Review: Dead in Dublin by Catie Murphy

About The Book:

Dead in Dublin (The Dublin Driver Mysteries) by Catie Murphy

In Dublin’s fair city, where the girls are so pretty, murder occurs at the feet of sweet Molly Malone . . .

Ferrying tourists around Dublin for the Leprechaun Limo Service makes quite a change after years in the military. Still, Megan Malone is enjoying her life in Ireland. She likes the scenery, the easy pace, the quirky, quick-witted locals. Everything—except having one of her clients drop dead at the statue of fabled fishmonger, Molly Malone.

Most restaurant critics notch up their share of enemies. Elizabeth Darr, however, was a well-loved international star. She and her husband, Simon, had just had dinner when Elizabeth collapsed, and spoiled seafood is the first suspect. The restaurant’s owner, worried her business is doomed, begs Megan to look into it. Between her irate boss and a handsome Garda who’s both amused and annoyed by her persistence, Megan has her hands full even before she’s cajoled into taking care of two adorable Jack Russell puppies (which she is almost definitely not keeping). But if cockles and mussels aren’t to blame, can Megan find the real culprit . . . before another fishy death occurs?

Book Links: Amazon / Barnes N Noble / Kobo / Kensington

Leo Review sm

It is always fun to get in at the beginning of a new cozy series. Dead in Dublin, the first of the Dublin Driver Mysteries by Catie Murphy, seems to give this series a great place to start. US ex-pat Megan Malone has moved to Ireland to work after retiring from 20 years of service in the military. She drives a limousine for tourists around the Dublin area and despite her cranky boss/landlord, she loves her job and the people she shuttles around. When her client dies after eating at a popular restaurant owned by one of Megan’s friends, she finds herself trying to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Megan is a classic cozy sleuth. She is curious and tenacious plus she has some soft boundaries that can get her into a bit of trouble as her enthusiastic momentum carries her forward at a steady clip.

I enjoyed learning about Dublin through the eyes of an American and truly appreciated the pronunciation guide at the beginning of the book. In the years that she has been in the city, Megan has obviously made some great and varied friendships. I look forward to learning more about these great characters and seeing how those relationships play out over the next few books. Despite Dublin being a large city with over one million residents, the author has managed to show us that the Dublin region is broken down into smaller neighborhoods and villages, so I expect the coming series will feel very much small town in its timbre as it did in the book. Couple that with lovely descriptions of local color and people with the occasional historical snippet and it turns out that driving a limo is the perfect vehicle to give the reader insight into the area and paint a beautiful backdrop for the stories.

Though her past has been lightly touched on, I would love to learn more specifics about Megan and how she ended up in Ireland to stay.

I received an ARC evaluation copies of these books from Catie Murphy, Kensington Books, and Netgalley. All opinions and insights are my own.

About The Author:

Catie Murphy, who has written numerous award-winning fantasy and Sci-fi books under the pseudonym, C. E. Murphy, began writing around age six when she submitted three poems to a school publication. The teacher producing the magazine selected (inevitably) the one she thought was by far the worst, but also told her—a six-year-old kid—to keep writing, which she has. She has also held the usual grab-bag of jobs often seen in an authorial biography, including public library volunteer (at ages 9 and 10; it’s clear she was doomed to a career involving books), archival assistant, cannery worker, and web designer. Writing books is better. She was born and raised in Alaska and now lives with her family in her ancestral homeland of Ireland.