While I enjoy Carlene O’Connor’s Irish Village mysteries, and her last one, Murder at an Irish Bakery, was the best yet, I’m drawn to her darker County Kerry series. Some of Us Are Looking is the second one to feature Irish veterinarian Dimpna Wilde and Detective Inspector Cormac O’Brien. Both characters deal with personal problems. There’s a spark between the two of them, but the closest they’ve come to igniting it is at trad performances in local pubs.

But, Bridget Sweeney and her three companions who are staying in a caravan in the small town of Camp have no problem igniting people. Bridget delights in dancing and teasing men. Her companions have two dogs and a parrot, and the locals seem upset with the group. In fact, Chris Henderson complains to the Garda, saying some man is staring at Bridget. The police ignore Henderson as they deal with the vandalism of local shops. But, Henderson may have known more than he said because someone in a black Audi runs him down in the road when he’s trying to protect two foxes.

Cormac’s guilty feelings mean he can’t take the lead in the investigation into Henderson’s death. Before anything occurred, he became involved with one of the women in the caravan. Now, there’s a murder, and they’re suspects. He has to confess what he did to Sergeant Barbara Neely so she’ll take over. And, the entire messy situation just gets worse as Dr. Wilde is dragged into the case. She’s trying to care for the foxes. That night, as she tries to leave to watch the meteor shower, Bridget shows up at the office, with a jacket covered in blood, a knife, and a wild story about a rabbit. When she’s supposed to meet Cormac at the caravan the next day, Dimpna finds a body instead, a body tied to a tree, missing a hand, with a rabbit’s foot in its place.

Cormac tries to play second fiddle to Sergeant Neely, but he’s yearning to step in as lead detective. He believes in evil people, and everything he sees in this case indicates the killer is an evil, brutal murderer. The police face a group of enraged, scared townspeople who want revenge for Henderson’s death. But, they don’t know the terrible things the killer did to the second victim. And, the more Dimpna is dragged into the case to deal with animals and local residents, the worse she feels. It’s a complex case that will only continue to stir up trouble for residents of Ireland’s Dingle Peninsula.

O’Connor is very clever in bringing back an early incident as part of the violent conclusion of the story. I’d forgotten about it. Cormac’s emotional turmoil involving his personal life, and Dimpna’s family issues are just more complications in this dark series. Some of Us Are Looking is tumultuous and violent, and, in the end, satisfying.

Carlene O’Connor’s website is https://carleneoconnor.net/

Some of Us Are Looking by Carlene O’Connor. Kensington, 2023. ISBN 9781496737557 (hardcover), 320p.

FTC Full Disclosure – I read a galley from NetGalley in order to review the book for a journal.