The lively Inishowen series continues, about an island off Ireland’s remote northwest coast. Solicitor Benedicta, or Ben, O'Keeffe works on the mainland at Glendara. She happily attends her friend Leah's wedding at the brooding, restored Greysbridge Hotel. This starts a Gothic-feeling crime story, MURDER AT GREYSBRIDGE.

The wedding guests arrive ahead of the big day, staying in the country house hotel. Ben meets several of them. After the simple ceremony, however, a young American lad among the visitors slips on the wooden pier. He doesn’t seem able to help himself in the water, and despite aid, he drowns. I am suitably impressed by the new local doctor, Harry Dubois from Canada, who keeps his head in emergencies and administers CPR. Ben has already started to think well of Harry, who is single and handsome.

Sergeant Molloy, previously Ben’s romantic interest, returns from a posting to take charge of an investigation after another guest dies overnight in his room. Two deaths on the same day must be suspicious.  The hotel owner, Ian Grey, is living down a local legend about the house being haunted by the ghost of Louisa Grey, Linus Grey’s daughter, who died unhappily many years ago. Linus was allegedly cruel and a gambler. A blocked-off passage and faded books testify to strange happenings of the past.

Meanwhile, the residents of the nearby island are clannish and no more helpful than they have to be, even for the police. This is an enjoyable mystery, not too gruesome but definitely spooky. Ben and her friends do some amateur sleuthing, with everyone they meet contributing pieces to the puzzle.  

Andrea Carter must have had fun creating her country house mystery and island activity. I notice a fair amount of scenes where people just stand and look at the coastal sights, but then again, that is what you would do in such a spot. MURDER AT GREYSBRIDGE uses a fictionalised version of northwest Ireland, so don’t let it deter you from being a tourist.