers.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved Clifford—his exasperation when Lady Eleanor does not behave according to the sense of what is ‘proper,’ the way he is a stickler for language, his encyclopedic knowledge of history and culture, and his affection for Eleanor, whom he has known since she was a small girl. Clifford was very close to Eleanor’s uncle for years and he sometimes has a sarcastic remark which includes a memory about the uncle or wee Eleanor. Eleanor is equally fond of Clifford and relies on him for support, information, and understanding. They make an excellent team.
As a blow-in to northwest Ireland, I was curious to see how the author would handle that aspect of the story—she did this well and even included a short glossary-ish section at the back, explaining things like hurling matches and their importance in small villages, culture, and history. Even though the book is set a century ago, there are some aspects of culture that remain the same.
Even though this book is the twelfth in the series and I had not heard of it before now, I could still jump right in and feel at home with this pair. I didn’t feel like the fact that I had not read any of the previous books in any way detracted from my enjoyment of the book. I will be looking for more books in this series and hope to spend more time with Lady Eleanor and Clifford in future.
I received an advance copy of the e-book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. I thank them, the author, and Bookouture, the publisher.
7 comments:
Sounds like a great book! I'll have to see if I can find it here ~
This is my favorite publisher
Enjoyed this book
It was a fun read, Bobbie! 🙂
Have you read any of the other books in the series, Brenda? I look forward to reading more of them. 🙂
My mother's family is from Ireland and I keep thinking I need to read more books set there, then I don't. This sounds good.
You might like Alice Taylor if you can find her work.She wrote a trilogy of novels, but most of her work is autobiographical. I discovered her when my first Irish librarian gave me her one of her books and said she thought I'd like it. I brought it home, read it that night and went back the next day for all the Alice Taylor books they had on the shelf. The librarian said that Taylor's writing reminded her of her own childhood because it was much like Taylor describes, even though they grew up in different parts of Ireland. I think the first book is To School Through the Fields. I think that one was well-received so she kept writing about how things used to be and eventually how things are now. They are interesting and entertaining books.
Isn't it funny how sometimes a book catches your eye and the rest of your reading pile gets pushed aside for a bit? I do that all too often. This does sound like a great read.
I had a bunch of Victorian reading planned for Victober. Oh well! I read some at the beginning of the month and am reading a Victorian novel now, so I can bookend the month that way :-)
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