Megan Malone returns as the chauffeur for Leprechaun Limos, and this time, she’s on holiday, escorting her two American best friends who happen to be visiting Ireland. Even when not at work, she can’t shake the unfortunate nickname "the murder driver" in the sixth of the Dublin Driver Mysteries, DEATH OF AN IRISH DRUID.
While sightseeing at St. Brigid’s Well in Naas, Co. Kildare, along with her two Jack Russell Terrier puppies, Megan once more discovers a dead body. The holy well had a frequent visitor in Seamus Nolan, a local landowner nicknamed “the Irish Druid” but it seems he tragically slipped, hit his head and drowned. Megan tries not to upset her friends, Rafael and Sarah Williams, but as the story progresses the couple become very interested in investigating alongside Megan.
Seamus Nolan was a conservationist working to rewild his estate, supported by his twenty-year-old daughter, Aisling, but against the advice of his uncle Adam. There’s also an ex-wife in the picture, but she lives elsewhere, and their daughter explains the couple’s legal separation and divorce were working through the courts. About then Megan starts to query the inheritance, which is a tangled issue. While there’s no formal word that murder is involved, Megan senses that young Aisling is vulnerable and needs support.
I liked a great deal about this adventure, from the scenery to the almost iconoclastic treatment of establishment figures. Megan, as a mature ex-army woman suffering from a breakup with her girlfriend, is able to tread where more traditional people might not. What baffles me is why so many people are cheerfully gossiping with a total stranger about everything from their family to their employers. Megan isn’t a Garda or a private investigator hired by the family, and most people would be hesitant to talk about their employer. But I guess in a cosy mystery the main way to find information is through conversation, as the sleuth lacks the police resources.
Smartphones, social media and search engines are useful detection tools, saving a lot of time and enabling Megan and her crew to research matters relating to the Irish Druid. While some victims of crime are unpopular, DEATH OF AN IRISH DRUID shows the opposite, and I found myself hoping that whoever did him in – if it was a crime – get their just desserts. The best of Irish luck to the Dublin Driver.
Featuring the humor and charm of Ireland, a compelling whodunit, a sleuthing American expat limo driver, and two Jack Russell Terrier puppies, the latest book in the acclaimed Dublin Driver cozy mystery series is perfect for fans of Carlene O’Connor!
Megan is excited to show her visiting American friends the best of Ireland. A dead body in a holy well, however, was not on her list. The victim is Seamus Nolan, nicknamed “the Irish Druid” for his controversial efforts to rewild his country estate. The local police seem all-too-willing to write off his death as an accident. But Megan’s instincts say not so fast . . .
Megan knows that sleuthing cost her her last girlfriend. Maybe solving another murder will help her make peace with that. And she’s even more determined to figure out whodunnit when she learns that an antiquated, law may pass the estate on to Nolan’s land-grabbing, sell-out uncle instead of his beloved daughter . . .
But then, with Nolan out of the picture, a rival conservationist’s bid for a major grant is uncontested. And as more suspects crop up, so does a toxic surprise on the estate, throwing everyone’s plans, and Nolan’s reputation, into jeopardy. Now Megan will have to unearth a killer with a very dirty secret . . .