Maura is beginning to settle into her role as owner of Sullivan's pub. A man goes missing and his son is found in one of the coves. While much smuggling goes on, this man was just an honest farmer, and the only logical explanation is that he stumbled across something he should not have seen. A man's body turns up, but it is not this man. Can the garda find him? WIll Maura and her friends lend a hand? I enjoyed listening to this installment of the series. I enjoyed it more than previous ones. ( )

Reading this novel felt as bittersweet as reading Sue Grafton's "Y." Although I'm now halfway through the "County Cork" series, it is the first book in the series that I picked up to read after learning of Sheila Connolly's death on April 20, 2020. I have loved this series since the first pages as I read that Maura Donovan would travel from South Boston, Massachusetts to Ireland honoring her grandmother's last wish to tell the friends she'd left behind that she was gone. I've always wanted to travel to Ireland so this cozy mystery series fulfills a travel dream in the loveliest way with my reader's passport.

As with many series, the novels can be read as a stand-alone but I couldn't possibly recommend it. It's been simply grand to watch the progression of Maura from being a stranger in the small town of Leap, County of Cork to becoming owner of Sullivan’s Pub and building not only relationships with her staff and customers but becoming a respected member of the community. Maura has now been in Ireland for 6 months and now acquaintances are becoming friends which is a new experience for Maura as in South Boston she was either going to school or working as a bartender and waitress and her friendship was with her grandmother.

I love the character of Old Billy who resides in one end of the building of Sullivan's Pub, visits the pub daily, enjoys his pints, has a designated armchair by the fireplace that doesn't even need signage but is always left empty for his arrival and can tell a story like no one else especially as he knows the history of Ireland, his town, and the pub as well as the local gossip.

It made me laugh to know Maura's head was spinning not only from taste tests of Irish whiskey but also the history of it all. There is a difficult part of the storyline for me to believe as even remotely possible as sleuth Maura orchestrates a daring investigation team of her own to solve a missing person's case but this is fiction and anything is possible.

In addition to a short introduction to Sheila on the author's website http://sheilaconnolly.com/sheila.php I loved discovery of the interview entitled, "What Are You Like? Sheila Connolly" in "Irish America" by Patricia Harty, Editor-in-Chief in June/July 2018. https://irishamerica.com/2018/05/what-are-you-like-sheila-connolly/ ( )

Although I would classify this more as a suspense book, than a true mystery, this entry for the County Cork series is well-crafted and enjoyable. Am I the only one who would like more of Maura’s sarcastic inner voice? Even if so, I’m looking forward to the next book in the series. ( )

So far, this series has been quite enjoyable. I've enjoyed a little look into life in Ireland. However, this installment wasn't up to the standard of the previous books. Maura hasn't really grown much at all in the time she's been in Ireland. She spends little time outside of the pub and seems to want little to do with fitting into the area and meeting the people outside of her work. She also seems to be a little crotchety, prudish, and intent on holding on to the fact that she's had a hard life. It'd be nice if the story moved on from that. The overall story wasn't horrible, though it was implausible. ( )

I like Maura, the transplanted Bostonian to Leap, Ireland, now owner and running a pub. This storyline was a little ridiculous. A man goes missing on the beach, leaving his 3 yr old son, who says he saw a big boat. Maura and her friends at the pub plan a rescue to get him back from the drug smuggling pirates while keeping the police out of their plans. ( )