veternarian

Carlene O’Connor: Bury the Wren

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County Kerry #5

I’m a big fan of this series, and I love the folklore that illuminated this particular instalment.  The books are set in tiny Dingle, Ireland, where veterinarian Dimpna Wilde has returned home from the big city of Dublin to run her father’s veterinary practice. While the veterinary parts of this novel were not as front and center as they are in some of the other books, the St. Stephen’s Day celebration that sets the story makes the book a memorable read.

In Ireland, on St. Stephen’s Day (December 26), the townsfolk celebrate with parades and pub crawls, centered on the “Wren Boys” who are dressed in straw and paint their faces green.  In folklore, the wren betrayed St. Stephen’s hiding place by chattering.  Wrens are carried in effigy by the wren boys (in modern times, stuffed versions, though wrens used to be actually hunted).  That sets the scene when Dimpna finds a taxidermized wren on the steps of her practice, and it gives her a chill as she starts off to town to meet her boyfriend, Cormac, to watch the parade. read more

Margaret Mizushima: Standing Dead

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Book eight of this strong, enjoyable and very readable series finds Mattie Wray on the precipice of avenging the family trauma that made her childhood an extremely difficult one.  Two books back (Hanging Falls) Mattie at last reunited with her long lost sister; in the previous installment, Striking Range, she reunites with her mother.  As this book opens, she and her sister are heading to Mexico to see their mother together, but when they arrive, she and her husband have vanished.

There’s quite a bit of backstory to wade through at the beginning of the book.  To set the stage for a new reader, Mattie is an officer in the Timber Creek, Colorado, police department, where she works with her K-9 companion, Robo, who always has a key role in the stories.  Mattie is involved (and on the verge of marrying) the local vet, Cole, and his veterinary work and family are part of the strong backstory of the novels that ground the books, making them pack an emotional and relatable punch. read more