This is a creepy and intense novel that is gripping and magnificent. It is a chilling exploration of crimes committed in the name of a Celtic embodiment of the Devil. I found it mesmerizing and deeply unnerving.
Jessie, Seamus, Terri and Dawn are characters I absolutely loved and will follow in future books in the series.
The Irishness of it all is just perfect: the beautiful landscape with its dark undertones and claustrophobia, the language, the history, the mythology - creating a world that is dark and utterly compelling.
A labyrinthine plot with plenty of twists, a sprinkling of red herrings, and a killer more depraved than Hannibal Lecter.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. It was a solid read for the first in a series where new characters are being developed. Well written, a bit convoluted on the folklore side though well researched! Kept my interest with twists and turns.

This is a new series and I have to be honest, I stopped reading it TWICE, as I just wasn't bonding to the characters, and the added background just felt like it was overwhelming the story getting off the ground. I finally came back to it after reading a bunch of cozy mysteries and was able to settle in with it. I love books set in Ireland, that can include the native folklore and history (really international series that does this), and this one does, but it gets too heavy handed and it looses the reader at times. The book is made to be a thriller with lots of psychological twists, but for me it wasn't that. maybe I've read too many insanely twisted books- this book was just a mystery with some thrill....It's not bad, just in need of some editing.

Is it my favorite series? Hmmm, not yet. If the second book starts as this one, then I'll have a hard time reading it.If the author sticks to what worked in the later 2/3 of the book? Then yes, love to read more books in the series!

The initial part of the story was difficult to get into with character background interspersed in the narrative and folklore given too much weightage. I had to give a break and come back to it. After overcoming these issues, the story and the plot are good with a solid police investigation. 3.5 stars

Boyle and Keneally #1

In a small town in Ireland's west coast, a young woman called Penelope O'Dwyer leaves a restaurant. It should take five minutes to walk back to where she is staying. In these five minutes she disappears without trace.

Jessie Boyle is a criminal behavioural specialist who lost the love of her life when William Briggs' body is found on the banks of the Thames. She returns home to Dublin. Police Commissioner Dawn Wilson is also Jessie's friend and Dawn asks Jessie to help out the National Bureau of Criminal Investigations. She is partnered with Detective Seamus Keneally. Their first case working together is to find Penny O'Dwyer, the daughter of former Taoiseach (Prime Minister) who has been kidnapped.

I was hooked from the first page in this gripping new police procedural series. The pace is fast from the beginning. The author has did his research into Celtic and Irish mythology. The story also has a creepiness about it. It's also intriguing with well developed characters. I'm looking forward to reading the second book in this series.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #Bookouture and the author #SADunphy for my ARC of #DancingWithTheDark in exchange for an honest review.

Dancing with the Dead is an entertaining crime fiction with all the charm of Ireland.

S.A Dunphy has a mixed history with an interesting case that involves Kidnapping, murder and serial killers. I am a history geek, so the way the old case connected I found fascinating. Especially as my knowledge of Ireland is lacking.



The investigating team are Jessie Boyle, Seamus Keneally and Terri Kehoe. All three of them are very different but work well together. I like how Seamus and Terri are building a brother/ sister relationship. It was nice also reading Gaelic.

The more books I read the more suspicious I become, and that's why I wasn't surprised with a revelation towards the end. But overall a good book with strong characters, and a group that I want to read more about.

My rating for Dancing with the Dead is 4 out of 5.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for a copy of "Dancing with the Dead" in exchange for my honest review.

This is the first book in the Boyle & Keneally series and is set in Ireland. I was first drawn in by the cover and then once I read the first page I was hooked as the storyline grabs you and will not let you go.

Jessie Boyle, a criminal behavioural specialist has lost the love of her life when William Briggs is found dead on the banks of the Thames. Jessie returns home to Dublin where no one knows that she has arrived. Her friend Dawn Wilson the Police Commissioner of Ireland calls upon her to help out at the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation. She is partnered with Detective Seamus Keneally. Jessie is not crazy about this arrangement but Dawn knows Jessie's secrets, the same way Jessie knows Dawn's and they will help each other out.

Dominic O'Dwyer the former Taoiseach of Ireland has come to Dawn asking for help in finding his daughter Penelope who went missing after a 3 minute walk to her hotel from a late night meeting. They have until Samhain to find her or she will be killed.

There are a lot of interesting characters in this story. There is a lot of folk history of Ireland. They are seamlessly woven together in this story. There is some violence in the book but nothing that would be considered too graphic. Just enough to give the reader a jolt. When they travel to Cahirsiveen to work out of the White Elephant they are joined by Terri Kehoe. She is brilliant at finding information on anything and everything. As they learn more and more about Penelope, the mix of present day and folk stories from old - they find that they are in a race against time to find who has Penelope and where.

This is a brilliant first book in what I hope will be a lengthy series because there are so many more stories that can be told in Ireland with these four characters - Jessie, Seamus, Terri and Dawn.

Wow, wow, where did this one come from? I hadnt heard of the author before and didnt know what to expect but this was a very pleasant surprise.

The first in a series featuring a partnership of Jessie Boyle, a criminal psychologist and Seamus Keneally, a Detective, this hits the ground running and then some. Im sure the first few chapters actually made me sit up straighter in my seat!

It starts off with a real Silence Of The Lambs feel and eventually settles into its story of mass murder in Ireland, Irish folklore, serial killers and their apprentices and some pretty messed up stuff.

The partnership is great(theres actually three of them eventually). They have a really nice dynamic and some great back stories to all three.

There is a story within itself here and also a wider story arc that will at least carry into the next book(thats not a spoiler). It can get a little complicated at times but it finds itself out the other end before you know it and you find yourself really caring and rooting for the main characters.

This is a really exciting start to a series. Those first three or four chapters were absolutely mesmerising for me. If you get the chance check this one out. Dont let it fly under your radar.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC through Netgalley

After years of searching, I may have finally found it! A new procedural series with legs… There are a lot of series that I’ve been enjoying for years, but it’s been a while since I read a first volume that I’d been excited about as much as this one. Jessie Boyle is done being a cop after her love was murdered by a serial killer she never suspected. Her old friend Dawn calls in a favor and brings her to investigate a kidnapping in Ireland and, reluctantly, Jessie agrees. There, she starts working with Seamus, an inexperienced detective, and Terri, a civilian consultant that stole my heart. Together, they get involved in a world steeped in folk legend and a cast of very disturbing individuals. In the afterword, the author says that the stories referenced here are all real, as well as the settings where the action takes place. The pace is exciting, the characters likable and the dialogues funny. I did figure out whodunit, but it didn’t matter, I enjoyed the read completely and can’t wait to spend many more hours with these characters.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/ Bookouture!

This Irish procedural is such a great start to what I hope will be a long running series. Criminal behavioralist Jessie Boyle comes home to Dublin to grieve the murder of her partner and to step away from her work, but her school friend, now the Commissioner of the Garda, calls in an old debt: she needs Jessie’s help to find the missing daughter of the former prime minister, whose kidnapper has announced he will kill on Halloween Eve. I loved so much about this book - the characters are thoroughly likeable (well, the ones who aren’t serial murderers, anyway), and I felt completely transported to Ireland. The weaving of ancient Celtic myths into a modern day murder-mystery was so well done, and is a theme that I’m hoping the author continues going forward. If you miss the “old” Tana French novels, you will want to watch for this one. It releases on September 3, 2021. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

I really wanted to love this book, but there were a couple of narrative quirks which kept me from fully immersing myself in this serial killer story.

First off it was the use of a kind of voiceover narrator to show that things were about to get worse. Like, Jessie saying ‘this is going to be a long two weeks’, and the narrator comment in the next line is ‘she wasn’t wrong’. It happened a couple of times and felt really awkward.

The second thing was character backstory being delivered through standalone chapters. Every few chapters the action would be interrupted with a chapter headed with a character name. That chapter delivered a bunch of info about the character. Firstly it’s an awkward way to get to know a character, it feels really forced. Secondly, it made it harder to feel engaged with the characters, especially as I kept losing track of what I knew about someone and what the main characters knew about them. I read a lot of books in which flashbacks work well to help you gradually understand a character’s motivation. The technique is not used to good effect here.

It’s a shame because at its core there’s a good plot here with a network of serial killer, and there’s the start of a good partnership between the main three investigators. However, those narrative issues stopped me fully engaging with any of that.

This is the first time I had heard of this author and was delighted I could start with the first book in a new series. Dancing with the Dead (Boyle & Keneally) is a dark story about a disturbed killer who has been lingering in the shadows for decades. Now he has taken Penny O'Dwyer daughter to the ex prime minister of Ireland and the stakes are high.

Criminal Behaviourist Jessie Boyle has returned home to Ireland after a grave personal tragedy and is deep in the depths of self loathing and depression when an old friend (Irish Police Commissioner) calls in a favour on the back of a debt Jessie owes her. Jessie teams up with Seamus and Terri to try and solve this case that's ever mounting shady characters keep throwing curve balls at them.

I liked the characters especially the investigative team and I enjoyed the rough edged Dawn throwing down the letter of the law in all her glory. However, for me this story had so many elements and characters that there were some possibilities left unexplored properly. It felt like enough detail for two books as there were things I was keen to know about that were not further developed.

I really liked the addition of the quotes from real life terrifying serial killers - that gave it an element of creepy that did the book justice.

I think the author did a fantastic job painting the picture of the scenery and the history of the area, however for me Folk Horror is not my go to genre which is where it lost a star for me.

Others will love this element and I strongly encourage you to give it a read.

I want to thank the author, NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me the opportunity to read this new book for my honest review.

Action packed from beginning to end - a new series that will get you hooked from the first page. Solid, likeable characters with a complex mystery and a good mix with the human element. Looking forward to the next installment!

Wow! That ending was tense and I’ll definite think about it for a long time. ‘Dancing with the Dead’ has it all; a hideous crime and a ticking clock. I also loved the main characters. The dynamics between Jessie, Seamus and Terri were a joy to read.

What really had me intrigued when I saw this book was the folklore aspect. This elevated everything to a whole new level. I can totally appreciate all the research that the author put in and I found it so interesting to read.

As for the killer... creepy. In fact, the whole book has a creepy vibe. I felt the chapters from the victim’s POV getting under my skin. I enjoyed delving into her life. Another character I felt drawn to was Terri. Her input really brought a lot to the story.

If you’re looking for action, intrigue and a supersize helping of the macabre, you need to read this fantastic crime thriller!

“The Devil reached out of the darkness and called to him…the time of darkness was almost upon him…the Dance of the Dead was about to begin…”

Criminal behaviorist Jessie Boyle has been called to the scene of a murder…one that has personal ramifications. Needing to take a break, she heads to Ireland, where she once again finds herself in the middle of a kidnapping linked to a series of cold case murders. The police commissioner forms a small task force to investigate, and Jessie is paired up with Detective Seamus Keneally. Together they work feverously against the timeline the kidnapper has set…but one of their sources is a deadly incarcerated murderer who hints of a serial killer that is tied to Jessie’s past, and Jessie soon learns that not everything is what it seems…the past has a way of catching up to everyone…

S.A. Dunphy is a new to me author, and I was totally enthralled with this story! While I did get bogged down a wee bit with so much history on the mythology weaved into the mystery, I did enjoy the banter between the characters and how everything unfolded as they got closer and closer to finding the truth behind the kidnapping. Looking forward to reading future installments to this series! Highly recommend to fans of crime thrillers!



**I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. **

I never repeat the blurb. This was a great idea but the author assumes that every reader shares their in-depth knowledge of and enthusiasm for Irish folklore. Cutting back in this would have meant a higher score.

Oh wow, wow, wow! Never heard of this author before, so I had no expectations going in. It turned out to be an extremely enjoyable read, and I read the book in two sittings. I immediately got hooked reading the first sentence. Not sure what it was, but I was drawn to the story like it was the greatest candy on earth. I absolutely adore the main characters. The female leads in this book are simply marvelous. They are such strong and wonderful characters. I really appreciated the background stories about every important character in the book. Of course not everything was revealed, but I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them all better.

This gripping book is what a detective story should always be about. There is the intriguing mystery, great characters, off-putting criminals, and some warmth to show the reader that we are all human beings after all. Its is hard for me to choose my favourite character in this very character driven story, and I can't wait ti get to know them better.

I did figure out the culprits quite early, but it didn't really bother me. I can highly recommend this book. Such a great read!

My first book by this author and I really enjoyed it. A good intriguing story that I would recommend - a quick read that keeps you turning the pages. Thanks NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly never heard of this author. But looking forward to more. This book had me hooked from the get go. I loved how the team all worked together. Not much into gangster related story's usually this might just change my mind.
Looking forward to the next in this series.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an early release of this book.

new to me author as well as a new series that didn't disappoint me at all. Had me setting on edge the entire time .Plus it takes place in Ireland and beings together 2 thing I love to read about which Celtic mythology and cold cases.