Murder in an Irish Village (Irish Village Mystery, #1) by Carlene O'Connor

Murder in an Irish Village (Irish Village Mystery, #1) Reviews

• 
  Julie

  Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O’Connor is a 2016 Kensington publication.
  
  Siobhán O’Sullivan is left in charge of the family bistro, and her siblings, after the death of her parents in a tragic drunk driving accident. The man responsible is in prison, but now his brother is back in town, and is trying to extort various people in the village-
  
  Including Siobhan- claiming he has evidence that his brother was not, in fact, responsible for the accident that killed her parents. When the man is found dead inside her bistro, evidence points to her brother, James. Determined to save her brother, Siobhan launches her own investigation…
  
  There is always something magical and charming about a small Irish village… well, unless a murder cast suspicion all the residents.
  
  Siobhan, and her adorable family, is going to be a big hit with me. I loved the village, the quirky characters, and the authentic Irish vernacular.
  
  Because this is the first book in the series, some time was spent on introducing the characters and setting the stage for future installments.
  
  While this may have initially slowed the momentum, the mystery stays in the forefront and kept me guessing, with a surprise revelation that I never saw coming.
  
  I had a feeling I would like this series and it looks as though my instincts paid off! Looking forward to the next chapter in the series!
• 
  Monica (is working the heck out of

  Murder in an Irish Village gets off to a slow start; you’ll need to scale a huge Wall of boring but necessary info dumping and exposition for context’s sake.
  
  In many ways, this is your average cozy in that it obeys many of the conventions of the genre.
  
  1. The town itself is a major character.
  
  2. You’ve got quirky characters you come to like, and suspect, nearly as much as the protagonist.
  
  3. You’ve got the requisite simmering attraction between the intrepid protagonist and the watchful, overprotective alpha-cop; I could do without this.
  
  4. You’ve got the family-owned community fixture where the townsfolk go to congrigate and gossip .
  
  5. You’ve got Siobhán O’Sullivan, the selfless protagonist who chokes off her future in the name of family. She is similar to most other cozy mystery heroines in that, but for her illegal, investigatory activities, she's a squeaky-clean emblem of morality; said morality is rooted primarily in her Catholic upbringing.
  
  What distinguishes Murder in an Irish Village from some of the other cozies I’ve tried is the rock solid and nesting doll-like mystery, compelling subplots that tie into rather than digress from said mystery, and intense, nail-biting moments that belong in a thriller or horror movie.
  
  I also find the involvement of the younger members of the O’Sullivan six rather cute, if unusual.
  
  More importantly, fearing for their safety, as well as for their adult sister’s, addedan intriguing layer to the book.
  
  I also got to be outraged that they (they’re teens aging from 13 to 16) were suspects, though I’d have probably jumped all over their not being accused.
  
  The other thing I found interesting was the body count. Nearly all of the cozies I’ve read center on a single murder. Again, this plot device isn’t necessarily unique to this particular cozy, but it was a shocking and refreshing aspect I enjoyed.
  
  The audible edition features music designed to enhance the listening experience. I won’t say that all of the music fits every single scene, but I can tell you that the “You did *WHAT* in the act of budding into a police investigation?!” scenes and the intense, horror movie like moments were all the more entertaining for the ominous music in the background.
  
  Ultimately, Murder in an Irish Village gets the series off to a great start, and I can’t wait to tear through everything that comes next.
• 
  Jean

  The setting for the story is Kilbane, County Cork, Ireland. Our protagonist is Siobhan O’Sullivan. Siobhan was about to leave Kilbane to attend university in Dublin when her parents were killed in an auto accident. She is the oldest of six children so she stayed to take care of her siblings. The next oldest is James, but he is an alcoholic. They all work in the family bistro called Naomi’s Bistro. One morning on opening the café they discover a murdered man sitting at a table. James is arrested for the murder and Siobhan is off to solve the crime.
  
  This is a new author and narrator for me. I believe the story is what is being called a cozy murder. The book is well written and most engaging. This is a charming story set in a quaint village that adds charm to the story along with some interesting characters. My only complaint is some information was repeated during the story. A good editor should have cleaned that up.
  
  I read this book as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. It is the narrator, Caroline Lennon, that makes this book such a pleasure to listen too. This is a book that should only be read as an audiobook to fully enjoy the story. Her lilting Irish brogue was a delight to listen too. The book is about ten hours long. I am going to be looking for books narrated by Caroline Lennon; she is a great narrator.
  
• 
  Ian

  A man has been murdered and with all the evidence pointing to her brother, it's up to Siobhán to solve the crime.
  
  Well this is really very good.
  It's a cozy mystery set in a small Irish town. To be honest, it feels like it was written 50 years ago and that's the best thing about it. It's a lot like those great BBC crime shows they broadcast on Saturday nights. Not the greatest book ever written but charming and well worth the effort.
• 
  Thomas

  I thank NetGalley.com and the publisher for sending me this free ebook in return for an honest review. I enjoyed reading this book and give it 3.5 stars out of five. Siobhan O'Sullivan runs the family bistro, serving breakfast and lunch with the help of five siblings. Then her brother James is arrested for murder. This book is set in a small town in County Cork, Ireland. Siobhan sets out to find the real murderer. The author is Irish American, but has done a good job incorporating Irish speech patterns and slang.
• 
  Melissa ♥ Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf

  Unfortunately this book just wasn’t for me. It didn’t feel like a cozy despite the attempt at a charming Irish village. And the pacing was just too slow. The dialogue was awkward and overall it just felt as if the author was trying too hard.
• 
  Chantel

  It is important to note that the majority of the themes explored in this book deal with sensitive subject matters. My review, therefore, touches on these topics as well. Many people might find the subject matters of the book as well as those detailed in my review overwhelming. I would suggest you steer clear of both if this is the case. Please note that from this point forward I will be writing about matters which contain reflections on substance abuse, children absented from guardianship, & others.
   
  The concept of a cozy mystery that takes place in a small Irish village does, on the surface, translate as something I would be interested in reading. I had spotted this book at random while wandering the book store & thought that it couldn’t hurt to expand my mystery literature; what better way to cultivate some atmosphere than in a quaint Irish village? Unfortunately, none of what I had hoped to encounter in this story came to fruition.
   
  We are introduced to a family of six (6) children who are left in charge of running their family’s restaurant after the untimely death of their parents in a freak automobile accident. This alone was tragic & horrible to read about. Within the blink of an eye, this plot point plays second fiddle to the murder plot which seeps itself into the storyline. It wasn’t enough that children had to bear the brunt of adult responsibilities, worries & burdens. A family friend turned serial killer has decided that he needed to pick the children off one by one & murder them to save face. It was too much.
  
  I do not have any desire to read about the overwhelming anxieties of orphaned children trying to find their way in a world that their parents no longer inhabit only for them to have to fight for their actual lives against a grown adult person whom they thought they could trust so that this same person doesn’t kill them.
  
  It would have sufficed for the mystery to have remained the perpetrator of the car accident which took the lives of the parents. Had we been introduced to the family as a full unit we would have had an all-around less dreadful plot to work through.
   
  The plot was heavy-duty while not offering much in terms of intrigue or reasons for a reader to complete their reading. Everything felt somewhat superfluous. There is the obvious tragedy that these siblings were living through; the jumble of secondary & tertiary characters whom we do not become acquainted with; a briefly explored scenery; save for the vocabulary & character names this story could truly have been taking place anywhere in the world, there was little tying it to Ireland.
  
  Had the main characters offered anything resembling intelligence or depth, some of my points of contention could be ignored. I found so many of the choices they made, their inner dialogues & the overall essence of these characters to be irredeemably annoying. Tell me what in your mind, as a 22-year-old would prompt you to wander around town trying to solve a very violent murder? Nothing in your character build-up to date had demonstrated you as being anything close to detail-oriented, calm, collected or observant.
   
  Perhaps, being someone who lives in North America I have been acclimated to the ‘safer’ way to approach criminal activity (i.e. not to think myself a member of the Scooby-Doo Gang & leave well enough alone for fear of dying myself). Perhaps because these characters lived in such a rural part of Ireland they had no qualms about investigating things themselves, putting themselves in danger & interrupting a police investigation because they had nothing better to do. I can’t say anything for certain, but that whole part intrigued me.
  
  All in all, this is not a book I would count as being memorable, enjoyable or worth the read. There are other quaint mystery books out there that host an array of well-written characters, plots & sceneries.
• 
  Helen

  I enjoyed this mystery about a small Irish village. The book made it easy for me to visualize the scenes! I liked how the author added a name/word Pronunciation and Glossary in the front of the book!
• 
  Anastasia

  Murder in an Irish Village by carlene O'Connor is the first book in the Irish Village Mystery series. Siobhan O'Sullivan runs her family's cafe with her five siblings after the death of her parents in a car accident. The brother of the convicted drunk driver tries to extort money from Siobhan claiming he had evidence of his brothers innocence and then is found dead in the cafe the next morning. I loved meeting Siobhan and her family and enjoyed this mystery very much. The audio book narrator was terrific and I loved the accent which added to my enjoyment of the story. A nice, charming cozy mystery.
• 
  Susan

  Thanks to Net Galley for letting me read this so I could review it.
  
  3.5 stars
  
  This is a nice cozy mystery read set in the small town of Kilbane in the County Cork of Ireland. Siobhan O'Sulllivan has been having a terrible year. Her parents were killed by a drunk driver and her plans of going to University of Dublin have been put on hold. She has 4 younger siblings and an older brother, James, to take care of. She also runs the family bistro so they have income. She has a full plate.
  
  Then the brother of the man in prison for killing her parents ends up dead in the bistro. James is arrested. Nothing will stop Siobhan until she finds the real murderer and frees her brother. She starts questioning people she's known her life and turns the town upside down.
  
  If cozy mysteries are your thing, then you'll enjoy this little romp.
• 
  Tim Gordon

  When I was looking for a new audiobook for my commute, I chose this book in the hopes of hearing a little lilting Irish brogue. On that note, I was not at all disappointed. The narrator was absolutely fantastic. I could have listened to her read an Irish phone book and been satisfied.
  
  As for the book itself, it was okay. Not amazing by any means but decent.
  
  On the good side, it really seems to capture the small town Irish mentality (as far as I know it, which admittedly is mostly from watching Moone Boy). Things move just a little bit different than what I'm familiar with here or from the many British novels I've read.
  
  The characters, at least most of them, were also pretty decently well rounded. Siobhan was, at least. The author has definitely put a decent amount of time considering who Siobhan is and how she'd interact with the world.
  
  On the not as good side, the pacing wasn't quite right. Not that it was terrible, but there's a bit too long of a stretch in the middle where there's a lot of investigating but not quite enough happening. Siobhan is constantly considering new clues based on the original event (sometimes considering a bit too much, rather than letting the reader consider for themselves), but what it really needed was another twist or new development earlier on. We get one towards the end, but if it had been moved up slightly, it would have gone a long way toward helping the pacing. The ending also drops off a little too quickly, tying up the murder, but leaving us before really resolving how things move with the rest of the town. Maybe that's on purpose. Maybe there will be a sequel, though if more people get killed in that town, it'll have a higher crime rate than a season of Law & Order.
  
  There were also a couple of cringe inducing points. A lot of "Oh Siobhan, you shouldn't be doing that. That's not your place. You're place is in the kitchen," said by multiple people multiple times. Plus she did a few things that were just, well, dumb. The worst was one scene where she and her family accidentally set the drapes on fire at a wake, right next to the dead body. Maybe good for an episode of I Love Lucy, but a bit out of place for a murder mystery.
  
  Still, a pretty decent, if rather typical, murder mystery. Well, except for the fantastic accent. Would definitely recommend the audio book, even if you don't care much for the story.
• 
  Natalie

  3.5 stars
  
  This was a fun, cozy mystery. I loved the Irish slang that is peppered throughout, and don't know enough to know how accurate it is. It certainly helped that I listened to the story. I didn't find myself drawn to the characters as much as I was hoping, but it was a fun story. The heroine seemed like quite the town busybody. I'm surprised that people would still give her the time of day. The language was another problem for me. I never did figure out if they were swearing, or just using Irish cant. Not one I'll reread, but I don't feel like it was a waste of time.
• 
  Rachel Aranda

  The real rating of this book is between a 2.5 to 2.75. Throughout this book I wasn't sure if this was supposed to be a true murder mystery or a cozy murder mystery. I think it's the first one since they had young people in danger and most cozy mysteries I've read haven't done that, but arguments for either could be done.
  
  As a murder mystery the story wasn't as well developed as I would have liked but the characters were developed enough to not be boring. In the beginning, I was interested in seeing how this book ended and who was the killer. Sadly the more I read, I found myself becoming less interested in the killer as the book seemed to drag on. It was so easy for me to put this book down for long periods. I even considered putting this book down and starting a new book. All these reasons are why my rating is on the low side. I could see some people enjoying this book but true fans of the mystery genre would be disappointed in this book.
  
  If this story is a murder mystery in it's true sense it's a 2.5 rating. In case this is a cozy mystery, I gave it a second rating. I'm bit more lenient with cozy murder mysteries so that's where my 2.75 rating came from.
• 
  Lauren

  An enjoyable comfort read. It was like the book version of a hot cup of good tea.
• 
  Armelle

  After her parents’ death - they were killed by a drunk driver - Siobhan gave up her chance to go to college in Dublin, instead staying in their small town to take care of her younger siblings, and to keep their family business, a small cafe, running. One year later, the body of a man is found in their cafe and Siobhan’s brother is the main suspect. Siobhan, with the dubious help of her four younger siblings, tries to find the real killer while also trying to avoid their evil landlord, and while trying to decide whether her future includes local policeman Macdara.
  
  I came very, very close to giving up on this one, but, in the end, finished it. Siobhan is the least subtle amateur detective in literary history, and her sisters and brothers are nearly unbearably clueless. She never stops to think about what she’s doing as she runs around her small town questioning everyone she meets. ...and just in case she isn’t obvious enough, her youngest brother is sure to blurt out everything she’s learned to everyone he meets.
  
  There was something about the writing style that I had trouble with at first- it didn’t quite flow- but I mostly got past that. There were a few head scratchers though - like if you gave your siblings the day off, why were they all at work when you came back from your errands? And, I might be wrong, but didn’t you say the cafe only did breakfast and lunch, so if it was after lunch, why was the cafe even open? And are Irish men really so short that Siobhan “towers over them” at 5-9?
  
  I didn’t guess who done it, and I thought that part of the plot was good. It was believable and it made sense. I just couldn’t make myself like Siobhan and family.
  
  This is probably closer to a 3 than a 2. Honestly, the 2 rating is for my future self, signifying that I probably won’t go looking for more from this series.
• 
  Colleen Chi-Girl

  I was looking for a Christmas story to enjoy this time of year. And if it wasn’t as intense and brilliant as most of the books I search out, it would be just fine.
  
  I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this audiobook!! It is my first novel by this lovely author, Carlene O’Connor, and featured Caroline Lennon, the uber talented and easy to listen to narrator.
  Check. Check.
  
  What I appreciated was really getting a feel for family life and village life in County Cork, Ireland.
  
  Everything seemed authentic, and was enjoyable and exciting. I couple of things may have been semi predictable but it was all perfect for the story that O’Connor portrayed so lovingly and well.
• 
  Mallory

  This was a bit of a slow start but overall an excellent first volume in a cozy mystery series. I liked the fictitious but realistic town of Kilbane County Cork. I also like the heavy dose of Irish lingo and culture it brought me back to my own all too brief vacation in Ireland. The characters both in the narrator’s family but the whole town were well done and the narrator’s siblings were hilarious. The mystery was interesting and I liked the twist with the specific murder weapon. I will definitely be continuing this series.
• 
  Annette

  Natalie's Bistro is the most popular place to eat in this small Irish village. It is very important to the six O'Sullivan's because it is their home as well as the business which supports them.
  
  Siobhan O'Sullivan makes wonderful brown bread and she has become the guardian of the four younger children. She is the manager of the Bistro even though her brother James is older. He is trying to over come an alcohol addiction. He helps when he can but he is not always able.
  
  All of life changed several months ago when their parents were killed in a head on collision. Since then not only has Siobhan taken over the guardianship of her younger sisters and brothers, but she has also given up her dreams of Dublin and university.
  
  The family's situation becomes even worse when a young man is found murdered in the Bistro. He somehow got in in the middle of the night. Worst of all, he is the brother of the young man who killed their parents in that terrible automobile accident. He was not someone who is welcome in the Bistro at any time.
  
  When James becomes the prime suspect, Siobhan becomes an investigator. She is familiar with the village and everyone who lives there and she is not afraid to ask hard questions. It is unthinkable that anyone in their well loved community could have committed this murder. But, if someone is a murderer Siobhan is determined to find them.
  
  This village is typical of a small town. Everyone knows everyone's business. But as she investigates, Siobhan finds that there are secrets. At times she is nearly heart sick because the people she has loved since childhood are not always who they have appeared.
  
  This plot is interesting. As each new fact is uncovered the reader is carried right along with Siobhan and her siblings. As she gets nearer to the actual villain, it appears there may be more danger than anyone expected. The youngsters in the family help with the detecting by helping with much of the work in the Bistro and even creating a list of possible suspects.
  
  Siobhan is a terrific heroine. She is so focused on clearing James that she nearly misses the fact that there is someone in the village who is attracted to her. She is a woman of humor and wit as well as intelligence. Her knowledge of the personalities of the people around her gives her an advantage but also may put her in harm's way.
  
  The secondary characters are actually not very secondary. Each of them adds so much to the story that it seems impossible to believe the book would have been as well done without every single one of them. We have the younger children in the O'Sullivan family, neighbors who have been there to help through all the troubles, a young policeman who arrests James because the evidence points to him and each of these people are important to the story. The feelings of family, love, frustration and the character of the villagers are important textural assets to the story.
  
  If I were to find any fault, it would be that at times I felt things became too wordy. But, I also recognize that wordiness provides the atmosphere and true Irish character to the book.
  
  
  This is Ms O'Connor's first book and it seems she has started off at the top of her game. She has created a hard act to follow for herself. She has give us an interesting mystery with characters who are terrific. There will be great expectations of Ms O'Connor's next book.
  
  I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley in the hope that I would write a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
  
  
  
• 
  Carlymor

  Very engaging start to this series. Siobhan O'Sullivan is now the head of her family after the tragic death of her parents the previous year, in a car crash. The man responsible for their deaths is in prison since it was determined that he was driving drunk. When his brother Niall comes to town, claiming to have proof of his brother's innocence, it's no surprise that Siobhan and her five siblings are not happy. When Niall is found murdered, Siobhan's brother James is arrested for the crime. Siobhan doesn't believe that her brother is capable of murder and sets out to prove his innocence. It doesn't help that James was blotto drunk and cannot remember where he was or what happened.
  
  This is a funny, endearing story with a pretty good mystery. Mostly I enjoyed the banter of the O'Sullivan siblings and the characters in the small village of Kilbane. Siobhan is very likable. I'll definitely be reading the next one in the series.
• 
  Cathy

  I loved this book so much!! This is one of those rare cozies / authors who make me feel like I'm spoiled for most cozies. High standards. I loved the characters and the complex mystery. I also felt very swoony over the love interest and something simple but romantic he said (can't say it but if you read this book, you'll know) it's a mystery but that was the most romantic line. Ahhhh!!! Great reading!
• 
  Linda

  I’m so glad this author was picked as the author of the month. I’d never heard of her and I really enjoyed this book. I really liked Siobhan and Macdara and I can’t wait to read more about the O’Sullivan six. The mystery totally kept me guessing and the resolution was exciting. I also loved the pronunciations and glossary at the beginning. I could used some additional words in there but it was very helpful. #readforkimberly
• 
  Anne

  Super Fun Fast Paced Irish Mystery
  
  I love the characters in this book. The O'Sullivan 6 keeps our mind racing especially at the end when it all falls together. Had to look up how to pronounce a few Irish names but that is fun
• 
  Anna Bendewald

  I enjoyed this book via Audio and found myself quickly absorbed in small town Irish life! Lots of details. A terrific book to read if you've got lots of time to get lost in a good mystery.
• 
  Nancie Lafferty

  Cozy Irish murder mystery, pink shears and terrific characters. Budding series to devour.
• 
  Barbara Rogers

  Series: Irish Village Mystery #1
  Publication Date: 2/23/16
  Audiobook Format
  
  The narrator, Caroline Lennon, makes this audiobook an absolute delight to listen to. Her enchanting Irish lilt draws you into the story and makes you feel as if you are right there in Kilbane chatting with and listening to the citizens. I tried to look up Lennon’s biography to see if she was truly Irish or if her affectation of the Irish lilt was just very believable, but I couldn’t find anything much on her. Her pacing is perfect and you can hear all of the emotions – fear, concern, love, etc. in her voice. I’ll definitely look for more books narrated by Caroline Lennon.
  
  Carlene O'Connor is a new-to-me author, but I’ll definitely look for more from her. Since her great-grandmother emigrated to the US from Ireland and the author herself splits her time between the US and Ireland, her representations of Ireland should be spot-on. The story is well-plotted, excellently written and the characters are lovely to meet. The prose is so descriptive that you can see the beauty of the Emerald Isle and commiserate with Kilbane’s inhabitants over the frequent rains.
  
  Siobhan (shi-vawn) O’Sullivan and her family, known as the O’Sullivan Six, have had a very, very, very bad year. Almost exactly a year ago her parents were killed in a car accident, she had to give up her college plans and now, she’s responsible for running the family Bistro and caring for her four younger siblings – Grainne (Grawn-ya) who is sixteen, Ann, Eoin (Owen) and Ciaran (Keeran) as well as her older, by two years, brother James who had taken to drinking.
  
  The anniversary of her parent's deaths is just a few days away when the nasty brother of the man who was convicted in the drunk-driving accident. That stirs up all of Kilbane, but especially the O’Sullivans and James in particular. James has been alcohol-free for six months, but the appearance of Niall Murphy sends him out on a temper-fueled bender. The next morning, when Niall is found in the bistro, stabbed through the heart with a pair of scissors, James is the Gardai’s (police) prime suspect. When James cannot remember any of the events from the previous evening and splatters of Niall’s blood are found on James’ clothing, he is arrested.
  
  Siobhan believes that the Gardai, including their local Garda, Macdara Flannery have focused on James and aren’t looking any further, so it is up to her to find the real killer. She starts awkwardly questioning her friends and neighbors and ends up with most of the village angry with her. That doesn’t stop her though, she has to save James. Garda Macdara, who is sweet on her, keeps asking her to back off and let the Gardai handle it, but she doesn’t trust them to really look for anyone else.
  
  There are red herrings galore, but I was pretty sure I knew who the villain was from the first or second time he/she was mentioned. It was fun to read and find out if I was right or not! Add in an American visitor to put a wrench in the budding romance and you have an interesting read!
  
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• 
  Kristine

  This is the first book in a new series and I found it very enjoyable. I enjoyed the characters and setting of the story. Siobhan and her brother, James have been taking care of their younger siblings since their parents death by a drunk driver. The family has a bistro that makes just enough money for the family to get by. One day the brother of the person accused of killing Siobhan's parents in the drunk driving accident comes back to town saying his brother didn't do it. This man ends up dead in the famly bistro and the Guarda, the local police suspect Siobhan's family. The plucky redhead is determined to solve the murder before her family ends up in jail and the family business gets shut down.
  
  I enjoyed this story very much. The first few chapters set up the backstory for the family and that was a little slow moving but once past that, the story moved at a brisk pace. I enjoyed the characters and the small town in County Cork they live in. I also enjoyed getting to know the whole family by their involvement with solving the mystery. There were some twists to the story that helped make it interesting. I can't wait to read the next book in this series.
  
  I received an advanced reader's copy of this manuscript from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
• 
  Mystereity Reviews

  I read this one for the r/CozyMystery Discord book club read, and I thought it was just....okay. A lot of the book was laying out the backstory for the characters, which is appreciated but rather than being woven into the story, it was more or less all dumped in the first 10 chapters or so before getting into the mystery part of the plot. The downside is that the mystery part of the plot was overshadowed by the plethora of intimate details of the family, making this feel less like a mystery and more like just plain fiction. Other reviewers commented that they felt the pace was too slow in the book and I agree completely. I skipped several chapters here and there when the story wasn't advancing and didn't miss much.
  
  Overall, not a bad read but not good enough to want to continue in the series.
• 
  DemetraP

  So many characters made really stupid decisions in this book. It wasn't even believable.
  
  The main character, Siobhan, suspects her little sister of sending very important text messages to the murder victim the same night he was murdered. She tells her little sister to go get her cell phone. Her brother says you know she's just going to delete those messages, right? BEFORE WE SEE THEM.
  
  And Siobhan says yes I know this being a parent thing is hard.
  
  That's just 1 example. I had been hoping for a cozy village mystery and instead everyone made such dumb decisions I did not enjoy the book.