The Woman in the Emerald Casket

by John Ingalls

Maggie O’Reilly died on a Wednesday because she planned it that way. Maggie was a good Catholic widow. She had six children, gave generously to the church and never drank Guinness on Sundays. Everyone knew she was loaded. She had money too. She smoked cigarettes but they were low tar. Every Friday, she ate fish, wore black and went to confession at St. Michael’s Parish. Facing serious health concerns and estranged from her children, she wants to know if they love her, but she doesn’t know how to ask the question and she doesn’t trust their answers. Inspired by a Time Magazine article about unclaimed bodies in major city morgues around the United States, Maggie formulates a plan to claim a body and stage her own funeral and then attend the funeral in disguise to hear what people say. Caught in a dysfunctional love triangle between Patrick Murphy and Mick Torkelson, she bribes her priest, Father Shamus Muldoon and coerces Mick to become co-conspirators in a scheme to fake her death in an effort to discover her children’s true feelings. However, Maggie’s oldest daughter, Mary, sees behavior changes and enlists a local doctor in an effort to get her declared incompetent, but when her efforts go too far, Maggie feels betrayed and her quest for answers takes a dark turn. The Woman in the Emerald Casket is a family friendly mystery thriller that will keep you turning pages long past bedtime. The Woman in the Emerald Casket highlights problems with elderly parents who may refuse care or make irrational decisions. How to care for aging parents and manage difficult family relationships are real problems without easy answers.

270 pages, Paperback

Published March 28, 2019

Reviews

[Amy Bloyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maggie O’Farrel wants to know if anyone loves her... so she comes up with a plan to find out. As she gets into scrape after scrape, convincing her adult children that she has lost her mind, an unlikely group of people rallies around her. If you like crotchety older protagonists (think: Olive Kitteridge or Ove), this may be for you. There are plenty of laughs here, and the family dynamic reminds me of some people I know. ;-)

[JOHN · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this was the most entertaining work I have read in many years. I am82 years old this week and do not recall reading such a clever combination of humor and sadness, simple and complex, fantasy and realism, and just plain down home thinking in one book. As a resident of NW WI I diss not realize we had such a talent in our midst. I suppose John having been matriculated from the U of MN helped, class off 1966!
John LeMay

[Micki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love, love, loved the book...definitely surprised at how hysterically funny the story is...what starts out as a somewhat serious concern, by an elderly woman, of the sincerity and faithfulness of her children, turns into a very convoluted plot to see what they really do think of her. She is highly imaginative to say the least.

[Pat Glerum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

Though my enjoyed this book. Haven't laughed so hard in a long time.
A must read for anyone.
Very entertaining!

[LeAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laugh out loud funny. Maggie O'Reilly is delightfully eccentric. This reads like a fun romantic comedy, but the characters have gray hair and hearing aids.