Irish Village Mystery Books In Order

Publication Order of Irish Village Mystery Books

The Irish Village Mystery book series is an exciting series of cozy mystery, fiction, and cultural novels written by a renowned Irish author named Carlene O’Connor. This series is comprised of a total of 5 novels and 1 novella released between 2016 and 2019. The fifth book is expected to be released in 2020. Each and every book of this mystery series is set in a small village called Kilbane in County Cork, Ireland. Carlene O’Connor has mentioned the main characters in the books of this series in the form of the members of the O’Sullivan family. Some of the essential characters created by Carlene for this series include Siobhan O’Sullivan, Naomi O’Sullivan, Macdara Flannery, James O’Sullivan, Robbie Jordan, Jed Greenberg, Krissy Hancock, Susan, Ellen Delaney, and several others. Siobhan is depicted as a 22 year old girl living in Kilbane village. She is the eldest among the six O’Sullivan children and the owner of Naomi’s bistro. The bistro is famous for being a welcoming and warm spot for the villagers, who visit with friends and neighbors to enjoy the bistro’s famous brown bread & tea and indulge in some local gossip.

Siobhan has named the bistro after her mother, Naomi. After the death of her parents in a car accident, Siobhan has looked after her 5 siblings and has also worked hard to keep the bistro up and running. She keeps getting involved in murder mysteries and uses her sleuthing skills to get to solve them before time runs out. The mysteries keep taking place in and around the Kilbane and mostly involve Siobhan’s family bistro. Siobhan O’Sullvian’s siblings come to her rescue whenever she feels the need for some help or when she feels a lack of motivation or confidence in her abilities. Author Carlene O’Connor has provided authentic Irish settings to each of the books. She has also depicted every character in a wonderful manner. Siobhan is described as a feisty, fearless, and funny lady. People around her often feel delighted and happy due to her charming personality and friendly nature.

The stories are funny, delightful, fast-paced, and filled with wonderful dialogues and characterizations. Every book is capable of providing a satisfying read to the readers from beginning to end. Many critics have said that Carlene’s stories in this series appear to be a combination of old-world Irish charm of Maeve Binchy and the roguish humor of Janet Evanovich. This exciting combination makes the series even more exciting to read. The readers have enjoyed reading this series very much and have praised the efforts of Carlene O’Connor. They have spoken some nice words about the novels and the overall series. The series has gone on to do a great business in different parts of the world. Such an immense success has also helped to increase the popularity of Carlene O’Connor to a great extent. Carlene is looking forward to the release of the fifth novel and hopes to get the same amount of support from the readers and the critics that they have given to all the previous books.

An exciting book of the Irish Village Mystery series written by author Carlene O’Connor is entitled ‘Murder at an Irish Wedding’. It was released by the Kensington Publishing Corporation in 2017. The primary characters featured in this novel include Macdara Flannery, Siobhan O’Sullivan, etc. This novel begins with good news for the O’Sullivan clan, who get the order of catering the wedding reception of a famous couple. But, a deadly killer turns the wedding into a nightmarish affair by committing a brutal murder and forces Siobhan to indulge in tracking down the killer and make him pay for his brutal act. Initially, it is mentioned that any wedding is considered an important occasion in the small Kilbane village and the occasion becomes much more important when a popular fashion model is a bride. The occasion also proves to be a good business opportunity.

As the wedding date nears, customer traffic at Naomi’s Bistro picks up greatly and makes Siobhan and her siblings have their hands full. Their excitement increases multiple folds when they get the contract for catering for the 3-day function of an upcoming wedding. Siobhan’s excitement to attend the wedding is also due to the fact that her boyfriend, Macdara Flannery, has stepped up to be the best man for the occasion, replacing the original best man after he drinks too much and is not able to get up. Shortly after, the celebration takes an unexpected turn when the first choice best man is found dead in the nearby woods. And panic spreads everywhere when another guest dies of poisoning after drinking champagne from a glass that had Macdara’s name engraved on it. This makes Macdara the prime suspect in both the murders. Siobhan knows that his boyfriend is not a killer. She takes it upon herself to investigate the matter and clear the name of Macdara. The more she investigates, the closer she gets to the killer, who sets her as his next target in order to prevent her from unveiling his identity. But, Siobhan is too clever to fall into his trap and ends up unraveling the truth about the two murders.

Another interesting novel of the series is known as ‘Murder in an Irish Churchyard’. It was published in 2018 by Kensington. This novel opens by showing that Siobhan becomes the new Garda of her village and her siblings feel proud of her. With the new responsibility of looking after the safety of the village, Siobhan passes on the responsibility of her family bristo to her brother James O’Sullivan. Although she likes the new role, Siobhan hates it that her boyfriend and previous Garda, Macdara Flannery, has moved to Dublin to receive training as a detective agent. Later, Siobhan gets summoned by the local priest, who informs her that a dead body is lying in the church cemetery. The victim turns out to be a tourist from America, who had come to County Cork to search for his ancestor. As soon as it is established the victim was murdered, a detective sergeant is sent from Dublin to help in the investigation. And Siobhan finds out that it is Macdara, she becomes too much excited. However, they share an awkwardness between them after Macdara’s parting. But, they choose to keep aside their issues and focus on the case. Siobhan and Macdara go on to locate the family members of the victim and unravel a series of secrets that lead them to a deadly murderer.