Death of an Irish Mummy by Catie Murphy

Reviewed by Jeanne  

The third entry in the Dublin Driver series has limo driver Megan Malone hired to drive a fellow American around in search of her Irish roots.  Pretty impressive roots too, if Cherise Williams is to be believed: she says she is the heir to an Irish earl.  All she needs to prove it is for the priest to dig up one of the old earls and let Cherise get a DNA sample.

Naturally, this request doesn’t go over well. 

It’s not like Americans laying claim to Irish titles (and castles) is a rare thing. Megan hasn’t lived in Ireland that long, and she’s already seen her fair share.  Most are bogus or at least unsubstantiated, based on family lore and nothing else.  Megan rather assumes this is the case here as well.

However at least one person must believe there’s some truth to it.  Otherwise, why would Cherise end up murdered and her notebook stolen?

I enjoy books set in Ireland, especially when it seems that the author really knows what she’s talking about, and it feels as if Murphy does.  For one thing, her character has really made an effort to fit in and to learn the Irish way of life.  Some of those things come into play in this book, mostly legal differences about firing practices and landlord-tenant disputes, which I found very interesting.

Another thing that sets these stories apart for me is the way that (for the most part) Murphy develops her characters.  Cherise comes across at first as the typical brash and brassy Texan, bent on getting her way. When her daughters come to claim their mother’s body, they seem to conform to standard expectation of squabbling siblings who fit neatly into expected categories.  The author then slowly peels back layers, letting us see these people for who they really are: complex characters who transcend the shallow stereotypes.

I was particularly taken with this entry in the series.  The next may not come out until 2023, but I think it will be worth the wait.

I don’t think you especially need to read them in order, thought there is some character growth during the course of the books.

Titles in the series:

Dead in Dublin

Death on the Green

Death of an Irish Mummy

Death in Irish Accents (2023)