Book Description:
Irish whiskey, rolling green hills, a traditional Christmas feast and… a murder? Lady Swift will need the luck of the Irish to survive this holiday season!Christmas, 1923. Lady Eleanor Swift has received a rather unexpected invitation to the village Christmas party in the tiny, rural hamlet of Derrydee in the west of Ireland. Eleanor is thrilled about exploring her ancestral roots at her late uncle’s estate and spending the festive season in a castle. Packing Gladstone the bulldog’s coziest Christmas jumper, they set off to the Emerald Isle with her butler Clifford in tow.Arriving late at night, Eleanor and Clifford are shocked when they find a body sprawled in the snow on the winding country lane outside the estate. The local constable is immediately suspicious and all but accuses the pair of murder. This isn’t the warm Irish welcome Eleanor imagined!Clifford is certain he recognises the poor fellow from the funeral of Eleanor’s uncle – but what was their connection? Undeterred by the villagers’ lack of gossip on the matter, Eleanor is determined to get justice for the victim. The man’s pockets are suspiciously empty of personal effects, but closer inspection reveals an old key hidden in the heel of his boot. Could this unlock more than one mystery for Eleanor?But when a fire breaks out at the castle on Christmas Eve, an even bigger question looms: is someone out to ensure the family line dies with Lady Swift? And will Eleanor’s first Irish Christmas be her last?An utterly addictive festive whodunnit set in Ireland, brimming with mystery, intrigue and wit. Sure to delight fans of T E Kinsey, Agatha Christie and Rhys Bowen.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'Murder In An Irish Castle' by Verity Bright.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Verity Bright, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous.
Publication date 28th November 2022.
This is the ninth book I have read by this author. It is also the twelfth book in her 'Lady Eleanor Smith Mystery' series but can be read as a standalone. I have previously read Verity's 'A Witness to Murder' (3rd book in the series), 'Mystery By The Sea' (5th book in the series), 'Murder At The Fair' (6th book in the series), 'A Lesson In Murder' (7th book in the series), 'Death On A Winter's Day' (8th book in the series), A Royal Murder (9th in the series), 'The French For Murder (10th in the series) and 'Death Down The Aisle' (11th in the series) which I would also recommend reading.
I was originally drawn to this book by its fantastic eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that this book is an' An utterly addictive festive whodunnit set in Ireland, brimming with mystery, intrigue and wit. Sure to delight fans of T E Kinsey, Agatha Christie and Rhys Bowen.' I am a huge fan of Agatha Christie so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I am also a huge fan of Verity and if this is as good as 'A Witness To Murder', 'Mystery By The Sea', 'Murder At The Fair', 'A Lesson In Murder', 'French For Murder', 'A Royal Murder', 'Death On A Winter's Day' and 'Death Down The Aisle' it is sure to be an epic read. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of 37 chapters. The chapters are short to medium in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is based in the fictional hamlet of Derrydee, Ireland 🇮🇪 , UK 🇬🇧. The bonus for me of books that are partly or fully based in the UK is that I live in the UK and have sometimes visited places mentioned in the book which makes it easier to picture. I have actually visited and had holidays in England on several occasions so am looking forward to seeing if I recognise anywhere that Verity has based the book on.
This book is written in third person perspective and the main protagonist is Lady Eleanor Smith. The benefits of third person perspective are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything.
A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO VERITY ON YET ANOTHER PAGE TURNING SUCCESS!!
Another successful unputdownable cosy mystery by the very talented Verity Bright. I'm always a bit dubious with books based historically as I worry about not being able to 'deal' with the language used but I absolutely love how Verity has written her books. The language used is perfectly suited to the era whilst being easy to read and making it quite humorous on several occasions. The atmosphere and descriptions were perfect. The synopsis and cover also suit the storyline.
The storyline had me hooked immediately and I love the way that Eleanor and Clifford go about their detective work. There was so much going on that it kept me entertained thoroughly throughout with mystery after mystery and clue after clue. It was filled with suspense, mystery, laughter, murder, clues, deceit. tension, suspense and so much more!! It is absolutely perfect to read either curled in front of the fire or lying on a beach which not many books can achieve. I never did work out who the killer was and was completely shocked when they were discovered. A great achievement as I am a huge crime fan and tend to work out who did what quite early on, especially considering I have read so many of Verity's books yet she manages to get me everytime. I must add that I absolutely adore the cover of this book and I think it's one of the nicest in the series so far. The atmosphere was perfectly suited to the mystery. I absolutely adore the fact that this book isn't just set in Ireland but in Ireland at Christmas!! You couldn't ask for a more stunning setting than that!! I also love the fact that although this is a cosy mystery it also had me in stitches of laughter in so many occasions which makes it the perfect light hearted read!! If your looking for a festive murder, a Lady with an attitude and a lighthearted cozy murder mystery then look no further!!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Verity's historical notes that she includes at the back of the book so ensure you don't forget to read those. I love learning about history do was fascinated by the information she includes in the historical notes about:
*The Potato Famine
*Irish War Of Independence
*Irish Civil War
*Water In Rural Ireland
*Electricity in Rural Ireland
*Peat: A Thousand Years Of Use
*Irish Pubs (Opening Hours, Women and Bodies)
*St Stephen's Day And The Wren's Boys' Parade
*Hurling-The Real Irish Sport
*Irish Wakes And Funerals
*St Christopher
Thank you Verity for including these, I learnt quite a few facts that I had no idea about previously. It also goes to show how much research Verity puts into her books when including these facts. There's not much worse than reading a book filled with factual errors but I've never had this problem with any of Verity s books and I love learning something new every time I pick up one of her books!!
Although this is the twelfth book in the series I had absolutely no problems reading it without the others. Any details or events that have previously happened are mentioned in just the right amount of detail to let a new reader know what has happened and yet not too much to bore a previous reader.
The characters were all larger than life, realistic and a complete breathe of fresh air. Eleanor is an amazing character, very bubbly and certainly not your typical 'Lady', she is absolutely unique as well as a very strong female lead which is a great bonus for myself being female. I absolutely adore her relationship with Clifford along with the rest of her "staff" that she treats more like friends. The only downfall is that herself and Clifford are fictional as these are two characters I would absolutely LOVE to meet in real life!! Clifford is absolutely fantastic and I really enjoy how he makes me laugh with his diplomatic skills while being extremely sarcastic at times. It is so sweet how he has taken Eleanor under his wing and admonishes her in several occasions in his humerus ways. They are like the perfect comedy duo but don't tell Clifford!! I also love Seldon who is completely overworked but still such a gentleman who is constantly on edge with Eleanor's adventures!! I must say that I love how slow burning the relationship and romance between him and Eleanor has been. It makes a nice change to boy meets girl and gets together within the first few pages. However, I was landed to see them finally have a proper kiss in the previous book and love seeing it develop throughout this gorgeous series. I loved meeting them all again along with Butters, Trotters, Polly and newest maid Lizzie who are all larger than life with their own exceptional personalities. I can't forget the absolutely adorable Gladstone who is an adventure in himself!!! I also enjoyed meeting most of the new characters and I cannot wait to meet old and new faces and see what they get up to in the next "episode".
A huge congratulations on another fantastic success Verity!!! Here's to looking forward to your next book 🥂
If you are looking for a festive, addictive and cosy mystery that will have you laughing until your crying look no further!!!
This is exactly why you are one of my favourite authors and this is one of my favourite 'series' Verity! A page turning and unputdownable success, here's to your next one 🥂.
Overall a fun and easy to read, addictive, festive, page turning cozy murder mystery with the perfect amount of crime and humour that will keep you turning the pages.
Genres covered in this novel include Cozy Mystery, Murder, Cozy Crafts & Hobbies Mystery, Cozy Culinary Mystery, Cozy Animal Mystery and Crime amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of T E Kinsey, Agatha Christie, Lee Strauss, Rhys Bowen and anyone looking for a very easy, page turning and enjoyable read.
342 pages.
This book is just £2.99 to purchase on kindle, free on kindle unlimited and £7.39 on paperback via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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Author Bio:
Verity Bright is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing partnership that has spanned a quarter of a century. Starting out writing high-end travel articles and books, they published everything from self-improvement to humour, before embarking on their first historical mystery. They are the authors of the fabulous Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery series, set in the 1920s.
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