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No Strangers Here: Sneak Peek
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Set in the striking, rugged countryside of County Kerry, bestselling author Carlene O’Connor’s intriguing new series introduces Dimpna Wilde, an Irish vet grappling with life, death, family dynamics, and the secrets at the heart of this small community . . .
On a rocky beach in the southwest of Ireland, the body of Jimmy O’Reilly, sixty-nine years old and dressed in a suit and his dancing shoes, is propped on a boulder, staring sightlessly out to sea. A cryptic message is spelled out next to the body with sixty-nine polished black stones and a discarded vial of deadly veterinarian medication lies nearby. Jimmy was a wealthy racehorse owner, known far and wide as The Dancing Man. In a town like Dingle, everyone knows a little something about everyone else. But dig a bit deeper, and there’s always much more to find. And when Detective Inspector Cormac O'Brien is dispatched out of Killarney to lead the murder inquiry, he's determined to unearth every last buried secret.
Dimpna Wilde hasn’t been home in years. As picturesque as Dingle may be for tourists in search of their roots and the perfect jumper, to her it means family drama and personal complications. In fairness, Dublin hasn’t worked out quite as she hoped either. Faced with a triple bombshell—her mother rumored to be in a relationship with Jimmy, her father’s dementia is escalating, and her brother is avoiding her calls—Dimpna moves back to clear her family of suspicion.
Despite plenty of other suspects, the guards are crawling over the Wildes. But the horse business can be a brutal one, and as Dimpna becomes more involved with her old acquaintances and haunts, the depth of lingering grudges becomes clear. Theft, extortion, jealousy and greed. As Dimpna takes over the family practice, she's in a race with the detective inspector to uncover the dark, twisting truth, no matter how close to home it strikes . . .
Set in the striking, rugged countryside of County Kerry, bestselling author Carlene O’Connor’s intriguing new series introduces Dimpna Wilde, an Irish vet grappling with life, death, family dynamics, and the secrets at the heart of this small community . . .
On a rocky beach in the southwest of Ireland, the body of Jimmy O’Reilly, sixty-nine years old and dressed in a suit and his dancing shoes, is propped on a boulder, staring sightlessly out to sea. A cryptic message is spelled out next to the body with sixty-nine polished black stones and a discarded vial of deadly veterinarian medication lies nearby. Jimmy was a wealthy racehorse owner, known far and wide as The Dancing Man. In a town like Dingle, everyone knows a little something about everyone else. But dig a bit deeper, and there’s always much more to find. And when Detective Inspector Cormac O'Brien is dispatched out of Killarney to lead the murder inquiry, he's determined to unearth every last buried secret.
Dimpna Wilde hasn’t been home in years. As picturesque as Dingle may be for tourists in search of their roots and the perfect jumper, to her it means family drama and personal complications. In fairness, Dublin hasn’t worked out quite as she hoped either. Faced with a triple bombshell—her mother rumored to be in a relationship with Jimmy, her father’s dementia is escalating, and her brother is avoiding her calls—Dimpna moves back to clear her family of suspicion.
Despite plenty of other suspects, the guards are crawling over the Wildes. But the horse business can be a brutal one, and as Dimpna becomes more involved with her old acquaintances and haunts, the depth of lingering grudges becomes clear. Theft, extortion, jealousy and greed. As Dimpna takes over the family practice, she's in a race with the detective inspector to uncover the dark, twisting truth, no matter how close to home it strikes . . .
- GenresMystery
53 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 2, 2022
127 people are currently reading
173 people want to read
About the author
Carlene O'Connor
39 books2,640 followersCarlene O’Connor is the USA Today Bestselling author of The Irish Village Mystery Series, The Home to Ireland Series and the County Kerry Mystery series. The first in the County Kerry Series, NO STRANGERS HERE received a starred review from Kirkus and was the Mystery Pick of the Month at Barnes and Noble in September of 2023. Of all the places across the pond she’s wandered, she fell most in love with a walled town in County Limerick and was inspired to create the town of Kilbane, County Cork. She currently lives in New Mexico.
https://carleneoconnor.net/
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 29, 2022
Set in Ireland, a local man is found dead on the beach - wearing a suit and his dancing shoes. A syringe is found beside the body and a cryptic message is written out in small stones nearby. Suicide or murder?
This is a sneak peak at a new darker series by Carlene O'Connor. The 50 pages are the first 6 chapters of "No Strangers Here". It is hard to get a true feel for what may be coming when the full book is released in fall 2022 but I was intrigued with what I read. Like series by Louise Penny and Deborah Crombie, this story is being told from multiple points of view - three of which are found in this short intro. I've been a fan of Ms O'Connor for several years. Her cozy mysteries have always been well crafted stories with wonderful characters, vivid descriptions of the Irish landscape and liberally sprinkled with Irish slang. This new series may be a bit too dark for some but I'm looking forward to seeing where this story goes! Have pre-ordered this for Kindle!
This is a sneak peak at a new darker series by Carlene O'Connor. The 50 pages are the first 6 chapters of "No Strangers Here". It is hard to get a true feel for what may be coming when the full book is released in fall 2022 but I was intrigued with what I read. Like series by Louise Penny and Deborah Crombie, this story is being told from multiple points of view - three of which are found in this short intro. I've been a fan of Ms O'Connor for several years. Her cozy mysteries have always been well crafted stories with wonderful characters, vivid descriptions of the Irish landscape and liberally sprinkled with Irish slang. This new series may be a bit too dark for some but I'm looking forward to seeing where this story goes! Have pre-ordered this for Kindle!
March 10, 2022
Has Potential
I am always suspicious when a successful writer with one, two, or more book series decides to develop a knew set of characters I loved the two previous series but in many ways would prefer to see those characters develop than a whole new set. This set might be good, but the sample is too short for a judgment. Still, I have enough interest that I will be interested in full book when published.
I am always suspicious when a successful writer with one, two, or more book series decides to develop a knew set of characters I loved the two previous series but in many ways would prefer to see those characters develop than a whole new set. This set might be good, but the sample is too short for a judgment. Still, I have enough interest that I will be interested in full book when published.
May 30, 2022
I would like to thank the publisher for an ARC of this book. I have read a few books by this author. I didn’t enjoy it as much as those. This book was good. I enjoyed the murder mystery part. At first, I thought the book would follow the investigator. We only got his view a few times in the book. It was mostly about Dr. Wilde, the veterinarian. The book went on too much about her life and about the clinic. I didn’t really connect with her. I wanted more about the investigation. The murder was finally dealt with in the last chapters. It was like it was an afterthought. I was disappointed in this book since I really enjoyed other books by this author.
July 30, 2022
The first in a new series by Carlene O’Connor.
A wonderful murder mystery set in Dingle, Ireland with a whole lot of buried secrets being hidden in the community.
Dumpna gets out of Dingle to be a veterinarian in Dublin. She returns as the police have someone in her family under suspicion.
A local man is found dead on the beach, wearing a suit and dancing shoes. A cryptic message is written out in small stones nearby. Murder or Suicide?
“Everyone knew the first rule of Murder 101 was: Wear gloves.”
Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishing Corp. for the opportunity to read this book.
A wonderful murder mystery set in Dingle, Ireland with a whole lot of buried secrets being hidden in the community.
Dumpna gets out of Dingle to be a veterinarian in Dublin. She returns as the police have someone in her family under suspicion.
A local man is found dead on the beach, wearing a suit and dancing shoes. A cryptic message is written out in small stones nearby. Murder or Suicide?
“Everyone knew the first rule of Murder 101 was: Wear gloves.”
Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishing Corp. for the opportunity to read this book.
April 30, 2024
There are a lot of characters in this book and I sometimes had trouble keeping their back stories straight. Especially in the case of Dimpna Wilde, I sometimes felt there was a prequel that I should have read previously in order to understand about Niall and her life before returning to Dingle. It also took some time for me to figure out that she was the main character. At first I thought it was going to be Saoirse, then Cormac…However the book did keep me engaged and I will certainly read the next one in the series.
October 30, 2024
Diminiutive Dimpna. Dull as dishwater drama set in Dingle. Red flag when I had to reread and reread and reread the beginning chapter. Skipped to the end after hours of trying. Doubt I will read more by this author.
January 12, 2024
I am looking forward to reading the others in this series. It is as good if not better than her Irish Village Murders
October 5, 2024
A cozy mystery set in lovely part of Ireland with a cute set of characters. The plot is a little far-fetched but I enjoyed the story.
July 6, 2022
Thank you to Netgalley, Kensington Books, and the author for an ARC of this book.
Carlene O'Connor came very recommended to me; my mother has read her Irish Village mystery series and loves it. So when I saw this, what appears to be the first in a new series, I was anxious to check it out.
The setting is wonderful; we're taken to the coastal community of Dingle, Ireland. I enjoyed everything about this. I felt like I was really there and not that the author was just hitting a few high-points so she could say the book was set in Ireland. And I was also very intrigued as the mystery started; the murder--which opens the first couple of chapters of the book--was eerily reminiscent to the Tamam Shud (Somerton Man) murder from 1940s Australia. However, while I can't imagine the similarity wasn't intentional, there was no reference at all to the real, earlier case nor an afterword to make the connection clear for us. I was hoping that would somehow be a part of the narrative.
As for the story itself, it was hard for me to get into it. I felt like it was a bit slow and I, at first, wasn't sure if there was a protagonist I should be rooting for or if this was just a book with multiple POVs (there is a protagonist--it becomes clear as the book progresses that Dimpna Wilde is the primary character). I think, too, that the author has some fabulous depth to her characters, but . . . I didn't feel like those depths were fully explored; I was told about those pasts in brief summary rather than shown those pasts.
At about the 70% point, the plot did pick up for me, and I finally was anxious to get back to the story to see how things would resolve. And the novel concludes with lots of dangling ends from the past so I suspect we'll see more character development and back story in another book. The bottom line is that while this wasn't a book that grabbed me from the get-go, it did grow on me and I'll be interested to see where the story goes next in a second installment.
Carlene O'Connor came very recommended to me; my mother has read her Irish Village mystery series and loves it. So when I saw this, what appears to be the first in a new series, I was anxious to check it out.
The setting is wonderful; we're taken to the coastal community of Dingle, Ireland. I enjoyed everything about this. I felt like I was really there and not that the author was just hitting a few high-points so she could say the book was set in Ireland. And I was also very intrigued as the mystery started; the murder--which opens the first couple of chapters of the book--was eerily reminiscent to the Tamam Shud (Somerton Man) murder from 1940s Australia. However, while I can't imagine the similarity wasn't intentional, there was no reference at all to the real, earlier case nor an afterword to make the connection clear for us. I was hoping that would somehow be a part of the narrative.
As for the story itself, it was hard for me to get into it. I felt like it was a bit slow and I, at first, wasn't sure if there was a protagonist I should be rooting for or if this was just a book with multiple POVs (there is a protagonist--it becomes clear as the book progresses that Dimpna Wilde is the primary character). I think, too, that the author has some fabulous depth to her characters, but . . . I didn't feel like those depths were fully explored; I was told about those pasts in brief summary rather than shown those pasts.
At about the 70% point, the plot did pick up for me, and I finally was anxious to get back to the story to see how things would resolve. And the novel concludes with lots of dangling ends from the past so I suspect we'll see more character development and back story in another book. The bottom line is that while this wasn't a book that grabbed me from the get-go, it did grow on me and I'll be interested to see where the story goes next in a second installment.
June 14, 2022
I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read and review this book.
When a rich, dead man is found on a beach with his body staged in such a way to provide clues as to why he was killed, the Garda are faced with a tricky situation. Meanwhile, Dimpna Wilde, also a vet, also needs to come back to the town after her practice in Dublin is in ruins, finding her veterinarian father with a developing case of dementia. Unfortunately, some clues from the murder lead the police to her family and her past relationship with the dead man’s family.
I have some other books from Carlene O’Connor and have enjoyed the settings and characters. This new series showcases a new setting with new characters, the usual amount of mystery and intrigue, and the frustration on the part of the local police force when trying to find a killer. This story has the usual dramatic ending, where some people do not live ‘happily ever after’.
When a rich, dead man is found on a beach with his body staged in such a way to provide clues as to why he was killed, the Garda are faced with a tricky situation. Meanwhile, Dimpna Wilde, also a vet, also needs to come back to the town after her practice in Dublin is in ruins, finding her veterinarian father with a developing case of dementia. Unfortunately, some clues from the murder lead the police to her family and her past relationship with the dead man’s family.
I have some other books from Carlene O’Connor and have enjoyed the settings and characters. This new series showcases a new setting with new characters, the usual amount of mystery and intrigue, and the frustration on the part of the local police force when trying to find a killer. This story has the usual dramatic ending, where some people do not live ‘happily ever after’.
November 4, 2022
No Strangers Here by Carlene O’Connor
Narrator, Emily O’Mahony
I have never read this author before so cannot compare to her previous series. I really did not enjoy this book very much but I did finish it. However, it felt like a chore. It just did not grab my interest and the solution was kind of ridiculous. I did not really engage with the characters and I did not care about the very mild romance. Also, it was a ten plus hour audiobook and it really could have lost about two hours.
The narrator had a lovely accent but her pronunciation and phrasing were sometimes very strange.
All in all, it was okay but not great.
Narrator, Emily O’Mahony
I have never read this author before so cannot compare to her previous series. I really did not enjoy this book very much but I did finish it. However, it felt like a chore. It just did not grab my interest and the solution was kind of ridiculous. I did not really engage with the characters and I did not care about the very mild romance. Also, it was a ten plus hour audiobook and it really could have lost about two hours.
The narrator had a lovely accent but her pronunciation and phrasing were sometimes very strange.
All in all, it was okay but not great.
February 25, 2023
Dimpna Wilde left the village of Dingle twenty seven years ago and never intended to return; too many bad memories there, yet she must return to face the memories and new tragedies. Her father is suffering from the onset of dementia; her mother is rumored to have had an affair with with a man who has been found murdered and her brother refuses to answer her phone calls and texts; and all three of them are suspects in the murder. Someone is framing her family, but why? Is it tied to the long ago events that chased Dimpna away...
(Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy for my honest review)
(Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy for my honest review)
September 8, 2022
Entertaining listening 🎶🔰
Another will written Irish murder mystery adventure thriller short story book one A County Kerry Mystery by Carlene O'Connor. There is a body on the beach 🌴. Is it murder or suicide? You will have to read book two. I would recommend this novella to readers of mysteries. Enjoy the adventure of reading. 2022 😮👒
Another will written Irish murder mystery adventure thriller short story book one A County Kerry Mystery by Carlene O'Connor. There is a body on the beach 🌴. Is it murder or suicide? You will have to read book two. I would recommend this novella to readers of mysteries. Enjoy the adventure of reading. 2022 😮👒
March 5, 2022
Suicide? Or Murder?
I enjoyed reading this short tale but was a bit confused about ONe man's death. Perhaps I should read parts of it again. Will all the County Kerry books be this short?
I enjoyed reading this short tale but was a bit confused about ONe man's death. Perhaps I should read parts of it again. Will all the County Kerry books be this short?
April 13, 2022
This sneak peek at Carlene O'Connor's new series is so good but so frustrating. Now I have to wait for the book to come out.
April 1, 2023
Slow.
The story drags a lot, the beauty of Ireland is reduced to few stereotypes and you feel compelled to pull the words out of the Author with tongs.
The story drags a lot, the beauty of Ireland is reduced to few stereotypes and you feel compelled to pull the words out of the Author with tongs.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews