Fatal Roots

The County Cork Mysteries, Book 8

By: Sheila Connolly

Narrated by: Amy Rubinate

Some secrets are too big to stay buried.

A few months ago, Boston expat Maura Donovan was reunited with her mother after more than 20 years of absence. Since then, Maura has been getting accustomed to Irish living, complete with an inherited house and a pub named Sullivan’s. But now, her mother has returned - and she’s brought Maura’s half-sister in tow. To make matters more confusing, a handful of Cork University students are knocking on Maura’s door, asking about a mystical fairy fort that happens to be located on Maura’s piece of land.

The lore indicates that messing with the fort can cause bad luck, and most everyone is telling Maura not to get too involved for fear of its powers, but Maura is curious about her own land, and she definitely doesn’t buy into the superstition. Then one of the students disappears after a day of scoping out the fort on Maura’s property.

Maura treads carefully, asking the folks around town who might have an idea, but no one wants anything to do with these forts. She has to take matters into her own hand - it’s her land, after all. But when she uncovers a decades-old corpse buried in the center of the fort, nothing is for certain.

©2020 Sheila Connolly (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

Not as good as others in series

Connolly continues her series with characters set in a current day small Irish village and pub. The descriptions of the setting make me think of all the lovely green Irish countryside from movies and TV shows, and those descriptions put a smile on my face. There is a little Irish folklore, some historical political descriptions, and of course a murder. I enjoyed the story, but found the writing extremely repetitious. Both the thoughts and dialogue of a couple of the characters were repeated NUMEROUS times, and not always even in different manners. I almost quit listening about half way thru the book because of this steady repetition, but I have enjoyed the previous books in the series enough to stick it out until the end.

Repetitive

I like this series but this book bugged me with how many times she repeated her story. And she is kind of whiny.

Lacking continuity!

Changing/revealing the true circumstances of Maura's grandfather's death makes sense. Maura's visit to his grave was a pivotal point earlier in the series, so pretending it never happened somewhat spoiled the ending plotline.

Ok plot , tedious repetition

I’ve listened to all of these and enjoyed them enough to keep going. However this one seemed to use repetitious internal & external dialogue as filler more than previously. The plot could have been made more complex but wasn’t. The main character needs to grow after a year plus in her new situation in Ireland yet she says “I don’t know” a ridiculous number of times. And she has the same exchanges about the same topics with the same people. Please get another editor!

well paced continuation of county cork mystery ser

I love Connolly's understated style, no attempt to shock the reader into attentionv. Write on!

Repetitive

The central character ruminated & was very repetitive. She was quite indecisive. The story could have been 2 hours shorter.

Good Story - Whiny Protagonist

I have listened and re-listened to this series. I like the story and the narrator, I wish the author would allow the Protagonist to mature and stop being so whiny. I have high hopes for the next book!

Love the mystery, not a fan of the main character

I love the setting and mysteries, but the main character, Maura, is very two dimensional. She has no curiosity, no insight, snaps at people for no reason, and hasn’t grown over the course of the series. It’s frustrating because these books could be so good.

Grow Up Already

I love these books, I really do. However, this millennial is the worst, she hates computers, she hates cell phones, she cannot learn how to cook, run a business or a relationship, after a year? The continual replay of facts and constant self reflection, yet this woman knows nothing about herself? She is supposed to be in her mid-twenties and has no ambition to move forward. Ok, she came from Boston she had nothing, but now she has a year of having a lot and is still whining about being an outsider and not knowing anything. If there is a next book and this character cannot develop past her 15 year old sisters maturity level and learn some things, become a little more savvy then I think I will be done too.

Love characters, but the endless questions with no initiative to find answers is annoying

I love the characters of this series and the earlier stories. This book and the last one though, Maura spends way too much time asking questions and saying she doesn’t know anything. Why doesn’t she find out! Read, research, learn from others. For example, why can’t she check official records to find out exactly where her land is? Why doesn’t she read some books in Irish history? Why doesn’t she read about setting up a restaurant or go talk to people who can instruct her. Gets annoying! Please correct this or I am not sure Incan listen to another book.