Hello everyone - hope you're all having a good week and reading some great books! I wanted to check in and tell about my recent reading - Sarah Stewart Taylor's mystery series. There are now three books in this series and the protagonist is Maggie D'arcy, a police detective in Long Island, New York. The books are:
I really enjoyed these books and liked Maggie and her colleagues a lot. Maggie works as a homicide detective in Long Island, but her family has ties to Ireland and her uncle owns an Irish pub that she grew up working in. In the first book, The Mountains Wild, we learn that Maggie's cousin, Erin, went missing in Ireland 23 years ago. At that time, Maggie herself travelled to Dublin in order to help the police any way she could. Erin was not found. In the present time, the Gardai' let Maggie's family know that Erin's scarf has been found and another young woman is missing. Again, Maggie travels across the sea to see what she can find out. The difference is that Maggie is now a divorced mother of a teenager and she's also a cop.
In the second book, A Distant Grave, the story continues with the action set on Long Island, but definite ties to Ireland. And the third book, The Drowning Sea, takes Maggie and her daughter, Lilly, back to Ireland for a supposedly relaxing vacation that will include a lot of personal changes in their lives. I don't want to share too much, so no spoilers.
What I will share is that the mysteries themselves were good and I enjoyed the puzzles. I loved the descriptions of the settings, Ireland especially. I was so immersed in the audio of the first book that I almost ignored a neighbor saying 'hello' while I was out walking. I apologized and told her that I wasn't in 'hot' Texas, but I was in 'cool, damp' Ireland. Ha!
Sarah Stewart Taylor has another mystery series as well, the Sweeney St. George series, that I believe has four books. These were written previously and the first book is O'Artful Death. Have not read these, but maybe...
-------------------------------------------------------------
As to what I'm reading now, I just started G.M. Malliet's new book, Augusta Hawke. So far, so good. And I've got Linda Castillo's new Kate Burkholder mystery, The Hidden One, waiting in the wings. Reading is definitely good right now!
This series is new to me, but I like the sound of it! I love the Ireland ties.
ReplyDeleteThere were beautiful descriptions.
DeleteI shared these books in the book club last evening. The library has zero copies of book one. They have a few of 2 and 3 with more on order. I like G.M. Malliet books. Only read a few.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...I looked and there are 3 ebook copies. Can't believe none in print. Maybe from area libraries. I donated my copies of book #1 and #2 to my library here as they only had #3 on the shelf. Or maybe an Irish theme? The G.M. Malliet book I'm reading is the start of new series with a mystery writer as the sleuth.
DeleteI have read all of the Sweeney St. George Mysteries by this author, because my husband liked them so much. He is really into graveyard art and liked the series even better than I did. I thought the earlier books in that series were better than the last one.
ReplyDeleteGlen bought the first book in this series, read it but decided he would not continue the series. He passed his copy on to me and will be reading it someday.
I finally decided to give the series by Linda Castillo a try after all these years, and I have a copy of the first one, Sworn to Silence, on my shelves.
Tracy, glad to hear that you and your husband liked this author's first series. I'll likely check it out at some point. Will be curious what you think about this bunch. Linda Castillo, I love her books. Hope you like them as well. I know it's a long series now, but I'm glad she's still writing them.
DeleteThis mystery series sounds really good. I like the Irish ties in it. And those three covers are so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteIf the Irish parts appeal, I think you'd like these. And I agree about the covers.
DeleteI'm so glad you love this series as much as I do! I haven't read the third book yet. Soon, I hope. I also want to read the author's other series, but I haven't been able to find a library copy of the first installment. I might just have to bite the bullet and buy it. We'll see.
ReplyDeleteI hope you do enjoy the third book when you have time. It's a little different, but I don't want to writer spoilers, so....
DeleteThis sounds like a great series, Kay! I will have to check it out. When I start reading again. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed it, Wendy. You'll get there with your reading. Hugs to you!
DeleteYou seem to be on a reading roll right now. Keep it going! I like the Ireland aspect of these. Nice.
ReplyDeleteMy reading is going well at this time. Happily....
DeleteWow, there are already three books in the series? I remember wanting to read the first when it came out. I love that there are ties to Ireland!
ReplyDeleteYes, 3 books in the series. The Ireland aspect is lovely.
DeleteI've not heard of this series. Will have to check it out especially with the Irish setting.
ReplyDeleteI don't think this series has been very well known. However, it appealed to me and I did enjoy it a lot.
DeleteThis series is on my TBR so I'm so glad to see your review of the full series so far. This definitely sounds like a series I need to try and the audio sounds like the way to go. I could use a trip to damp cool Ireland instead of boiling hot humid Alabama!
ReplyDeleteKatherine, the setting is vivid in all three books, though they are definitely crime novels. And I totally hear you about the 'boiling hot' - us too!
DeleteYou had me at ties to Long Island and Ireland--I have both. Off to check out this new to me series. Happy reading, Kay!
ReplyDeleteCatherine, with your ties, I'd think you'd enjoy this series. Great!
Delete