Despite those limits, fun can be found in the pages of a good book and for St. Pat's Day themes, the cozy mystery section has plenty of that on tap. I've got a trio of new and regularly available books that should make your Irish eyes smile with bookish glee.
First up is the latest from Leslie Meier's Lucy Stone series, Irish Parade Murder, where our leading lady is busy with family and work yet always on hand to solve a mystery. This particular case is on the work front as her reporter job at the local Pennysaver is threatened by the arrival of a new hire from a larger newspaper, Rob Callahan.
Lucy is determined not to let the arrogant new guy push her out, even pursuing her big story on the political fight over who gets to be the next Grand Marshall of the annual Hibernian Knights Society parade in nearby Gilead(whose small newspaper has been bought by Pennysaver owner Ted, looking to expand his press portfolio).
However, Rob finds himself in trouble as the subject of his look into local corruption dies in a car crash that points to him as the prime suspect. Will Lucy put aside her differences and help find the real killer while dealing with some personal bombshells involving her husband's family to boot?
I do enjoy the small town sitcom vibe of the Lucy Stone books and also have noticed the author's addition of real world issues into the mystery mix, which is a good way to keep this little literary corner of the world up to date and engaging. Plus, a little crime fighting action at a parade is fun to see:
Next up is A Catered St. Patrick's Day by Isis Crawford, where baking sisters Bernie and Libby Simmons are preparing for the title holiday at their upstate New York eatery, thinking that things have certainly been rather quiet on the sleuthing front for them lately.
All of that changes quickly as Bernie gets a phone call from her boyfriend Brandon to head over to his bar right away. What he shows her and Libby is a rather unexpected ingredient added to the traditional green beer served during this time of year, a floating body!
Fortunately, Brandon is not a suspect but Mike Sweeney, the dead man in question, made a pot full of enemies with his sleazy stock brokering schemes and one of them is the nephew of a wealthy lady realtor who asks the Simmons sisters to look into the matter.
As Mike was a member of the Corned Beef and Cabbage Club(which booked Brendon's bar for their holiday celebration), that group seem to be a good place to start. However, can Bernie and Libby find the murderer before another batch of killer brew is spoiled?
I just borrowed this book from the ebook section of my library(still waiting for the physical one to reopen!) and so far, it's full of lively energy from our sisterly detectives who party plan with the best of them and would never serve a bad meal or funky drink on any occasion:
To wrap things up, we have the newest entry in Carlene O'Connor's Irish Village Mystery novels, Murder in an Irish Bookshop.
When a new bookstore opens up in the village of Kilbane in Ireland,police officer Siobhan O'Sullivan is among the first to head over in search of a new read. Yet much to everyone's surprise, customers are not allowed to enter without being able to prove to the new owners that they know their Irish literary history.
Even with such self limiting standards, the shop is hosting a big signing event of prominent new authors, including Deirdre Walsh, who complains more about the state of literature than actually producing much of her own.
Deirdre's main target of derision is popular romance writer Nessa Lamb, whose torn pages from her books are discovered with the deceased Deirdre in the back of the shop right after a conveniently timed power outage. Siobhan is on the case but will she be able to close the book on it before another writer is sent to the eternal remainder table with no chance of return?
This series is new to me and does sound intriguing. Granted, this title is number seven in the series but it is hard to resist checking out any type of bookshop related mystery,especially an internationally inspired one:
Whatever you chose to read this St. Patrick's Day, I hope it brings you joy and livens up your holiday. Of course, there are many ways to delight in this day whether you bake some shamrock cookies, watch a horror marathon of the Leprechaun movies or simply indulge in a plate of corned beef and cabbage.
The latter is really more of an Irish American than an authentic Irish dish(hey, I have to say it in the interest of culinary honesty!) but if you like it, no worries. St. Patrick's Day is meant to just be a good time had by all, which we really do need these days:
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