I haven’t read this author before and thought this was a very good book. I will be certainly reading more of her books.

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the eARC.
This was my first book (the 7th in the County Cork series) by Sheila Connolly. Maybe I would have benefited from reading previous ones in the series, but somehow I don't think so. The protagonist, Maura, is an irritating character who is not interested in cooking, learning about the Internet or anything else necessary to run her pub, which somehow manages to run itself anyway. The mystery wasn't appealing to me, neither were any of the characters. I skipped to the end halfway through and have no interest in reading any others in the series. Sorry!

I thought the description of the book sounded interesting. I thought the story was just ok. It bothered me that Maura did a lot of thinking but didn’t really follow through with anything. Not sure if I would read another one in the series

Enjoyable story, but could use more descriptives- I had a difficult time picturing the characters and settings.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing an advanced digital copy of The Lost Traveller by Sheila Connolly in exchange for an honest review. This is the seventh book, my first encounter, with the County Cork Series. It is not necessary to have read other books in the series, although there may be significant character development that has been covered in earlier books that is not repeated here. The result was difficulty in getting a clear cut picture of what characters look like as well as understanding unique character traits beyond the fact that Maura dislikes cooking and food other than desserts, nor does she have any interest in learning how to use the Internet. These two facts seemed at odds with the fact she inherited an Irish pub a year ago and has been managing it since that time. Judging from what I read, she seems to not so much manage the pub as spend time there every day while it runs itself in much the same way it always has.

It was interesting to read dialogue for some of the characters, particularly because they are written in a way that makes it easy to “hear” an Irish accent in your head. This was the most enjoyable part of the book for me, since the mystery consisted primarily of who was the victim. Most of the “detection” was not that so much as intuitive leaps followed by some conversations between Maura and other series regulars. There were few clues and no red herrings to give the reader any possibility of solving the puzzle.

None of the characters held much interest for me. Maura, the protagonist, spends much of her time vacillating between whining about the need for employees, her reluctance to develop even rudimentary cooking skills and her disinterest in all things business, including the Internet and the basics of profit and loss for the pub. Rose and Mick, pub employees, have are major secondary characters in the book, but apart from learning that Rose likes to cook and seems to be more of an adult than the older Maura, there was little personality to develop strong feelings toward one way or the other.

Other series regulars include a couple of the gardia employees (local law enforcement), a patron who stops by daily for a pint and a visit and an artist who is struggling to find her way back to work after having given birth, perhaps in one of the earlier books in the series. Beyond that, there are incidental characters, some of whom are essential to telling the story and some, particularly the American tourists, who don’t seem to have much of an active role in the story itself.

It is impossible to tell if someone who has read earlier books in the series might enjoy this book more because of a previous investment they have made to characters and location for this series. Since there is no real opportunity to solve this mystery based on clues, etc. the reader is left to rely on Maura’s thinking and what she learns from conversations to reach the resolution. Because of this, if a reader were looking for a new series, I would strongly urge them to begin at the beginning of this series to gauge both how they like the writing style and to develop an interest in location and people within the series.

As American Maura Donovan continues to deal with the intricacies of owning and running an Irish pub, a wrench is thrown into the works when she discovers a body at the bottom of the ravine that just happens to be part of her property. Real problems arise when it is apparent no one know who the victim is or where he came from. Unfortunately, this lack of information weighs heavily on Maura as it begins to impact the clientele of the pub.

Having read all the County Cork series by Connelly, I can only say they get more interesting every time. Not only do I enjoy the characters of this series, I can get behind many of the insecurities Maura experiences trying to figure out her life in a different country. The plots of her books are structured and read at an even pace. She doesn’t feel the need to fill it with unrealistic drama but keeps the storylines contemporary and interesting. I look forward to the next one.
#TheLostTraveller #NetGalley

This novel is the seventh in the County Cork mysteries. Sheila Connolly employs most of the same characters in her new books, but often adds one or two. I rate this book at a strong four, but not a five because it does seem to move a bit slowly. I like the character development of Maura who seems to grow stronger and more confident in each new book. I also like reading about the villages in Ireland. I do wish she would quit using appostrophes to indicate vernacular and rely more on diction and syntax, but it is a small matter. Overall, I'm glad I read and finished this book in one day's time.

The book was hard to get in to but once I did, I was hooked...Maybe because I heard every conversation, except Maura's, with an Irish brogue. The story unfolded slowly with lots of people in and out but this was a totally different murder than in previous books. I honestly was expecting there to be more about her mother and other family but I guess that will happen in the next one.