Few protagonists have ever managed to draw me in as quickly as Siobhan O’Sullivan in Carlene O’Connor’s Murder at an Irish Bakery. The Garda of Kilbane is to provide security at a bakery competition at the old mill bakery called Pie Pie Love, which is a dream assignment for the pastry addicted Siobhan. While she takes her duty seriously, Siobhan is also delighted with the prospects of samples a-plenty of both confections and coffee. Her enthusiasm is infectious, and I found myself needing a little tasty treat as I read her very relatable internal musings about her sampling expectations. Sadly, things aren’t all cakes and lemon tarts.
A protestor causes a ruckus before the competition even begins and his sudden and alarming departure by ambulance sets the tone for the rest of the run of the competition. Then, while the first death has everyone on alert, there is very little reason to suspect foul play. Even so, Siobhan does her due diligence to protect the town from any potentially contaminated products until they know for certain what the cause was. Once the second victim winds up dead in their own confection, it is clear that there has to be something more going on and that a killer is indeed creeping about the confectioners. From corny and lewd announcers attempting to ham up the humor for the cameras to deaths unrelated to chocolate cake, the Garda of Kilbane are kept on their toes from the first chapter.
Siobhan’s supportive, and equally pastry driven husband, Macdara, adds a playful aspect to Siobhan’s investigation as well. In fact at times it seems Siobhan has to help her dear Detective Sergeant husband rein in his own desire for cakes and pies so he can focus on the case. Together, they think that it might be safest to just close down the competition after the second death. However, they also agree it would give the killer perfect opportunity to escape. Added to that is the fact that Fia O’Farrells desperately needs the competition to go without a hitch to save her bakery, it is decided that the show will literally and figuratively go on. But while it does, the Garda continue to search for the killer and answers, often to the interruption and annoyance of the bakers and competition organizers. No matter how inconvenient it is, Siobhan and the Garda take their mission of catching the killer and keeping the others safe very seriously. They just happen to prefer to do so with a few treats along the way. Relatable.
While law enforcement officials stuffing their faces with doughnuts is a well-known stereotype, Carlene O’Connor manages to convey Siobhan’s genuine love of confections without condemning her to that mold. Siobhan clearly knows there is a time for cake and a time to hunt killers, the latter of which always takes precedent. This is the ninth installment in Carlene O’Connor’s An Irish Village series. Readers are not kept in the dark as to the other characters in the book, but are left wanting to know a bit more about each. Luckily, there are eight other books to get those answers from. I know I’m looking forward to the sweet toothed Detective’s future adventures. – Carla Schantz
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Carla Schantz is a Courthouse Clerk Supervisor and has a bachelor’s degree in English as well as a master’s in legal studies. Books have been a passion of hers since she was young, and she is a firm believer in the purse book so that she is never without a book at any time.