The Apothecary Rose: A Medieval Mystery

The Emerald Isle and the multihued island of Manhattan provide the settings for this uneven debut featuring Brian MacMorrough Donodio, a retired history professor and expert horticulturist. Acting on a note he receives at the Irish Historical Society requesting a meeting, Donodio finds the body of Maureen Sullivan stabbed through the heart; the victim was an Irish cop visiting New York to find her missing sister. Against the wishes of his daughter Dierdre, an INS agent, Donodio probes the death and turns up plenty of immigration problems in the form of secretive Irish usually living in rented apartments under assumed names. The author slides abruptly from green cards to more sinister matters and the body count advances by two, prompting Donodio to take off for Dublin. As love blooms between Donodio's daughter and a cop on the case, abrupt narrative leaps between romantic whimsy and hard-boiled action scenes jar the plot's continuity. Among a tritely characterized cast, Donodio stands out as impossibly pleasant and noble. (Oct.)