Megan Malone returns as the contentedly Irish-based American driver working for Leprechaun Limousine Service in Dublin. While some considerable time has elapsed since her last incident with untimely death, social media users have tagged her as the Murder Driver. DEATH IN IRISH ACCENTS starts the wheels in motion again.

Megan has changed over the course of the four-book Dublin Driver Mysteries. Initially, we met her as a competent former Army person, but time and a relationship have softened her, and the only reminder really is when she asks someone if she can try out with them how to stuff a body into a cupboard, and they agree. Megan is driving the usual American tourist around St. Patrick's Day and the client, romance novelist Claire Woodward, keeps asking to be taken to castles and old city walls. So yes, it’s scenic, it’s crowded, and at times adorable.

Claire is online friends with a writing group in Dublin, and during her visit, she expects to meet a protegee, Blathnaid (pronounced Blaw-ned, a guide is provided to names). But the driver is horrified to realise that this must be the same person who was earlier found dead in the coffee shop she frequents.  Not only is it tragic, but she’s also promised her Polish girlfriend Jelena that she’ll stay away from mysteries.

One welcome facet of these stories by Alaska-born, Irish resident, Catie Murphy, is that so many female characters populate the pages in a wide range of roles. The driver and her employer are women, the suspects include women, the side characters and the police include women. By making Megan gay, Catie Murphy neatly sidesteps the possibility of the amateur sleuth being attracted to the handsome detective (all the Irish Guards are handsome). Instead, she and her partner double date with Detective Paul Bourke, which means he is still close enough to her to take her calls and answer some questions, such as about the cause of death. Paul is dating a film actress, which is another excuse for social media use all the time.  So this is a thoroughly modern story.

DEATH IN IRISH ACCENTS focuses on those few days in March when all of Ireland wears green and attends parades. But the only leprechaun you’ll find is the one on the car. A fair amount of drinking occurs, so it’s not really a cosy mystery. Megan Malone just can’t help being inquisitive and seeking justice, no matter how much others try to restrain her. I’m looking forward to her next outing.