The Mountains Wild

Taylor, Sarah Stewart. The Mountains Wild. New York: Minotaur Books, 2020.

Years ago I stumbled upon Taylor's short series featuring a "funerary art" expert. I loved the series and looked forward to another book by the author when I saw this one. Unfortunately it didn't work for me quite as well. I loved the characters, but the novel itself just didn't flow that smoothly. Police detective Maggie D'Arcy returns to Ireland to unofficially help Garda detective Roly Byrne investigate a new lead into her cousin's 23-year-old disappearance case. Maggie earned a reputation from some high profile cases. Even though she cannot officially investigate, Roly welcomes her insights into the case he'd worked on years before. The book is well-plotted and keeps the reader guessing with an unexpected twist in the end. I cannot put my finger on exactly what made the novel not flow well for me, but I kept putting it down after reading a few pages for several days. I did read the last half of the novel fairly quickly so the flow problem improved. The book did not contain chapters, but dates and other breaks provided readers with opportunities to easily know where to resume reading. I received an electronic advance copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

The Caribbean Irish

Garcia, Miki. The Caribbean Irish: How the Slave Myth Was Made. Alresford, Hampshire: Chronos Books, 2019.

Many Irish settled in the Caribbean region, particularly in Barbados, fairly early. They mostly came as indentured servants, but this led to a rumor of enslavement. The sugar trade in the Caribbean drove the need for workers in the region, and the Irish, considered less-than-desirable by other Europeans, produced the essential labor until their replacement by African slave labor. While the book seems to be well-researched, it is not well-documented. With an average of one end note every two pages, the author failed to credit many sources and inadequately cited others by including a title in the text without including pages. The lack of documentation makes the work less useful and less credible. I received an advance review copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.