Murder in an Irish Village

Film and theater actress Lennon has a thick, musical brogue that she uses to great advantage reading this whodunit set in the village of Kilbane in County Cork. The Irish cozy’s heroine, Siobhan O’Sullivan, and her five siblings were orphaned a year ago when their parents died in a car crash blamed on drunken driver Billy Murphy. Billy was sent to prison, and Siobhan was forced to forgo college to run the family bistro. Shortly after Billy’s brother, Niall, returns to town claiming to have proof of Billy’s innocence, he is found dead in a booth at the bistro. When James, Siobhan’s hot-tempered brother, is arrested for the crime, she decides to find the real murderer, much to the dismay of her potential love interest, handsome local copper Macdara Flannery. Lennon crafts vocal personalities for each character—gruff Niall; bellicose food market manager Mike Grainger; Siobhan’s angry brothers, James and Kieran; fast-talking, genial bicycle shop owner Seamus Sheedy; his chirpy wife, Bridie; and Sheila Mahoney, a local beautician with a chip on her shoulder. Lennon is so perfectly tuned to the protagonist that you can almost hear Siobhan’s flame-red hair being wind-tossed as she races from neighbor to neighbor, interrogating them with vigor and determination. A Kensington hardcover. (Feb.)