Top O' the Mournin'

I don't read a lot of mysteries but this one caught my eye because it's set in my favorite place in the entire world - Ireland. This book took me back for several pleasurable hours. I enjoyed several laugh-out-loud moments and just adored the main characters. Over-the-top and improbable as some other reviewers have mentioned? Perhaps, but folks this is fiction and I can promise you a great deal of enjoyment is found in this story. I am going to be looking for her first book,ALPINE FOR YOU (love the title!) and will be buying PASTA IMPERFECT as soon as it comes out.

After reading Maddy Hunter's 'Alpine For You', I looked forward to reading the 2nd in her series 'Top O The Morning'. It didn't disappoint. New adventures in another land with an elderly Iowan tour group mixed with a bunch of New Yorkers and a haunted castle and a little bit of foot fetish, death and humor abound.The setting is in Ireland and Emily is on the trail of a web-footed ghost from the past that scares the 'death' (or is it life?) out of it's victims.Etienne Miceli, who Emily fellfor in Maddy's first book, makes a surprise appearance as a member of the tour group and once again there are serious intentions on getting together in the sack. Also making a surprise appearance is Emily's gay ex-husband who adds a little spice and some complications to the mix.Emily does some sleuthing to expose the so-called ghost while trying to keep sexy Ashley, the tour guide, away from Etienne. The nasty cheapshots among the females in the group fly and makes for great entertainment. These women go right for the jugular. Many theories are concocted by Emily as to who or what is causing the deaths throughout the book but I must say I never figured it out until the very end.I am really looking forward to Maddy's next book 'Pasta Imperfect'.

Another delight! "Top O' the Mournin'" by Maddy Hunter is, like the first of this new series, another winner.From its opening and the hilarity of the faux, but momentarily believable, death of their carriage driver, to having to deal with her ex, Jack, who, having just remarried, is also honeymooning, Emily has her hands full. But, to further complicate matters, Jack is the bride. Jack has had a sex change and is now Jackie. Of course, Emily must also see to her wards, the Iowa geriatric set, who have come on the trip for the cultural experience and to see some of Ireland's charm and scenic wonders.They will also see bodies - dead bodies. They might as well get used to it. The tourers are staying in a five star hotel, a renovated castle. There are few other guests - because of tales of the "ghost" which haunts its corridors. There is a "ghost" and the seniors, again have death cross their paths. Hotel staff members turn up dead and to all appearances have been "scared to death". It turns out that they have been murdered.And there is of course Etienne, the Italian Stallion (coincidentally a detective), who helps Emily to keep her active imagination in check and to maintain her focus on her tour guide responsibilities. Etienne, not "Mother Nature", is also the source of Emily's "hot flashes". And Emily, whose heat level is continually on the rise in Etienne's presence, "suspects" she will be proposed to. After all, she and Etienne had been an "item" in Switzerland. They are again - in Ireland.As far as a mystery is concerned, I must confess the true "culprit" was unknown to me until the very end. I had suspects throughout but was wrong with each of them.A true delight - beautifully written, humorous, accurate, challenging as a mystery - an all around winner. I am anxiously awaiting "Pasta Imperfect".

I loved this book! It was so much fun to read, I couldn't stop laughing. The characters are fantastic (especially Emily and the sexy detective) and the mystery elements were well-written. I don't agree with a previous review that said the book was too "over the top." I don't think that the reviewer is very familiar with the cozy mystery genre; the characters are supposed to be endearingly eccentric. I would definitely recommend this series to Janet Evanovich fans as well as mystery readers in general. I can't wait for the next book.

After learning her husband is gay, actress Emily Andrews leaves New York to return home to Iowa where she takes a job as an escort for a bank sponsored senior citizen tours. Last year she went to Switzerland where she was involved in a triple homicide (See ALPINE FOR YOU), caught a killer, and met the love of her life Swiss Detective Etienne Micelli.This year Emily escorts seniors to Ireland where they stay at Ballybantry Castle, renovated into a hotel but rumored to be haunted. The trip begins wonderfully when Etienne shows up unexpectedly for a rendezvous but the fires burn out when two of the hotel's staff are found dead with wet webbed footsteps found near one of the bodies. Haunting cries in the night, cold spots in unexpected places, and electricity going out for no logical reason turns Emily's job into a nightmare. Meeting her former husband who had a sex change operation and is on a honeymoon complicates matters. When Emily discovers there have been over forty deaths at the castle in two years, she decides to find out who the killer is.TOP O' THE MOURNIN' is a delightful cozy that is low on gore but rich in plot and characterizations. There is plenty of slapstick humor especially when the heroine and her significant other are repeatedly interrupted during an interlude. The mystery is well constructed and the support cast yields a number of suspects, one of whom has an excellent motive for wanting to destroy the castle's reputation by making it seem better to vacate than spend a deadly vacation there.Harriet Klausner