In Dublin's Fair City

Rhys Bowen never disappoints in this latest installment of the Molly Murphy series. As Molly returns to Ireland we find her in a fast paced adventure as she seeks to solve a case and help get her brother out of jail. This series is one of my favorites (along with Victoria Thompson). You will finish the book wishing that you knew these people.

We return to New York City in the early 1900s to find Molly Murphy, private investigator, struggling with internal and external issues. She and her lover Daniel are on edge, awaiting Daniel's trial and/or exoneration from multiple crimes, which is causing them to review their feelings for one another and their relationship. Molly is also working to keep her private investigative agency alive, but cases are few and far between. When Molly's friend Ryan introduces her to self-made New York theater mogul Tommy Burke, she decides that Tommy's case is just the thing for her. She needs the money, and she also could use the break from her current situation - the case is in Ireland. We follow the 6th installment of Molly's life in New York straight back to Ireland, the land she fled as a wanted criminal two years prior, after almost killing a man who attacked her. Molly decides that she is safe enough to return with a common name and to a different area of Ireland unannounced - until her plan flies out the porthole. Upon boarding the ship, she is approached by famous actress, Oona Sheehan, with a strange request - to replace Oona on the ship so that Oona may have a respite from her own fame. Molly agrees, thinking it not much of a hardship to stay in a first class cabin for a week. However, after 6 days at sea, Molly decides to attend the costume party anonymously only to return to the cabin to find her maid dead - in the other costume she'd tried on. Molly's ruse as Oona is exposed, but she remains a suspect even as she lands on her home soil to pursue her own case. She is nostalgic, but aware of her status change as she tries to move amongst the people she used to live with. As she follows the leads for Tommy's case, she somehow manages to become entwined with many (now) well-known names and with the Irish Republican movement, unknowingly making herself a mark for murder. Bowen's work doesn't disappoint, and she is a master storyteller who is able to keep the reader guessing. However, I highly suggest reading her previous Molly novels in order to catch all the back history and nuances that are inherent in Molly's return to Ireland, not to mention her history with Daniel Sullivan. Thank you, Rhys, for another wonderful mystery featuring America's favorite immigrant investigator!

The first of this series was "Murphy's Law." Each book seems to me to be better than the last. My suggestion is to get all six, arrange them in order, and go on a reading binge. Although this book takes place in Ireland, most of this series takes place in turn of the century New York...a wonderful setting for historical novels. If you like historical mysteries, you will like these.

In Dublin's Fair City by Rhys Bowen is the most recent book in the Molly Murphy mystery series. As often happens within a long-running series, Bowen removes Molly from her familiar environs to create new crises and advance character development. This works very well with Molly Murphy who returns home to Ireland to investigate a long-lost sister of a wealthy Irish-American theater producer. Molly needs the opportunity to get out of New York for awhile and reevaluate her feelings for her off-and-on paramour Daniel Sullivan. So she jumps at the opportunity to return to her homeland, and instead finds herself in the middle of a missing actress, a murdered maid, and the Irish movement for independence. Bowen juggles the multiple stories remarkably well and manages to ties them all together in an almost completely believable way. I love Molly's foibles and her refusal to be treated as second class. She realizes that she's not much of a detective but never gives up. She's one of the most realistic, truly human characters in cozy mysteries today. This was a fantastic read, one of those books that's hard to put down, but when I was done and preparing the review a few holes in the plausibility started showing. So it's one of those books to read and enjoy, and don't spend a lot of time thinking about later. But don't miss it, Molly Murphy (and Rhys Bowen) are truly a joy to read.

Rhys Bowen delights the reader with her unique style of captivating our hearts and minds when writing of Molly Murphy. Molly is there for the long haul - no matter the situation or the case she undertakes in her fledgling New York City detective agency. Molly is able to take care of business and family and friends at all times, just by her wits and cleverness and good sense. There is only one negative about the entire Molly Murphy series for which Rhys Bowen cannot seem to manage a solution - the book is over far too quickly!! The reader wants to "play with Molly" just a little longer, because being in her presence, the reader shares the fun and quirkiness of Molly's life. Anyone who follows the series is not too sure of a long-term future Molly might have with Daniel Sullivan, the love interest we've embraced through six books, Murphy's Law, Death of Riley, For the Love of Mike, In like Flynn, Oh Danny Boy and now the delightful, In Dublin's Fair City. But most assuredly, the intrigue Bowen creates will cause you to champion her next book, whenever it arrives. If you want a little fun diversion in your reading, something joyful and fascinating, start with the first book and take the carnival ride through the entire series. You will not regret it - in fact, you will love the experience like a fond memory of that wonderful "day at the beach".