No Strangers Here

August 1, 2022

In a tightknit Irish town, the body of Johnny O'Reilly, the town's richest man, is found staged on a local beach. The only clues are black stones spelling out "Last Dance," a tarot card, a syringe containing veterinary euthanasia medication, and small footprints leading away from the scene. Recently transferred DI Cormac O'Brien, ignorant of the local lore and characters, is dependent upon longtime DS Neely for context. The O'Reilly family is determined to point O'Brien in the direction of local veterinarian Dr. Wilde, due to longstanding family grudges. Alerted to the situation by a friend and former police officer, Wilde's daughter Dimpna, also a veterinarian, reluctantly returns home after a long absence to find her father not only a suspect in a murder, but also sadly losing his memory and incapable of maintaining his practice. She steps into his practice and the murder investigation. Cormac and Dimpna navigate the clues and uncover answers to long held secrets. VERDICT Known for her cozies, O'Connor ("Home to Ireland" and "Irish Village" series) moves into darker territory here. For fans of Louise Penny.--Susan Santa

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September 19, 2022
This solid series launch from O’Connor takes a more somber approach to crime solving than her Irish Village mysteries, most recently Murder on an Irish Farm. When the body of wealthy 69-year-old racehorse owner Johnny O’Reilly is found on the shores of Dingle, Ireland, Det. Insp. Cormac O’Brien investigates. When it’s determined that the victim was poisoned by a veterinary medication, O’Brien has two prime suspects: Eamon Wilde, a local vet who has been in conflict with the O’Reillys for years, and his eccentric wife, Maeve, who may have had an affair with the married Johnny. Upon hearing the news, their daughter, Dimpna Wilde, leaves her financially burdened veterinary clinic in Dublin and returns to Dingle to clear her family’s name. Through her sleuthing, Dimpna unearths decades-old secrets among the two families, including the accidental death of a prized racehorse and a person’s unsolved disappearance. Though the perpetrator’s identity will surprise few, O’Connor adds plot twists that many won’t anticipate. Judicious use of Irishisms (“I swear to ye”) adds color. Readers will eagerly await what happens next in County Kerry. Agent: Evan Marshall, Evan Marshall Agency.

November 1, 2022
The body found on a remote beach outside Dingle in County Kerry is carefully arranged, dressed in a suit and tie, with a tarot card in a pocket and the words ""Last Dance"" spelled out in stones on the sand. The townspeople have no trouble identifying the victim and are sharing details of the crime scene almost before DI Cormac O'Brien arrives from Killarney, working his first case in the small village. The victim is Johnny O'Reilly, a rich racehorse owner, and when Dr. Dimpna Wilde, a veterinarian like her father hears the news, she immediately rushes to the village she had left years before. Dimpna knows the significance of Last Dance, the name of a promising colt killed 27 years earlier, and she also knows that this clue may point to her father as the murderer. News travels fast in Dingle, but, as the story unfolds, it's clear that old secrets take longer to emerge. In this new series from the author of the Siobh�n O'Sullivan mysteries, O'Connor introduces us to a charming Irish village populated with memorable characters, both young and old.

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Starred review from September 15, 2022
Ireland's County Kerry provides the backdrop for O'Connor's compelling series kickoff. DI Cormac O'Brien, who's new to Dingle, must depend on the locals for insight when the body of racehorse owner Johnny O'Reilly is found on a beach along with 69 black stones spelling out the words "Last Dance." O'Reilly was 69 years old, too. DS Neely provides Cormac with background on Last Dance, one of O'Reilly's horses that was killed in a road accident more than 25 years earlier. It's clear that O'Reilly was murdered elsewhere and his body brought to the beach in a boat. Only a child's footprints are found nearby. Bucking the powers that be to work the case, Cormac learns that the O'Reillys and the family of Eamon Wilde, their veterinarian, have a complex history that could have led to murder. Eamon shows signs of dementia; his wife, Maeve, who used to go dancing with O'Reilly, reads tarot cards. Their son, Donnecha, who serves as caretaker of O'Reilly's yachts, is a bit of a wild one. But it's their daughter, Dr. Dimpna Wilde, that Cormac finds most fascinating. A talented veterinarian, tiny and beautiful, she's the widow of a man who killed himself after swindling hundreds of Dubliners out of their life savings. Unable to pay her bills when her assets are seized, she returns to Dingle to help her father's practice and try to extricate her family from a murder charge. Dimpna's past is about to be torn wide open, revealing various crimes, including her rape by Johnny's son Sean O'Reilly, and the revelation that what she remembers is not always the truth. Exciting, convoluted, and rich with compelling characters, this is the best of O'Connor's Irish mysteries to date.

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