I've inadvertently jumped a number of titles in this series but I only realised that when I've come to write the review. Not that I think it matters much in this case.

These novels appear to be cosies, with lots of action happening all at once, and a cast of at least dozens, and a puzzle or two to be solved.

I am enjoying them, so I shall persist. ( )

Siobhan O’Sullivan and Macdara Flannery are getting married. James, the brother who is giving her away, is late, but Siobhan decides to proceed with the wedding anyway. He makes a surprise entrance just as the ceremony begins, dirty and disheveled, yelling that he has found a skeleton on the property that Macdara has recently purchased. This indeed does stop the wedding. The guests go on to the reception to enjoy the food while Siobhan and her not-quite husband go off to investigate this cold case. It turns out to be a really cold case, decades old, but then a fresh corpse is added to the situation. It’s an engrossing mystery, drawing in the reader as the detectives go about their investigations. There are twists along the way, and false clues to mislead the police. It will take some digging to go back to another wedding 50 years before that also didn’t happen, yet figures prominently in the death. This intricate tale is quite well written, with great characters and a wonderful Irish setting. ( )

Another great book in the Irish Village Mystery series. I love Siobhan and Macdara together as a couple and as Garda/Detective Sergeant. The way they bounce ideas off of each other is always fun to read, it is like reading a tennis match. There were a lot of misdirection's in this book and I didn't guess who the killer(s) was until shortly before the reveal.

Looking forward to reading future books in the series. ( )

Sioban and Macdarra's wedding day has arrived and her brother James interrupts the service to announce he's discovered a body. Wedding postponed. They are just the most adorable couple working together to solve the murder as they interrogate the suspects and juggle a family crisis. There are plenty of suspects including a priest, a nun, a game handler, an old married couple, a potter and more. Everyone is lying and it takes lots of interviews before the they figure out who the murder is and the wedding can be rescheduled. ( )

Ah! What a delightfully satisfying read! We start with the wedding that wasn’t, end with the wedding that was, and everything between was absolutely wonderful. The mystery was interesting with a plethora of murder suspects for Dara and Siobhan to sort through and not one, but two murders to solve. Are the murders related even though they are fifty years apart? Who knows – you’ll have to read the book to find out.

Garda Siobhan O’Sullivan and Detective Sergeant Macdara Flannery are at the altar saying their vows when her older brother, James, flies through the door with news of a body having been found – on their new property. They postpone the wedding and the investigation begins and what a twisted mess it is. The body, it appears, has been in that pit for years – and that proves to be correct. Now, everybody knows what happened to Tommy Caffrey on his wedding day fifty years earlier. He didn’t skip out on the wedding; he was lying dead in a cow pit. Before Dara and Siobhan can get the first body cleared there is another body. This time it is Alan O’Leary, the man who would have become Tommy’s brother-in-law. Alan’s body was discovered directly on top of Tommy’s bones. Surely the two murders are connected – or are they?

I absolutely love the way Dara and Siobhan work together – their love and support for one another is very special and their complementary skills assure the villains will be caught. When you add in Siobhan’s brood of brothers and sisters, you have an absolutely delightful cast of characters to accompany an equally delightful mystery.

This is the eighth book in the series, and I have read and adored all eight of them. I highly recommend both the book and the series. You could read this as a standalone, but if you want to understand the complete dynamic of all of the relationships, you really need to read all of the books in order. The characters have grown so far and it was such a delight to see that growth happen from book to book.

I highly recommend this well-written mystery filled with delightful support characters and vile villains – and goodness, there are even trained hawks to pique your interest. Happy reading!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own ( )