I never saw the final twist coming in Carlene O’Connor’s Murder in an Irish Garden. Although the villain always seemed one step ahead of the Gardai in Kilbane, County Cork, Ireland, the final reveal came as a surprise to me. Perfectly logical, but it came as a surprise. I love that in a mystery, especially when I’ve been following the series for years.
Garda Siobhan O’Sullivan is preparing for the Detective Sergeant’s exam, but she’s snappish with her husband, Macdara, who is only trying to help her prepare. She probably needs the break offered by Kilbane’s Top Garden Contest. As she accompanies the judge and the contestants to the gardens on the first day of the contest, she’s appalled to see the havoc created by someone who vandalized every garden.
Sean Bell is missing when they arrive at his garden first, but they find him locked in his garden shed. He swears he was there overnight when someone ravished the garden, replacing a black bell with a gold one. As Siobhan moves from garden to garden, she finds each one in terrible shape, and one item from each garden replaced by a gold figure. It’s only when they get to Cassidy Ryan’s garden that the vandalism crimes become worse. Cassidy was the only professional landscape designer in the contest, and she was disliked for that. Now, she’s the only dead designer, and the police found the body.
The villain sends the Gardai on a merry chase from garden to garden, pub and restaurant to a landscape center. Fortunately, a local reporter interviewed all the gardeners before the contest, and the police have access to those interviews. But, the clues could lead right back to that reporter.
As I said, I never saw the ending coming. It was excellent, and surprising. As usual, O’Connor brings the O’Sullivan Six, Siobhan’s family, into the final picture. Her brother, Eoin’s, restaurant is about to open, and the family comes home, which breaks Siobhan’s heart. She wants to keep them from growing up, and keep them safe. But, Kilbane wasn’t safe for Cassidy Ryan, the victim, and it won’t always be a safe refuge.
As always with this ongoing series, it’s easier to read Murder in an Irish Garden if you’re already following along.
Carleen O’Connor’s website is https://carleneoconnor.net/
Murder in an Irish Garden by Carleen O’Connor. Kensington, 2025. ISBN 9781496744456 (hardcover), 304p.
FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher allowed me to read a free galley through NetGalley, with no promise of a positive review.
