The chip shop or chipper is a staple of Irish and Scottish towns, due to the cold air, fresh fish and good potatoes. Some months after their wedding – which was interrupted to solve a crime in Murder on An Irish Farm - gardas Siobhán O'Sullivan and Macdara Flannery decide to go on honeymoon. They live in charming Kilbane in County Cork, the setting for the lively Irish Village Mystery series by Carlene O'Connor. And their honeymoon location is going to involve MURDER AT AN IRISH CHIPPER.
The lovely coastal town Lahinch, County Clare, now boasts two fish and chip shops. Mr. Chips fell out with Mrs. Chips and each set up their own store to provide battered, deep-fried cod and chunky chips. Sadly, the animosity didn’t end with the divorce. Vera Cowley, also known as Mrs. Chips, falls off a ladder and comes to harm at the start of this story. Siobhan and Macdara, accompanied by Siobhan’s younger siblings, discover a queue waiting for the store to open. The ex-husband Mr. Chips, or Corman Cowley, didn’t see anything despite being just across the road. Other locals, such as handyman and innkeeper John Healy, various shopkeepers and bankers, are distraught to learn that Vera has died. Must have been an accident - or was it? Siobhan suspects a crime. She’s officially on holiday, but Detective Sergeant Liam Healy is glad to help because nothing major happens here.
This is another enjoyable family tale, and it must be said that I wondered how the dynamics would work if the wedded couple had a honeymoon alone. Taking the O’Sullivan Six, whose parents passed away years earlier, out of Kilbane is a good move, as newcomers to the series don’t have to meet all the established cast of the town. The seaside provides sports, visuals and the fishing industry as a contrast to rural life, without the cost of an overseas trip. Continuity is applied by calling on the State Pathologist, Jeanie Brady, who understands that Siobhan, for whom she has great respect, is in a difficult position at Lahinch.
While I don’t like chips with anything but salt and vinegar, some people enjoy them with curry sauce, and Siobhan is keen to sample the recipe Mrs. Chips had invented. With a food blogger, Madeline Plunkett, tapping her foot impatiently, and a memorial service to be held, Siobhan will just have to hold that thought while she tries to solve the MURDER AT AN IRISH CHIPPER. Carlene O’Connor as always provides a diverse spread of characters, talented detectives and a few animals – in this tale, mainly seagulls. Fun and games at the seaside, with a serious conclusion.
Set in a charming Irish village, the latest installment in bestselling author Carlene O’Connor (“queen of the cozy police procedural”—Publishers Weekly) cozy Irish Village Mystery series.
Siobhán’s brother Eoin’s new family restaurant, The O’Sullivan Six, is so close to opening—but waiting on the necessary permits plus the heat of July in the village of Kilbane in County Cork is driving everyone a bit mad. Macdara Flannery comes to the rescue with a plan—take a holiday by the sea and stuff themselves with fish and chips to support the struggling business of the aptly named Mrs. Chipper.
But when they arrive, a crowd is gathered in front of the closed shop: a local fisherman with a fresh cod delivery, a food critic, Mrs. Chipper’s ex-husband who’s opening a competing fish and chips shop directly across the street, and a repairman to fix the vent for the deep fryer. With Siobhán and Macdara as witnesses, a local handyman gets the locked door open, only to find the proprietor lying dead and covered in flour at the base of a ladder, its rungs coated in slippery fat. Clearly this was not an accidental tragedy . . .
Even as the local garda take over the murder investigation, Siobhán and Macdara can’t help themselves from placing their long-delayed honeymoon on hold—at least until they can help apprehend an elusive killer.
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