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theavidreaderandbibliophile's review
3.0
Cruel Winter by Sheila Connolly is the sixth book in A County Cork Mystery series. Maura Donovan owns Sullivan’s Pub in Leap, Ireland. Maura inherited the pub from Old Mick Sullivan nine months ago, after the death of her grandmother. This is Maura’s first winter is Ireland and she is unprepared (she had originally only planned to spend a week in Ireland). Maura heads to Sullivan’s to check in with Mick Nolan, her bartender. A big snow storm is expected to come through that night and Maura is unsure what to do to prepare for it (she is from Boston where they have big snowstorms frequently). It turns out that other people do not want to stay home alone during the storm and decide to visit the pub. One of pub’s patrons turns out to be Diane Wolfe Caldwell. Diane was questioned in the murder of her neighbor, Sharon Morgan twenty years ago. In the court of public opinion, Diane was found guilty. The murder is still unsolved. Maura decides that this is the perfect opportunity to hear Diane’s story and get some answers (Maura wants to prove that Diane did not commit the crime).
Cruel Winter is nicely written and can be read alone (the author provides the necessary background information on Maura and how she ended up in Ireland). I did, though, find the pace of the novel to be extremely slow. The story takes place over the course of one day (a very long, drawn out day). I give Cruel Winter 3 out of 5 stars. The mystery is one that plays out over the course of the novel. Most readers will be able to figure out the whodunit before the reveal. I did find some elements of the story to be unrealistic. Maura knew winter was coming, but she has no winter clothes (wouldn’t you purchase some clothes if you did not bring them with you). Maura has been responsible for the pub for nine months, but she has no clue how it is run. I found it odd that after living in Boston, Maura has no idea on how to prepare for a storm (making sure you have fuel, food, batteries, blankets, water). There is some information that is repeated throughout the novel (how Maura only planned to stay in Ireland one week and facts about the murder). For some reason, Maura felt it necessary to keep recapping the facts presented about the murder. I found Cruel Winter to be atypical for Sheila Connolly. I have read her other cozy mysteries and enjoyed them. In future books of A County Cork Mystery series I would like to see Maura start to grow up and take responsibility. In Cruel Winter, we do get to catch up with Jimmy, Rose, Mick, Gillian, Harry, Sean, Eveline, and Old Billy.
Cruel Winter is nicely written and can be read alone (the author provides the necessary background information on Maura and how she ended up in Ireland). I did, though, find the pace of the novel to be extremely slow. The story takes place over the course of one day (a very long, drawn out day). I give Cruel Winter 3 out of 5 stars. The mystery is one that plays out over the course of the novel. Most readers will be able to figure out the whodunit before the reveal. I did find some elements of the story to be unrealistic. Maura knew winter was coming, but she has no winter clothes (wouldn’t you purchase some clothes if you did not bring them with you). Maura has been responsible for the pub for nine months, but she has no clue how it is run. I found it odd that after living in Boston, Maura has no idea on how to prepare for a storm (making sure you have fuel, food, batteries, blankets, water). There is some information that is repeated throughout the novel (how Maura only planned to stay in Ireland one week and facts about the murder). For some reason, Maura felt it necessary to keep recapping the facts presented about the murder. I found Cruel Winter to be atypical for Sheila Connolly. I have read her other cozy mysteries and enjoyed them. In future books of A County Cork Mystery series I would like to see Maura start to grow up and take responsibility. In Cruel Winter, we do get to catch up with Jimmy, Rose, Mick, Gillian, Harry, Sean, Eveline, and Old Billy.
sjgrodsky's review
4.0
Enjoyable mystery, though (spoiler alert) perpetrator comes out of left field. No way you could have guessed.
Have no idea if portrait of village Irish is accurate or not. Also don’t know if dialog (book is mostly dialog) accurately reproduces Irish speech patterns, though I found the constructions charming.
I picked this book off the library shelf more or less at random, but found enough here to look for County Cork #1.
Have no idea if portrait of village Irish is accurate or not. Also don’t know if dialog (book is mostly dialog) accurately reproduces Irish speech patterns, though I found the constructions charming.
I picked this book off the library shelf more or less at random, but found enough here to look for County Cork #1.
nursenell's review
5.0
A rare Irish blizzard has confined Maura to her pub along with a few regulars and some strangers stranded by the storm. Will they solve a 20 year old cold case murder?
hijinx_abound's review
Dnf. I've never tried "cozy mystery" before. I don't think it's for me.
govmarley's review
2.0
Maura, I think I might be done with you. Your utter lack of curiosity, your failure to grow as a person, and your complete cluelessness about being an adult is wearing on my last nerve. Seriously. You inherit a pub, but don't have the curiosity to explore it from top to bottom? Here it is, 9 months later, and you are all, "I've never been in the basement. I had no idea we had a working kitchen. What could possibly be in these rooms upstairs?" You are dumb. You have two men interested in you but you try to turn a blind eye. Grow a pair and let them know you aren't interested, for pete's sake, or go out with one of them, or both of them, but stop acting like a doe-eyed innocent, you dolt. You have no clue how to run the pub, you know nothing about the music scene, but just stumble along, letting life happen for you.
Also, this case was ridiculous and Maura is ridiculous, and how it all played out is ridiculous. You'll get one more chance with book 6, but if you can't show some character growth, I'm packing my bags and leaving Ireland.
Also, this case was ridiculous and Maura is ridiculous, and how it all played out is ridiculous. You'll get one more chance with book 6, but if you can't show some character growth, I'm packing my bags and leaving Ireland.
monisha19's review
2.5
It was good. I really liked the whole story however i am rating it only 2.5 for a simple reason i didn't enjoy the ending.. it was really twisty and interesting and the end was such a let down...end was soooo blah ..i would definitely change it
morelikeaflower's review
4.0
I found the premise really intriguing; the pacing also felt a bit slower (in a good way) than some of the other books in this series. At the same time, though, this premise feels done before, and it feels “done before” in the sense that it is reminiscent of the Halloween episode of Dawson’s Creek or Pretty Little Liars. That is, it’s obviously playing on tropes, but I’m not sure if it really does anything new or reworks those tropes in a new way. However, I’m not entirely sure this is a bad thing, because I think it does lend a coziness to the story. It’s familiar, even if the details of the mystery aren’t. And boy are the actual details of this mystery and the way it plays out pretty fascinating.
felecia's review
4.0
A rare snowstorm brings a stranger accused of murder two decades ago into the pub for shelter.
mchavarria228's review
3.0
This was the first book I've read in the County Cork Mystery series and also my first book by Sheila Connolly. The book series is about Boston native, Maura Donovan, who has moved to Ireland after her grandmother's death, and now is the owner of a pub in town after she inherited it from her grandmother's friend. Winter has moved in, and moved in fast. Snow has stranded about 10 people in the pub overnight, with nothing else to do than solve a twenty year old murder mystery.
That in itself, sounds like a great book to me. I liked the characters, the town, and the murder mystery story a lot. The characters had great depth, and I really felt like I knew them. I want to know where Rose, Mick, and Gillian's stories go. The town sounds like a place I want to visit. I want these people to be my neighbors!
However, this was really hard for me to read. I felt like a lot of the book was characters just repeating themselves. They even said a few times, "Like I said before..." Or they would recap (often) where they left off before taking a break. This caused me to skim some pages, because I didn't want to read the same things again, but I didn't miss anything by doing this either.
I really wanted to like this more, because the murder mystery story is a really interesting one... And I definitely didn't know who had dunnit. But it did leave my a little disappointed.
I received this book from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.
That in itself, sounds like a great book to me. I liked the characters, the town, and the murder mystery story a lot. The characters had great depth, and I really felt like I knew them. I want to know where Rose, Mick, and Gillian's stories go. The town sounds like a place I want to visit. I want these people to be my neighbors!
However, this was really hard for me to read. I felt like a lot of the book was characters just repeating themselves. They even said a few times, "Like I said before..." Or they would recap (often) where they left off before taking a break. This caused me to skim some pages, because I didn't want to read the same things again, but I didn't miss anything by doing this either.
I really wanted to like this more, because the murder mystery story is a really interesting one... And I definitely didn't know who had dunnit. But it did leave my a little disappointed.
I received this book from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.
mystereity's review
4.0
Read this and all of my reviews at Mystereity Reviews
Although spring is around the corner, winter isn't giving up so easily in County Cork, and a blizzard strands Maura and several others at the pub, including a woman who was suspected in a murder 20 years ago. Unable to leave the pub, they all gather to pick apart every detail of the crime, revealing a decades old secret and new revelations that could bring a killer to justice.
This was an outstanding read with a fresh, original plot that drew me in and kept me turning pages. There's no stumbling over a dead body here; instead, a cold case is poured over and debated. It was almost Agatha Christie-ish, simple, yet complex in a locked room setting.
The setting is quaint and inviting, a small Irish pub with a peat fire, a lively atmosphere, the regulars bellying up to the bar, the musicians cranking out Irish tunes, Rose in the kitchen cobbling together meals for everyone, and especially Ol' Billy, in his usual chair by the fire. All well described and vivid, it's not tough to envision the scene at Sullivan's Pub.
Overall, Cruel Winter is an enjoyable escape, with an unconventional plot that will keep cozy mystery fans guessing with each page. This book can be read as a standalone, or as an entry into the series, but I recommend reading the whole series.
Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley for an advance copy of the book in return for my honest review
Although spring is around the corner, winter isn't giving up so easily in County Cork, and a blizzard strands Maura and several others at the pub, including a woman who was suspected in a murder 20 years ago. Unable to leave the pub, they all gather to pick apart every detail of the crime, revealing a decades old secret and new revelations that could bring a killer to justice.
This was an outstanding read with a fresh, original plot that drew me in and kept me turning pages. There's no stumbling over a dead body here; instead, a cold case is poured over and debated. It was almost Agatha Christie-ish, simple, yet complex in a locked room setting.
The setting is quaint and inviting, a small Irish pub with a peat fire, a lively atmosphere, the regulars bellying up to the bar, the musicians cranking out Irish tunes, Rose in the kitchen cobbling together meals for everyone, and especially Ol' Billy, in his usual chair by the fire. All well described and vivid, it's not tough to envision the scene at Sullivan's Pub.
Overall, Cruel Winter is an enjoyable escape, with an unconventional plot that will keep cozy mystery fans guessing with each page. This book can be read as a standalone, or as an entry into the series, but I recommend reading the whole series.
Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley for an advance copy of the book in return for my honest review