(from Sheila Connolly’s County Cork Mysteries)
I knew I didn’t know anything about running a pub—or any other kind of business—when I inherited Sullivan’s. Which is in Leap, a small village in Ireland. I’ve been here almost a year now, and I’ve learned a heck of a lot, with help from some unexpected people—a sixteen-year-old girl, a couple of eighty-something locals who have become friends, and one or two police officers (they call them gardaí over here).
But I was not ready for a blizzard shutting us all in (what? It snows in Ireland? Well, yes, it does.) with an accused murderer, Diane Caldwell. But accused is as far as it got—she never went to trial. What got into me to think that we should hold our own trial at the pub? Hard to say, but we couldn’t go anywhere else, and then the lights went out. We had to do something, didn’t we?
Well, if I’m honest with myself, I have to admit that I wouldn’t have survived my first year without a lot of help from other people, and some of them are now good friends. I learned that you just can’t do it alone. So when I heard Diane’s story, I figured she deserved to be heard.
Not that I’m running down the gardaí—it’s just that they didn’t have much experience with high profile murders back when it happened, like twenty years ago. And they still don’t—which is a good thing. Ireland’s a pretty peaceful place, and when there is a crime, mostly people know who did it and they’re easy to find.
So we spent a long night in the half-dark, talking about something that happened when most of us were kids, but that people are still talking about today. That’s another thing about Ireland: people remember. And it bothers people that this murder was never solved.
What surprised me is that we actually might have solved it. At least there’s enough for a real trial now.
Oh, and the snow melted fast—gone the next day.
GIVEAWAY!!
Cozy Up To Summer Giveaway
I hope you’ve heard about our month of giveaways!
I’m offering something a little different, since I’m kind of between books right now (Dead End Street, a Museum Mystery, came out in early June, and Seeds of Deception, my next Orchard Mystery, won’t be out until October). But I’ve just finished polishing the next County Cork book, Winters Past (coming next March), so that’s where my head is at the moment (and since it’s 95 degrees here, the snowstorm in the book sounds pretty good!)
My publisher very kindly sends me copies of the audio versions of the County Cork Mysteries. I give one of each to my local library, but I have a more. So I’d like to offer an audio set of the first four County Cork Mysteries (Buried in a Bog, Scandal in Skibbereen, An Early Wake, and A Turn for the Bad). Yes, all four, together! Better that you should enjoy them than that they sit on my already-crowded bookshelves.
Leave a comment, and include your name and a valid email - (yourname (at) yourserver (dot) com, if you like, to foil the spambots) - by midnight on Tuesday, July 26th, and I’ll pick a winner at random. Good luck!
US entries only, please!
Posts
I'm sitting here after midnight and it's finally cooled off enough in hot, dry California to open the windows and turn off the a/c, so that snowstorm is sounding pretty good to me right now. A little creepy to be stuck with a possible murderer, but . . . .
ReplyDeleteWhat a terrific giveaway. Audiobooks are great for exercising. Thanks.
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I haven't tried many (maybe I don't exercise enough?).
DeleteI have a friend on the police force over there, so I'm careful about what I say about crime solving. But The new book is based on a real case, and it's still unsolved.
It's very early here and we had violent thunderstorms all night, which my poor dogs hate. Woke up to this amazing giveaway thanks for the chance. I love this series and would love to have them on audiobook. [email protected]
ReplyDeleteYou can solve many things stuck inside. Great post. Thanks for the chance
ReplyDeleteDebby
debby236 at gmail dot com
What was really fun was having a younger American woman look at the evidence with a fresh eye. But the real case (or more specifically the people involved) are still making headlines in the national press, twenty years later.
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