Book Review | Murder at an Irish Wedding (An Irish Village Mystery #2) by Carlene O’Connor | CONTAINS SPOILERS
October 17, 2023
Book Review | Murder in an Irish Churchyard (An Irish Village Mystery #3) by Carlene O’Connor | CONTAINS SPOILERS
October 20, 2023
Book Rating:
Series Rating:
Lindsey prefers to keep her bakeshop’s Halloween decor light and autumnal, rather than gruesome and ghoulish. But everyone knows her lighthouse home is haunted. Some intrepid teens have even tried to break in to witness the resident ghost themselves. Dreading Halloween night, Lindsey reluctantly allows her influencer and podcaster best friend, Kennedy, to host a live ghost hunting investigation in the lighthouse, conducted by a professional team. Protective of her ghost, Lyndsey is understandably nervous about what they might uncover . . .
The segment is uneventful—until things take a terrifying turn. The team freaks out. As Kennedy joins the mad dash outside, she bumps into what looks like the prankster teens’ creepy clown costume hanging from a tree. But when Lindsey’s dog, Wellington, begins to whine, they make a grim the clown is no dummy. It’s a corpse.
Now Lindsey and company will need to keep their cool if they want a ghost of a chance to solve the murder—and see another Halloween . . .
Trigger Warnings
Mentions an inappropriate relationship between a teacher and a student (which seems weird when it was almost justified by him being young-ish and smokin’ hot)
Characters
Recurring Characters
- Lindsey Bakewell – main character, baker, came from NY to open the bakeshop
- Wellington – Lindsey’s big dong
- Betty – real estate agent and eventual friend of Lindsey
- Tuck – cute police officer
- Kennedy – Lindsey’s posh best friend
- Ellie Montague Bakewell – Lindsey’s mother, retired model
- Captain Willy Rigs – haunts the lighthouse, was murdered a long time ago
- Rory – Lives next to Lindsey
Other Characters
- Brett Bloom and Mike Miller – Ghost hunters
- Jordie Tripp – writer, branching out into non fiction books
- Grant – the writer’s research assistant
- Leslie Adams – Murder victim – teacher at the high school
- Callie – murder victim’s daughter
- Trixie – murder victim’s dog
- Mark – Family friend – teacher at the high school
- Drama teacher
My Review
Book number four of this cozy series and just in time for the fall weather! Halloween vibes with pumpkin carving and costume contests. I have read the first three books in this series and really enjoy them (reviews here). This book follows the same flow – coffee shop in an old lighthouse, haunted by the ghost of the previous lightkeeper. You wouldn’t need to read the first books in the series, but I do think it’s worth it. Welly, the big fluff ball, is back and is one of my favorite characters of the whole book. He makes me want a giant Newfoundland. I’m bummed about the ending with Kennedy but curious how it will turn out if the series continues.
Complaint for this one: It was a little off-putting that the teens that dressed differently were immediately considered suspects…
I’ll continue to read this series when the next book comes out!
Spoilers/Summary
Leslie was murdered by death cap mushrooms. Jordie Tripp, the writer had dinner with her and had dried the death caps and sprinkled the powder into her soup. He was after the treasure map that was passed down through generations. His career was on the rocks after his last book didn’t get good reviews. He heard about the treasure from Grant, who was Callie’s teacher at her college. Callie had confided in Grant about the family treasure.
The map for the treasure was etched onto the dogs collar dog tag. Kennedy and Lindsey end up on a raft in the lake and get rescued. Kennedy makes the decision to leave the country and break up with Tuck.