Despite allusions to Buffalo Police Detective Lauren Riley’s Icelandic adventures in A Full Cold Moon, there’s no reason a newcomer to the series can’t pick up The Parting Glass. I admit that it’s more interesting if you’re already familiar with Lauren’s tendency to go rogue, and her work partner’s attempts to keep her in line, but she’s not working for the police department in this latest book. So, head to Ireland with Lauren Riley and Shane Reese in the search for an invaluable painting.

At one time or another Lauren and Shane have both been on work-related injury lists. When one of them is out, the other partner on Buffalo’s Cold Case Squad keeps them in the loop. This time, though, Lauren’s doctor won’t approve her return to work until she recuperates and does rehab for six months. Her lungs are too damaged as a result of being stabbed in the side. Who can expect her to sit around for six months? Instead, she renews her private investigator license, and turns down the ordinary PI cases of following spouses and looking for people cheating on workers’ comp.

When Sharon Whitney calls, Lauren is intrigued by her case. When Sharon and her husband, Howard, were divorcing twenty years earlier, they fought over a small painting by Picasso. One night, Howard was brutally attacked, and the painting disappeared. The police suspected James Breen, an employee. When he was cleared, he returned to his hometown in Ireland. No one has seen the painting in the last twenty years. Sharon hires Lauren to travel to Keelnamara on Ireland’s west coast, and find the painting. Jimmy Breen has died, and Sharon bought his cottage so her PI can search the cottage. With Sharon Whitney paying all the expenses, including the cost of a B&B, Lauren hires her partner, Shane, asking him to take vacation and work with her. It’s only the search for a missing painting, right?

Nothing is simple when it comes to Lauren Riley’s cold cases. Everyone in the small town of Keelnamara knows about the Picasso. When the Garda reveal that Jimmy Breen was killed, the cold case robbery becomes an active homicide investigation. And, everyone in Keelnamara is suspect, even the local Garda.

The relationship between Lauren and Shane is always an issue. Shane is younger than Lauren, but when she needed help, he took care of her. When he was injured in the line of duty, he moved in with her. There has always been an attraction, but neither of them have ever acted on it. Neither wants to ruin their friendship. And, there’s an unexpected turn in this book that keeps the reader unsure about the future. Time and again, they’ve saved each other from physical harm. What about emotional?

I’ve always been a fan of cold cases. Lissa Marie Redmond was a cold case homicide detective, so the books feel authentic. In The Parting Glass, Lauren and Shane are on unfamiliar territory, in a community where they know no one. When their cold case robbery becomes an active homicide investigation, they find themselves closed off from part of their case. In this small community, Lauren and Shane view even the local Garda as a suspect. It’s a strong person who can ignore a painting now worth twenty million dollars. Redmond combines an investigation and the beauty of Ireland in an intriguing mystery with several surprises.

Lissa Marie Redmond’s website is https://lissamarieredmond.com/

The Parting Glass by Lissa Marie Redmond. Severn House, 2021. ISBN 9780727891310 (hardcover), 240p.

Do you know the song “The Parting Glass”? There’s debate whether the popular folk song is Irish or Scottish, but it’s popular in Ireland and Scotland. Here’s the late George Donaldson, a Scot, singing “The Parting Glass”.

FTC Full Disclosure – I received a .PDF to review for a journal.