An Irish Bookshop Murder
Finished: August 2024
Book Source: NetGalley
Book Publication Date: August 2024
An utterly gripping cozy crime murder mystery
Meet Ireland’s newest daring she’s a bookstore owner, a coffee lover, and a crime writer. Now Mercy McCarthy needs a little Irish luck as she takes on her first case!
After receiving unexpected inheritance from her grandfather, Mercy and her twin sister Lizzie are now the proud owners of a charming antique bookshop in the tiny Irish village of Shamrock Cove. But before they can take in the beautiful view of the sea, one of their neighbors drops dead!
Mercy finds the Judge, a well-respected man who lives next door, dying on his own doorstep. She rushes to help, but with his final words, he accuses Mercy of murder! Most of their new neighbors hear his words and, with suspicion pointing at Mercy, she decides to investigate the case to clear her name.
Searching amongst the Judge’s old books, Mercy uncovers letters proving several of the townsfolk had reason to dislike the judge—but was it the local pub landlord, the kindly cook or neighborly knitter who killed him?
Then Mercy’s chief suspect turns up dead and she receives a threatening note, typed on paper from her own bookstore… Ireland was supposed to be a fresh start for Mercy and Lizzie, but dead bodies keep turning up.
Does Mercy have what it takes to nail the culprit or will the killer close the book on her time in this charming Irish village?
Trigger Warnings:
Murder, mention of child death, death of a parent, death of a fiancé
My Review
Another cozy mystery for me, shocking :). This cozy mystery is set in a small Irish village, and I absolutely loved the setting of Shamrock Cove. The tight-knit community really added to the story, making it feel warm and inviting, despite the murder mystery at its core and the backstabbing neighbors.
One of the things that stood out to me was the characters, especially the neighbors. They quickly became my favorites, with their quirks and close connections adding a lot of personality to the story. It’s the kind of place where you’d want to live!
I also found it really unique that the main characters were twins. I don’t think I’ve read any cozy mysteries that feature twins before, so that was a nice first. Mercy, the writer, and her sister, who’s eager to manage the bookstore they inherited from their late grandfather, were a great duo. It was a good grounding point remembering why the duo came over and that Mercy was being her sister’s support through hard times.
An Irish Bookshop Murder was a delightful read. If you’re into cozy mysteries with a bit of Irish charm, give it a shot!.
Spoilers/Summary:
SPOILERS BELOW. Stop here if you do not want to read spoilers.
Mercy’s sister’s fiance and young daughter died in a car crash, so they came to Ireland.
One of the neighbors, Linda, was the murderer. The judge had found out that she was previously married and never had gotten divorced so her marriage to her husband David was not legal. She killed the judge by crushing heart pills into his drink and also put shrimp sauce in his food, which he was allergic to. She broke into the twins’ house to try to find his computer.
She killed her husband by switching out his heart medicine. Dave knew the truth that Linda was still married and didn’t care. Linda didn’t want everyone to know she was a bigamist.