The Irish are deeply passionate about their kinsmen, their country, their culture, and their way of life, as this collection of mysteries so richly illustrates. Slow to anger and equally slow to forgive at times, the children of the Emerald Isle have had planty of experience on both sides of the law. The sixteen stories of Irish crime and mystery in this volume tell of good and bad men and women--heroes and villians both. All feature characters for whom being Irish is more than just a state of mind--it's a way of life.

The luck of the Irish runs out for a professional poker player in this mystery set in County Cork that will “will leave cozy readers well satisfied” (Publishers Weekly). A poker tournament in the small village of Kilbane in County Cork is drawing players from across the country, but none more famous than Eamon Foley. A tinker out of Dublin, he’s called the Octopus for playing like he has eight hands under the table. But when Foley is found at the end of a rope, swinging from the rafters of Rory Mack’s pub, it’s time for the garda to take matters into their own hands. Detective Sargent Macdara Flannery would lay odds it’s a simple suicide—after all, there’s a note and the room was locked. But officer Siobhán O’Sullivan suspects foul play, as does Foley’s very pregnant widow. Soon it’s up to Siobhán to call a killer’s bluff, but if she doesn’t play her cards right, she may be the next one taken out of the game.

In the 7th Century, King Oswy of Northumbria convenes a synod to hear debate between the Roman and Celtic churches. He has to decide which shall be granted primacy in his kingdom. When an abbess from the Celtic church is murdered, an investigation is launched by Sister Fidelma, Celtic, and Brother Eadfulf, Roman.

In 666 A.D., Fidelma of Cashel joins a group of pilgrims on a ship leaving Ireland for Spain. On the first night out, a pilgrim disappears, but was he washed overboard or murdered?

In a remote—and superstitious—village in County Cork, Ireland, Garda Siobhán O'Sullivan must solve a murder where the prime suspects are fairies . . . Family is everything to Siobhán, which now includes her fiancé Macdara Flannery. So when his cousin Jane frantically calls for help, the two garda rush from Kilbane to the rural village where Jane and her mother have recently moved. When they arrive, they find Jane in a state outside the cottage. Inside, Aunt Ellen lies on her bed in a fancy red dress, no longer breathing. A pillow on the floor and a nearby teacup suggest the woman has been poisoned and smothered. The local villagers, who are devout believers in Irish folklore, insist the cottage is cursed—built on a fairy path. Although the townsfolk blame malevolent fairies, Siobhán and Macdara must follow the path of a murderer all too human—but just as evil . . . “Plenty of surprising twists and oodles of Irish charm make this an entertaining read.” —Kirkus Reviews

They are some of Ireland's most famous names, for all the wrong reasons. They are Ireland's missing women, many of them murdered and their bodies hidden by evil killers who remain at large. They include Annie McCarrick, who was murdered in the Dublin-Wicklow mountains; Jo Jo Dullard, who was abducted and murdered while hitching a lift in Co. Kildare; and Fiona Pender, who was seven months pregnant when she was murdered and hidden at an unknown place in the midlands. And then there are Ireland's missing children. What ever happened to little Mary Boyle, last seen walking near her grandparents' home in Co. Donegal? And where is Philip Cairns, who was abducted from a Co. Dublin roadside while walking to school? Missing is a disturbing book, but it is also a tribute to the remarkable bravery of ordinary families who have lost a loved one in the most cruel and unexplained of circumstances.

In the first installment of bestselling author Carlene O'Connor's new Home to Ireland Mystery series, New York Tara Meehan's first trip to Galway, Ireland may be her last. Jump right into the beauty and splendor—and murder—of Tara’s Irish adventure! With a gorgeous setting, suspicious characters, and a deadly mystery—Murder in Galway will have you packing your bags… Tara never imagined her introduction to Ireland like this—carrying her mam's ashes to honor her final request: "Tell Johnny I'm sorry...Take me home." She's never met her mam's estranged brother, Johnny Meehan, who owns an architectural salvage business in Galway. Although Tara is immediately charmed by the medieval city, the locals seem wary of strangers and a gypsy warns her that death is all around. When Tara arrives at her uncle's stone cottage, the prophesy seems true. A dead man lies sprawled over the threshold in a pool of blood. The victim turns out to be Johnny's wealthiest client, and her missing uncle is the garda's number-one suspect. In trying to find Johnny and solve the crime, Tara uncovers her mam and uncle's troubled past. But with a desperate killer about, she had better mind herself, or they'll be tossing her ashes in Galway Bay...