Book Description Review New York Times bestselling authorPraise for Fatal Roots:“Likely to appeal to readers who love Irish settings, Irish folklore, and Irish chatter.” —Kirkus Reviews “Series fans will enjoy spending time in the company of old friends.”—Publishers Weekly “The perfect cozy mystery with its small setting full of colorful characters, multiple points of intrigue, and a strong, sassy heroine.”—Foreword Reviews”Intriguing and whimsical with just the right amount of menace, Fatal Roots is a cozy mystery that’s full of surprises.”—Foreword Reviews “Satisfying…For fans of the series, but this should also work with those [who] enjoy gentle reads.”—Booklist“Plenty for cozy lovers to enjoy!”—New York Journal of Books“A superbly crafted and reader riveting novel by a master of the genre. Replete with unexpected plot twists and turns.”—Midwest Book ReviewPraise for The Lost Traveller:“This seventh in Anthony and Agatha Award nominee Connolly’s ‘County Cork Mystery’ series (after Many a Twist) is a thoughtfully executed and charmingly talkative cozy. The Irish setting is authentic, Maura is a delight, and the characters are gaining depth as this series matures.”—Library Journal starred review“Inviting…As usual, Connolly’s lively characters and lovely landscape enhance her well-wrought, thought-provoking plot. Series fans won’t be disappointed.”—Publishers Weekly“It’s the heroine’s slow awakening and the marvelous local color that make this one of the best in a fine series.”—Kirkus Reviews“The Lost Traveller is replete with unexpected plot twists and turns, colorfully memorable characters, and a gracefully embedded Irish cultural flavor.” —Midwest Book Review Read more About the Author Sheila Connolly is the Anthony and Agatha Award-nominated author of over thirty titles, including the Museum Mysteries, the Orchard Mysteries, and the County Cork Mysteries, in addition to the Relatively Dead paranormal romance e-series, the standalone books Once She Knew, a romantic suspense, and Reunion with Death, a traditional mystery set in Tuscany, as well as a number of short stories in various anthologies. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and three cats and visits Ireland as often as she can. This is her eighth County Cork mystery. Read more Customers Review: This book was so irritating that I can safely say: I am done with this series. The main character, Maura, never stopped whining and questioning herself. She was more worried about bothering other people than asking important questions. She had absolutely NO sense of humor – which is unforgivable! AND she kept repeating herself. Also unforgivable. The excess passages of strurm und drang must have been intended as full for a very thin plot. Hardly enough there for a short story.Be off with yeh, Maura Donovan.
This series runs hot and cold. Loved most, but this one has an extremely thin story and has thoughts and discussions repeating the same thoughts and recapping the very few story points over and over and over. 60% through and absolutely no further along than at 20%. Cruel Winter was almost as bad for the same reasons. I was able to skip ahead on that one and finish…but will not be finishing Fatal Roots. Rest of the series is very enjoyable and well written.
I’ve read this entire series but will certainly not be spending any more money on further installments—in fact, I really feel cheated out of $9.99 on the Kindle edition of this book. What a mess! It was obviously not edited at ALL—the repetition was dreadful throughout the book, and calling Maura’s grandfather by two different names (was he James? Or Thomas??) was inexcusable. The plot was thin at best, and when Ms. Connolly finally got to the whodunnit part at the end, I was confused as to what actually happened. I finished reading the book just because I have enjoyed the series up till now, but I won’t be wasting my time again.
Though it’s nice to have a new book in this series, this one is very short on plot and very long on repetition. It seemed like half of the story was just retellings of the same thoughts and descriptions over and over again. Connolly’s books are usually so charming, but this one was a waste of time and money. Very disappointing.
I’ve read all of Sheila’s work and boy does this book need an editor. The plot is good but it wanders and repeats and the dialog is contrived and forced. If I had read this book first I would not read another. I have really enjoyed all the rest, but this was wasted money and I would not recommend starting here
I have loved the rest of this series, but Fatal Roots was painful to struggle through. I gave it two stars simply because the plot had so much promise. It read like poor fanfiction that had not been edited. Conversations between characters duplicated in future chapters with some parts verbatim. Characters called by different names; Sean/Seth, Thomas/James. Many times it was like the author had not read the rest of the series, much less written it. Maura has always been a bit whiny, but she outdid herself in this one and she’s added snappy b*tch to the mix. Two books ago Maura talks about being in Leap “going on two years”. In Fatal Roots it’s dropped to just over a year. I believe most everyone in Ireland must know all about her story of coming from Boston. In this short story she brings it up 55 more times. Most of those repeating to people she’s been with since she arrived. Seemingly for fill we get to take part in Maura’s thoughts as she summarizes what she knows about the plot over and over and over and over and over. This kindle edition should have been 99 cents, not 9.99. Not worth the full price and leaves me not wanting to take a chance on future books even though I’ve enjoyed the rest of the series. Is it possible that the author’s first draft was released instead of the final revision??? I would love to see the Kindle version have an update correcting the errors and putting Maura back in character.
(Spoiler) Similar to the books where a body is found and then characters trying to figure out what happened. I read it in one sitting so it did keep it interesting. I took away one star because the part where it explains what happened is a bit confusing. I won’t mention the names here to try and not ruin it, but It appears like a character is given two different first names when the story is explaining what happened. It is hard to follow. The man in called one thing, then another name is mentioned and both are used later as well, but it must be the same man. Then you find out who did it, but it has a contradictory statement where it implies that man (with 2 names) and a previously mentioned character did each other in which doesn’t make sense So, as a reader, you have to just kind of straighten that part out for yourself. I assume that was missed in the qc of the book or maybe the author was trying to make it confusing or maybe she is just trying to shift the “reason for the death” on the other person. When I read these types of mysteries, I prefer to have a straight forward answer of who did it. Also, the author had different conversations between Maura and her mother where her mother kept apologizing to Maura. One conversation to explain why their relationship was the way it was for those who haven’t read the previous books would have been sufficient instead of rehashing it over and over. Overall, I enjoyed the story.
FATAL ROOTS is a County Cork Mystery written by Shelia Connolly.Boston native Maura Donovan, is living and working in the small town of Leap in County Cork in Ireland.Maura inherited a pub, Sullivan’s Pub, after the death of her grandmother. In this ‘episode’ some secrets of the past are unexpectedly revealed.The initial story outline is good. The locale is great and it is obvious that Ms. Connolly has spent time in the area. But the characters, especially Maura, are insipid. They lack life and personality. Maura’s prominent characteristic is one of complaint and she is master of the ‘whine’. She is very uninteresting. I get very impatient when reading about her. Not a cozy mystery series that I am enjoying. |
67 reviews