Title:	Murder in an Irish Cottage
	Author:	Carlene O’Connor
	Published:	February 25, 2020, Kensington
	No. of Pages:	304
	Cover Price:	$26.00 Hardcover, $12.99 Kindle

---

Murder in an Irish Cottage is the fifth installment of The Irish Village Mysteries by Carlene O’Connor. Siobhán is secretly engaged to the dashing Macdara Flannery, and wants to keep it under wraps for a while longer. However, somehow word gets out and her family – five siblings – learn of the engagement, which causes some problems. Since Macdara will soon be family, and Siobhán is a good detective in her own right, she travels to a neighboring village with him to solve the murder of his Aunt, Ellen Delaney. Aunt Ellen’s cottage is the talk of the village; most inhabitants believe in Irish folklore, and it is said that it cursed because it was built on the fairy path. Others, previous to Aunt Ellen have died mysteriously in the cottage due to the fairies. But Cousin Jane, who is blind, is distraught and, along with Siobhán believes that it is an evil human, rather than evil fairies who killed her mother.

Anyone familiar with The Irish Village Mysteries, knows that the characters are very Irish, the setting is very Irish, and the scenarios are very Irish. This makes for fun reading, and something a little different. The character’s names are Irish, and readers will have to look up the pronunciation of them to read the story properly. The story flows well, and the suspense builds, in this cozy mystery. Siobhán is a good protagonist, and she is likeable and believable. This novel illustrates the importance of family in Irish culture and is a nice change.

Siobhán is famous around her area for her delicious Irish brown bread, but none of the books include the recipe, and it is frustrating to those of us who would like to sample brown bread while reading the mysteries. All told, however, this is a fun cozy mystery and also a fast read.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.