01/14/2019

O’Connor’s pleasing fourth Irish Village mystery (after 2018’s Murder in an Irish Churchyard) finds officer Siobhán O’Sullivan and her significant other, Det. Sgt. Macdara Flannery, coping with crowds, gambling, and excessive drinking during a high-stakes poker tournament in Kilbane, County Cork. When cheating occurs, followed by the death of the renowned player dubbed the Octopus in a pub’s locked storeroom, Siobhán is skeptical about the verdict of suicide, though a note was found with the body. Suspects include the Octopus’s two rivals, a mysterious blond waitress who may have been in cahoots with the Octopus, and townspeople who bet far more than they could afford to lose. Siobhán also worries about the potential involvement of her many siblings, a reputed jewel thief in town, the state of her relationship with Macdara, and the well-being of the waitress and the Octopus’s pregnant wife. A clever twist on the locked-room mystery and the convivial village community will leave cozy readers well satisfied. Agent: Evan Marshall, Evan Marshall Agency. (Mar.)