The Lost Traveller by Sheila Connolly

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

American Maura Donovan moved to Ireland after inheriting a pub in rural County Cork from a friend of her Irish-born grandmother.  It’s been a bit of a struggle to adjust as well as getting the pub, Sullivan’s,  up and running—the late owner had been an elderly man who didn’t quite keep things up. Maura has kept the local charm while trying to update things a bit, including bringing back live music.

Her efforts seem to be paying off—that is, until the body of a man is found near the pub, his face so battered that identification is impossible.  It seems that the murder is keeping people away in droves, so unless Maura can help the police solve the crime soon, Sullivan’s may be out of business.

I’d read one or two others in this series before I picked this one up, but I had no trouble following the characters. Connolly keeps the reader up to speed with what has gone before in a very organic way that doesn’t feel like a lecture.  While the mystery is slow moving in terms of being solved, the real appeal of this book is the setting and characters.  The book doesn’t feel at all stereotypical, the way that some Irish set mysteries by Americans can be. For example, she keeps the rhythm of the Irish speech without writing in dialect or resorting to the eternal, “That’s not the way we do it in America.”

I also liked the way Connolly handled some of the issues, such as illegal workers, young people leaving for the city, and so forth. She was informative but not judgmental.  The Travellers may also be new to some readers, and an interesting addition to Irish culture.

The mystery is resolved, but as I said before it’s slow moving.  The resolution is in some ways anti-climactic and most of the information comes near the end of the book. Usually, this would cause me to complain but in this book it seemed to fit in with the pace and atmosphere.  I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Sullivan’s and will no doubt return.

Titles in the County Cork Mystery series are:

Buried in a Bog

Scandal in Skibbereen

An Early Wake

A Turn for the Bad

Cruel Winter

Many a Twist

Tied Up with a Bow

The Lost Traveller

Fatal Roots