I wish I had discovered Lisa Alber’s County Clare mysteries before the third book. You can start with Path into Darkness, but I recommend you start with the first, Kilmoon. The relationships are complicated enough that you should meet the characters in the original atmospheric mystery.

Detective Sergeant Danny Ahern is struggling. His wife is on life-support, and his weekly trips to the hospital with his children and father-in-law are difficult. Now, there’s a murder in Lisfenora. Danny recognizes the victim as an old pub mate, but he’s horrified when he discovers a lodger in the back of the victim’s house. It seems Elder Joe was running a scheme to take in older lodgers with no nearby relatives. But, why was EJ killed?

That’s only one of Danny’s problems. One of the last people to spend time with Elder Joe is Nathan Tate, an artist who suffers from PTSD. His daughter, Zoe, tries so hard to help her father, but Nathan seems to fear her. Now, Danny tries to get answers from a troubled man who doesn’t always know the day or time.

Alber’s latest mystery is a complex story with multiple narrators, including one who is journaling, telling the story from an anonymous viewpoint for part of the book. It’s a story of death and renewal, resurrection of people and the past. It’s an atmospheric story of Ireland, filled with myth and darkness.  The characters are often as hard and mysterious as the Burren in County Clare. Path into Darkness is a fascinating story of murder and fear.

Lisa Alber’s website is www.LisaAlber.com

Path into Darkness by Lisa Alber. Midnight Ink. 2017. ISBN 9780738750576 (paperback), 384p.

*****
FTC Full Disclosure – I received the book to review for a journal.

Personal – Last year, our trip to Ireland took us to Galway, the Burren in County Clare, McGann’s Pub in Doolin, all scenes from this book. The atmospheric story brought those places back.

In The Burren

McGann’s Pub in Doolin