When Benedicta “Ben” O’Keeffe gets a disturbing phone call from one of her parents’ neighbors, she and her partner, Garda sergeant Tom Molloy, jump in the car and make the two-hour drive to her childhood home. Ben knows that Stuart Chambers, whom her folks met in a grief support group, has moved in with them. The neighbor told her there have been several others coming in and out of the house, raising alarm bells .
Ben and Tom have a bad feeling about Stuart and his intentions toward the elderly couple. Ben convinces them to come spend a few days with them in Glendara, a lovely and peaceful town on the Inishowen Peninsula, while Tom looks into the man’s background. They are reluctant, but when Ben tells them there will be a literary festival with one of her mother’s favorite authors, Gavin Featherstone, as the main attraction, they agree.
Featherstone’s first book was a best-seller, and his career soared for a while, but his last few books were duds. For the last ten years he’s been a recluse, seldom leaving his secluded home near Glendara. Many of the locals and people from all over Ireland show up to witness his return to the public eye. They are also witnesses to his shocking death onstage.
His death appears to be from natural causes, but the autopsy tells a different story. Molloy leads the investigation into the murder. Ben, a solicitor, knows everyone in the small, close-knit village, and, as the administrator of Featherstone’s will, represents his heirs, his estranged wife and children. Featherstone was keeping some big secrets. He’s not the only one. There are a number of suspects, all with different reasons for wanting the man dead. Molloy and Ben have to follow a twisted path, going back at least two decades, to find the guilty party.
They discover Featherstone was not a good man, leaving a trail of heartbreak and betrayal. No one seemed to mourn his death, least of all the family he’d wounded so deeply. Molloy and Ben dig into the past in search of the killer, uncovering deeply buried secrets and unexpected, sometimes shocking, information.
The plot is satisfyingly intricate, with plenty of twists and turns. The characters, good and not so good, are well-drawn and realistic. The Irish scenery is an integral part of the story, adding beauty and color. Highly recommended.

Ben O’ Keeffe’s adventures are the perfect blend of procedural whodunit and cozy mystery. This time, a famous, reclusive author dies during an event at Glendara’s literary festival, hosted by Ben’s good friend. For such a small town, there are a lot of murders, I would seriously consider moving, but Ben is not daunted and starts looking into it along with her boyfriend Molloy. I love the characters, their dialogues and how atmospheric the novel is. You can almost taste the salty air. The subplots add to the intrigue, and I was even more engrossed in Ben’s personal life, her parents needing her help more than ever. The whole plot is addictive, suspenseful and well thought out. The cast of suspects is solid and I really didn’t know who killed the author, how or why. Very enjoyable.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Oceanview Publishing!

4 stars for book 6 in the Inishowen series, set in rural Donegal, Ireland. Benedicta (Ben) O'Keeffe is a solicitor in the fictional town of Glendara. The main plot is about the death of a reclusive writer who lives in Donegal. He has agreed to appear at a local book festival, where he collapses and dies in front of the audience. Ben becomes involved when his estranged wife and children ask her to handle his will and estate. But then Ben discovers that there is a second and more recent will.
The death is being treated as suspicious by the Garda(police) and if one of the beneficiaries is implicated in the death, this is another complication for Ben.
There two other subplots, both of which involve ongoing events in Ben's personal life. One is about her parents and the other is about her relationship with Garda sergeant Molloy. While the books are designed to read as stand alones, you will follow Ben's personal life better if you read the books in order, which I recommend.
One quote, by Ben's dad, about clothes that he does not approve of: "Someone should tell him the sixties called and they want their clothes back,' my dad muttered. An ex-bank manager, he'd always been a conservative dresser."
Both my wife and I recommend this series. I recommend it to cozy mystery fans--no graphic violence or bad language.
Thanks to Oceanview Publishing for sending me this eARC through NetGalley.
#DeathWrites #NetGalley.
Pub Date 05 Dec 2023 |

A writer showing up for the literary festival, what could go wrong I thought. Death, that's what happened. The process of finding the killer wasn't easy, so many twists and turns. It kept me interested and I failed to work out who the killer was as usual. Well written with good characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing for this DRC.
Ben O’Keeffe, a solicitor in Inishowen, Ireland, has invited her grieving parents to stay while she figures out if their lodger has been taking advantage of them. Luckily, a literary festival is taking place and will keep them busy, unluckily the headline author falls down dead in front of them.

I love this book. I was not feeling well the day I started it, but stayed awake and finished it in one day. The writing, plot, and characters kept me involved and interested. This was my first Inishowen Mystery but it will not be my last!


#DeathWrites #NetGalley

I found this book enjoyable. I generally read more action packed thrillers. This was a well paced mystery. Plenty of development to make sure you really were drawn into the mystery that was waiting for you on multiple fronts.

I received an electronic ARC from Oceanview Publishing through NetGalley.
This is the sixth mystery in the Inishowen series but can be read as a stand alone. Readers first meet Ben (Benedicta), one of the local solicitors, as she and her boyfriend Sergeant Malloy are hurrying to her parents home. She is concerned with someone who has moved in with them and seems to be taking over their lives. This becomes a secondary thread that weaves through in the background. The main mystery begins when a noted author agrees to speak at the local literary festival and collapses on stage. The remainder of the novel follows Ben as she interacts and connects with other characters to figure out who murdered him. Carter slowly reveals more about each of her characters as the plot unwinds. I appreciate that the secondary characters are three-dimensional and not simply props to further the story. If you've read other books in the series, you already know more about some of them but Carter reveals enough to keep them fresh.
All is resolved by the end for both plots and it is a delightful ride along as each character is woven back in to the final result. Surprises are revealed throughout and relationships tangle and reconnect. A lighter mystery that will make readers want to read more of her work.

Andrea Carter has done it again! A delightful new addition to the series that brings Ben's relationships into greater focus. It also explores relationships between families, lovers and children. Along with the host of colourful characters from Innishowen that we know and love, Ben's parents play a big part in this one too.
A juicy mystery, plenty of false trails, secrets and a literary festival, all surrounded by a stunning backdrop... what more could anyone ask for?!
Many thanks to Netgalley and the author and publisher for a temporary copy in exchange for an honest review.

I didn’t realize this was part of a series and had not read any of the previous books. It works well as a standalone. The story revolves around two mysteries which Benedicta, (Ben) a solicitor in a small Irish village finds herself embroiled in. The first revolves around a man her parents met at a grief counseling group who has apparently moved in with them and taken over heir lives. The second concerns a famous author who collapses and dies in the midst of the town’s literary festival. As the two stories intertwine we are taken on a mysterious ride with twists and turns and strategically placed red herrings. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another well knit plot in the series with some good and unpredictable twists. The initial part of the book was slow and I closed it for a couple days and came back later to complete it. So I am reducing one star.. The suspense was very good. The character of the victim was well flushed while his family and others connected to him were superficial.

This is a very good book, and a very good series. It features Benedicta (Ben) O’Keeffe, a small town lawyer in Northern Ireland. The characters in this book are very relatable and likable, with interesting storylines. Carter is a keen observer and her books are very atmospheric. This book is number six in the series, but can easily be read as a stand-alone. Recommend this book and the series.

A cozy with some depth. This has a little more plot to it than an everyday cozy. Its setting is Irish which is quite quaint and makes the characters colorful.

The story has a resident reclusive author soon to come out and have an interview/discussion about which is the better story, a novel or the short story. You can imagine what happens, as in every mystery…someone poisons him right in front of the audience.

The amateur sleuth in this story is a lawyer named Benedicta, Ben for short. She has your usual nice guy cop as a boyfriend or hopes to have him. In the midst of all this, Ben’s parents may be taken advantage of due to trying to recover from the loss of their daughter, Ben’s sister.
Sometimes this many themes running through a cozy can be confusing. Andrea Carter seemed to handle all of this and yet keep it clear and well-understood.

This is the first book by Andrea Carter I have read. Looks like I need to get busy.

Ben O’Keeffe is a solicitor in a small town on the Irish Inishowen peninsula, but that does not mean there is not a lot going on! A well-known author who is the headliner of the local book festival dies in the middle of his presentation, and when Ben and her boyfriend, Sgt. Molloy of the local Garda, investigate they find a LOT of people who have reason to resent the victim. Meanwhile, Ben’s parents are visiting, and Ben becomes concerned about a report from one of their neighbors that there are strangers staying at their home and a full-time resident who seems to be taking over their lives. Their situation has some interesting parallels with the murder victim’s domestic setup in the form of an assistant who lives with him. Are these both people taking advantage of older folks?
As we learn more about the people in the book the plot thickens and had some interesting surprises, and all the puzzles are ultimately solved, but not without further complications.
Having a lot going on adds to the puzzle and keeps up interest, but the amount of turmoil in the lives of the characters in the book strains credulity a bit. It seems everyone has secrets or highly unusual events in their past lives, like unacknowledged out-of-wedlock births. Ben herself has a backstory; her younger sister was murdered some years ago.
I read a lot of British mysteries, most of them set in England, and the setting in Ireland was a nice change for me. The descriptions of the scenery were lovely, and I envied Ben her regular dips in the sea to clear her mind or just enjoy some good exercise. I especially enjoyed the use of unusual Irish words, even though I had to stop and look some of them up to satisfy my curiosity, like “silver sleeper”.
I had not read any previous book in the series but did not feel at a disadvantage, and there do not seem to be obvious spoilers, unless the murder of Ben’s sister was covered in one of the earlier books.
I received an advance review copy of Death Writes from NetGalley and the publisher.

This book definitely kept my interest with parallel plots. The venue is enticing and the characters well defined and mostly likable. This is the first book in the series that I have read. I look forward to reading the next edition to continue following the main protagonists. Well written. Thank you NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own. #DeathWrites, #NetGalley, #OceanviewPublishing.

Years ago I read the first book in this series, and thought at the time I would like to read more, but things happened, and I did not until Death Writes. I was pleased to have come in contact with this series again. There had been significant character development between the first book and this one, and the small town and its characters are people I was glad to visit again. I would be interested to read more about the bookseller. I appreciated the deepening relationship between "Ben" and her mother. Ben and Police Sgt. Molloy are a "thing" and still have trouble juggling the differences between personal and professional relationships. In addition, it was a good story and I did not figure out "who done it". I plan do read more. I received this as an arc from NetGalley and am under no pressure for a positive review.

Andrea Carter takes readers back to the Inoshowen Peninsula in Ireland for the sixth book in the series, Death Writes. While other books in the series have been described as atmospheric, in this one, the focus is not on the landscape, but on the people involved with solicitor Benedicta (Ben) O’Keeffe.

Ben and her parents haven’t been close since her sister’s murder, but the news that strangers had moved into her parents’ home sends Ben and her boyfriend Police Sergeant Tom Molloy on a hurried trip to Dublin. They find the outsiders gone, except for one man who was already living with them, a fellow member of their grief group. After learning Tom was a Garda, the man cleared out, leaving Ben’s parents fearful. She was afraid to leave them alone in the house, so invited them to stay with her for a while.

It’s perfect timing. Glenfest, Glendara’s literary festival is just about to begin. Ben’s mother, a retired librarian, is happy to learn of the festival coup. Gavin Featherstone, a writer and Booker Prize winner who lives in Donegal, agreed to be the keynote speaker. A film crew shows up before the opening of the festival. And, Featherstone is prepared to read from his forthcoming memoir. But, before he can do that, he keels over on the stage.

Featherstone’s death leaves Ben with a dilemma. She has his original will, and his estranged wife and adult children consult her about the estate. Then, his assistant shows up with a second, later will. However, the estate can’t be settled yet. Gavin Featherstone was murdered, and the killer, who could be his assistant or a family member, can’t inherit. The case needs to be solved soon.

While Molloy and Ben have often found themselves on opposite sides of investigations, this time, they’re both looking for a killer. At the same time, Molloy is digging into the truth about the man who was living with Ben’s parents.

Wills, families, inheritances, pressure on lonely older or ailing people. Those elements are all essential in Carter’s latest intriguing mystery. It can be read as a standalone. I highly recommend this absorbing story.

I quite liked this book .It was the right length and the characters were easy to relate too. The setting of the quaint town of Inishowen adds to its appeal.Besides the mystery component surrounding the death of a local author there is reference to aging parents and relationships that survive despite work commitments and distance.. This is the second book in this series that I have read . I was not disappointed..

Enjoyable light easy to read book. a reclusive author ends up dead. the heroine, a lawyer with an ability to solve cases gets involved in this small town mystery. Family relationships, hers and others in the town and romantic relationships are also a part of the puzzle and the daily ife

This is a fun read for mystery fans. A reclusive writer decides to write his memoir. Invited to a local book festival he is murdered. Estranged wife and family attend the festival and bring a will. His young assistant also has a new will.
All the pieces to find the person responsible for the writers death.
Recommend for public libraries

This was amazing! I loved the pace of this book. This series is so good. I love a good Irish setting cozy mystery that keeps me on my toes but still cozy enough to make me happy. And this is the perfect one. I love Ben's character and I can't wait to see what else she gets into.
I just reviewed Death Writes by Andrea Carter. #DeathWrites #NetGalley
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