Irish Whiskey

The veteran Greeley plots this latest work with some admirable cunning, which shows up clearly in a highly believable trading expose and in the exacting re-creation of the supposed death of an enigmatic crime lord from Capone-era Chicago. Unfortunately, it all counts for naught beside the truly tiresome twosome around whom this third book in a series (after Irish Gold and Irish Lace) revolves. Nuala Anne McGrail is an Irish beauty with a fine singing voice, all kinds of sexy outfits, a job as an accountant and the gift of second sight. She talks dirty, likes to be fondled and must be the least likely virgin featured in recent literature. Her dutiful betrothed is Dermot Coyne, who also doubles as the narrator. A former commodities trader who's now a bestselling author, Dermot is currently under investigation for the $3 million he netted during his brief trading days. When Nuala ""sees"" an empty coffin in a cemetery plot, the hunt for a missing corpse is on. The shooting death of Jimmy Sullivan, onetime rival to Al Capone, emerges as just the kind of long-unexplained mystery that exactly suits Nuala's otherworldly gifts and Dermot's dogged legwork. Dermot's trial is fun, and so is Jimmy's turbulent history. But the lovers' dialogue is laughable with its lewd promises for the upcoming wedding night. And then there's Dermot's continuous declarations of his endless devotion and the lustful attention Nuala elicits from every breathing male in Chicago. One might be tempted to opine that Greeley knows less about love (or lust) than he might think. Author tour. (Mar.)