A review by morelikeaflower
Cruel Winter: A Cork County Mystery by Sheila Connolly

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.