Molly Murphy Books In Order

Publication Order of Molly Murphy Books

Rhys Bowen is a skilled writer that has penned mystery books that have been both critically acclaimed and nominated for many big mystery awards in the writing world. She has won thirteen awards for her writing to date. She is currently in the middle of composing two different historical mystery series. The Molly Murphy series of books feature a main character named Molly who is a red haired Irish immigrant who has moved to New York City in order to escape her past and be part of the new world.

Rhys Bowen’s other historical series feature a character called the Lady George, who is rather far behind in line to the throne and is struggling with being broke and trying to make it through the Great Depression. Rhys Bowen was born in the town of Bath, England and comes from a family who belongs to the upper class of the British class system. She draws from her life and her childhood to write her stories. Rhys has also channeled her experiences with family in Wales to write the Constable Evans mystery series, set in the Snowdonian mountains. There are ten books in the series and her book Evan’s Gate was nominated for an Edgar Award. Rhys lives in Australia, Germany, and Austria but calls California her home. She enjoys singing, painting, hiking and traveling.

Molly Murphy: Murphy’s Law

This is the first book in the Molly Murphy series by Rhys Bowen. Molly is a smart and curious Irish girl. Mollly Murphy’s mother always said she’d end up in trouble. So when she commits a murder purely in self-defense protecting herself from unwelcome advances of the son of a local landowner, she must flee her home country of Ireland and her old life in order to avoid going to the gallows and to make her way to the new world of America, regardless of the fairness of the situation. On the ship, she runs into a consumptive mother with two small children who the mother asks her to deliver to their father who lives in New York. Molly attracts the attentions of a crude type named O’Malley and gets into a public argument with him. Molly Murphy arrives in New York and sees the promise of freedom and the Statue of Liberty and begins to rest easier. But when a murder is committed on Ellis Island with the man she was seen arguing with, Molly becomes one of the top suspects for the crime.

Using her wits and her Irish charm, Molly finds a way to escape Ellis Island and find the murderer all on her own. She hits the streets scouring Hell’s Kitchen and the Lower East Side, making it her mission to find the killer and clear her name, all before the events of the past come back to haunt the future. There is also a handsome policeman who is investigating the case that appears to believe that Molly is innocent, but Molly must investigate on her own behalf in order to clear her name and keep from getting into trouble.

Molly’s fiery red hair and her audacious smarts are her only tools to prove her innocence. Molly is a real character who is very relatable and just trying to clear her name by finding the killer. But will she find out who the murderer is in time? Bowen keeps things straight forward and simple here, and the main character of Molly Murphy is an instant hit. Likable and curious, determined and driven, Molly is a real character who won’t stop until she finds the killer. She wants to live a good life, but she’s unhampered by the rules. Will the cute young Daniel Sullivan be a distraction to her breaking the case? He is too good to be true and a detective on top of it, with a curiosity and drive similar to Molly’s own. Molly constantly puts herself in danger, making assumptions and leaping before she looks, but she’s always entertaining and feisty enough so that readers root for her.

Molly Murphy: Death Of Riley

The second book featuring the bright Molly Murphy begins with the bright young Molly trying to shake the unpleasant memory of her past with the murder of the would-be rapist back in Ireland and the murder of the Irish immigrant on Ellis Island. Now free of the guilt as well as the suspicion for having done these murders, Molly is now free to start her new life smack dab in the middle of the New World: New York City. She’s had a little bit of experience investigating in America and decides that now may be just the right time for her to seek out people living in Europe who wants to find their family who they have lost touch with in America. With any luck, Molly might be able to channel her abilities into making some money as well as put some food on her table. The other thing that Molly is determined to do is find the handsome police detective named Daniel Sullivan and seek out his advice.

Meanwhile, Paddy Riley is a tough private investigator with a Cockney accent who focuses on divorce work. But with a little bit of persuasion, he agrees to take Molly on as an apprentice. The experience is not exactly what she thought it would be but Molly is determined to make the best of the experience. She comes to work one day however to find the whole world upside down and everything she thought professional life would be completely changed.

Molly is on a journey before long that is taking her through the dark streets of Manhattan as well as the hip lounges and bars of the literary scene. Molly spends time with actors, writers, poets, and musicians. Young Molly Murphy is being exposed to the world more than ever before, but her decision to discover what happened in Paddy Riley’s office is unchanged. She has nothing more than her resolute will and her fiery red hair, and Molly has no idea what following this case up will bring to her. Molly is determined to find out what really happened and bring the accused to justice in the suspense-packed second novel in Rhys Bowen’s series.