Bogmail

I first read Bogmail over 20 years ago and recently picked it up again. Fortunately I didn't recall too much of the plot but what I could recall was that it made me laugh out loud then and sure enough it did again. This is a mystery but it is also an incredibly comical look at life in a small Irish village. It has some of the most amusing dialogue I've read anywhere as the various local characters philosophize over pints of stout at the local pub. The dialogue is witty and would have made a great screenplay so I'm surprised this was never picked up as a film. The people are all real "characters" and the story , set in rural Donegal , digresses enough to include philosophical musings by the local inhabitants as well as an Englishman recently transplanted. The mystery aspect of this story moves the plot along briskly but the real joy of this book is the interaction between the characters. A hard book to find but well worth the effort.

I have this one on my "mystery listmania list" (go there for the best mysteries of all time!) with good reason -- it's one of the top (and more humorous) mysteries that I've ever read, a real sleeper! If you're a mystery buff at all, be sure to glean this singular treasure from the heap. I love finding an obscure work like this and being pleasantly surprised as I was in this instance. I originally found it at the library, then I bought a copy so I could read it over and over. I hope, when this fine story is made into a film, that they don't change a single word.

Bogmail is an unclaimed jewel of a book. Why this story has never been snapped up by Hollywood I cannot understand (although BBC Northern Ireland did a TV adaptation in 992, the ridiculously named 'Murder in Eden') The characters are well crafted and believable, particularly the central figure, Roarty the pub landlord. Some of the dialogue had my belly aching with laughter. A thoroughly recommended book for lovers of Ireland and the Irish. Five star excellence.

This is a truly funny, witty and stunningly well-told story of murder in a small Irish village near Donagal. Charming characters, inane but clever conversations abound. Well worth the read!