Murder in an Irish Village

O'Connor, Carlene. Murder in an Irish Village. New York: Kensington, 2016.

Siobhán O'Sullivan runs the local bistro in Kilbane along with her siblings. When her brother James is accused of a murder that occurred after the grand opening of a hair salon where all attendees received a pair of scissors, Siobhán feels she has to investigate to clear the charges. He had a fight with the man, but most of her friends agree James would never kill a man and that he was too drunk to kill him. The local garda simply settles on him as the easiest suspect. The Irish names make the reading a bit more difficult. The author does provide a pronunciation guide for the names in the front. As with most cozies, it is not that difficult to puzzle out the perpetrator if enough clues are followed although the author does throw in one red herring near the end to make it a bit more interesting. The village atmosphere would have been enhanced if the characters had moved a little further out of the inner circle and more about the town itself. The novel felt as though it were driving a bit too much by conversation. I'm not certain if this is intended as the start of a series or not, but it's one I might revisit to see if the author develops the setting beyond the Irish names and occasional term. This review is based on an advance reader's galley provided by the publisher through NetGalley for review purposes.