Rayne McGrath and her cousin, Ciara Smith need to find a way to save the family castle that they inherited. Their whole village may get taken over by a larger town if they can't make a success of the castle. Rayne knows the bridal business as a bridal wear designer and Ciara knows everything about the castle & the village. Putting their heads together and turning the McGrath Castle into a destination wedding destination seems to be the solution to their problems.

Heiress Tori Montgomery and her fiancé, heartthrob actor Jake Anderson are to be their first clients. They arrive with a best man, maid of honor, 2 personal assistants and Tori's parents. All is going well until Tori’s best friend’s assistant, Tiffany Quick, is found dead. Did she fall from the tower? Or was she murdered? And someone is trying to sabotage the wedding, but why?

Rayne and Ciara have additional challenges now, keeping the wedding party happy and trying to solve a murder. Are they up to it? Will their destination wedding business be a success?

This book is great. I love reading stories with Americans learning about foreign traditions. This is the second book I have read in this series and will continue to read as I love the characters and the stories are put together well.

Thanks for the chance to read this book. I missed the fact that it was 2nd in a series somehow, however it can be read as a stand alone. For me the story moved very slowly and it was hard to become invested in.

We are back in Ireland at the McGrath Castle with Rayne and Ciara. They are trying to save their castle by adding a wedding to help pay the bills. Rayne's wealthy wedding dress client moves up her wedding and wants to have a secret wedding. With a bridezilla and a lot of family drama. Rayne hopes they can get this wedding completed. Then a dead body is found and chaos ensues.

This was an interesting mystery. I wasn't sure whodunnit. I wasn't a big fan of any of the wedding guests. They were all spoiled and mean. So finding the culprit seemed unimportant.

Blarney the dog is definitely my favorite character. I loved the Irish setting.

Death at an Irish Wedding
(Irish Castle Mysteries 2)
Ellie Brannigan




Rayne McGrath is a semi-famous wedding dress designer. Her mother is a Hollywood starlet. After her business partner and boyfriend defrauds her and runs away with her money and customer dresses, she receives a bequest from her uncle Nevin in Ireland. While there she meets her cousin Ciara Smith, her uncle's illegitimate daughter. She also becomes the owner of McGrath Castle, which desperately needs repair.

Rayne has moved her wedding business to McGrath Castle and is working with her cousin Ciara to turn their home into an exclusive one stop wedding destination. She has eight months remaining to repair the castle finances and save Grathton Village.

McGrath Castle is hosting their first high profile wedding event! Movie heartthrob Jake Anderson and socialite Tori Montgomery, are on the way to wedded bliss when Tiffany, Amy’s assistant is murdered. Amy Flores is the maid of honor. This murder not only cast a pall over the wedding celebrations but brings hidden animosities to the surface.

Grathton Village is mostly excited by the coming guest as Ciara and Rayne has gone the extra mile to source local. Cotter Village’s council woman is still a problem as she’s trying to absorb Grathton. We also have a shooting, and an escaped ex on the war pass! What’s Rayne and her new Irish family to do?!

I really enjoyed the followup to Murder at an Irish Castle. It is a wonderful addition to what seems like a great new series. It isn’t graphic in depiction of violence but the scenic descriptions are highly enjoyable. For anyone looking for a fast paced or romantic adventure, this isn’t it. It is a straight forward mystery with some humorous undertones.
5***** I look forward to seeing where book three leads!

Ellie Brannigan is also known as Traci Hall, author of the Scottish Shire mysteries and Appletree Cove series. Traci Wilton of the Salem B&B mysteries, and finally Patrice Wilton of the Riley Harper mysteries.


Thank you to Netgalley, Ellie Brannigan, and the publisher for the ARC.

Death at an Irish Wedding is book #2 in the Irish Castle Mystery series by Ellie Brannigan.

Rayne McGrath and her cousin, Ciara, are trying to save the castle they inherited. They are trying special events and then the opportunity to host a wedding for one of Rayne’s bridal wear clients presents itself. Unfortunately, there is a death which feeds into the locals unhappiness with the wedding venue plans. There’s a lot going on that makes this a challenge to solve. I enjoyed seeing Rayne and Ciara’s relationship progress and love Rayne’s dog, Blarney. I look forward to the next book.

Thank you to the author, Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Ellie Brannigan does a fabulous job of making McGrath Castle feel just like home! As soon as I started reading, I was reminded of reading the first one. The sense of place in this series is fabulous. When reading a wedding cozy or an extremely rich people cozy, bridezillas and awful behavior from the main woman is to be expected. However, Brannigan went against type and gave us a demanding, but fair bride who wanted to have a fabulous wedding. There were plenty of other people behaving badly to keep me entertained. Then when all the secrets starting being revealed, my jaw was on the floor. This was a fun light read with a strong sense of place and some fabulous characters.

I enjoy this series. I like the setting and the characters. The mystery kept me guessing. I hope for many more.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the first one in this series and was eager to read the next in the series. This one, however, did not work for me. While I still enjoyed the setting and the characters, I felt that this book was repetitive and moved at a snail’s pace. There were sections where investigate information is found by Rayne and she then relates it to one person after another, not adding anything to the story at all. Then there’s the details with the dress. While I am not an expert (or even a novice in sewing), I am an event planner, which means you find a way to make things work. I applaud the effort Rayne made to find a new crystal for the dress but couldn’t she have moved another one to hide the hole and then add the new crystal to the less conspicuous spot? And what kind of event venue doesn’t make sure there are flowers and other necessities for a wedding? There are just so many things that didn’t make sense to me but I will read the next one, hoping it all is worked out.

Rayne McGrath and Ciara Smith - cousins - were determined to save the Irish McGrath castle - which they had inherited. The trick to it all was they had to live there for a year, renovating the castle while making money, and saving the small village which was connected to the castle. Their first effort had failed dismally, but the plan of holding weddings in the luxury of the ancient castle held merit. Their first wedding between US hotel heiress Tori Montgomery, and handsome actor Jake Anderson, and the big money attached saw Rayne and Ciara juggling so many balls in the air, they wondered what would fall first. But it was the death of an assistant which started the downhill run.

With the Garda at the castle interviewing all the players, and spats breaking out between all those who were "supposed to be friends", Rayne was beginning to think someone was out to sabotage the wedding. Would the events of the three day weekend continue as planned? Or was worse to follow?

Death at an Irish Wedding is the 2nd in the Irish Castle Mystery series by Ellie Brannigan and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I do think book 1 needs to be read first, as for me, it made it easier to follow. Rayne is a strong, determined character, while her cousin Ciara, is feisty and says what she thinks - always. They make a good team. I'm looking forward to #3 in the series when it's published and recommend this one highly.

With thanks to NetGalley & Crooked Lane Books for my digital ARC to read and review.

This is the second book in the Irish Castle Mystery series. I have not read the first book but it was easy to follow the story anyway.

Rayne is an American wedding dress designer who is in Ireland helping her cousin, Ciara, to save their family castle. They are running a recently opened wedding venue complete with accommodation. A mysterious death occurs, and Rayne sets out to solve the crime and save her business.

It is an easy to read, fairly light mystery with some fun characters. I enjoyed it.

Beverly Hills bridal designer Rayne McGrath moves to Ireland to join her cousin Ciara. They have been left the family castle by Ciara's father with the stipulation that they must have the castle in the black in a year's time. No easy undertaking when the village is not happy about progress, even though that progress will save their way of life.

There big break is here. A secret celebrity wedding! All they need to do is pull this off and they will be on their way. That is until a one of the guest is found murdered. Can Rayne and Ciara figure this out and bring the killer to justice and save their castle and the village?

This is the second of the series. I had not read the first but had no trouble in following the store. Easily can be read as standalone. It was a fun read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This is the second book in the Irish Castle Mystery series. There is enough backstory given so that readers who haven’t read Murder At An Irish Castle understand what brought Rayne to Ireland and what she and her cousin Ciara need to do to meet the terms of her uncle’s will. The Irish castle becoming a destination wedding venue and Rayne’s bridal dress design business is unique. The murder mystery was well done. There are a lot of characters which can get rather confusing trying to keep them all straight. This was an enjoyable cozy mystery.

I had fun in reading this well plotted classic cozy mystery. A likeable FMC, great setting, solid mystery.
Will surely read the next one
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Rayne and Ciara have settled into working together, even if they still roll their eyes at each, to try to save not only the castle, but the village. As a wedding venue, they seem to have it all ready and perfectly placed for making money. But their first guests not only bring Hollywood drama, they bring a murder, that needs to be solved, before anyone else in the wedding party is endangered. A super quick read, this one will keep you guessing with a few red herrings thown in! Glad to see book 2 lived up to all the fun of book 1 (Murder at an Irish Castle).

I had found the first book in the series quite exciting, but this second installment felt a bit less compelling. I wasn't drawn into it like I did for the first one. Having said that, I'll be happy to check out the next one. I thought it was a great idea to include the brief recap at the beginning to refresh our memories about what had happened previously. Keep doing it, it's rare but always appreciated!

A genial cozy set in an Irish castle. This second in the series will be just fine as a standalone-Brannigan gives you the essential backstory as to how American Rayne ended up working with her cousin Ciara to save the castle. Now they think the wedding of Rayne's pal Tara to her actor fiance will help them leapfrog ahead, thanks to the publicity but unfortunately, it's not good publicity when Tiffany ends up dead at the base of the tower. What happened to her and who is the villain? Rayne and Ciara have to figure that out and deal with the village, which isn't happy about what they're doing. The mystery isn't too twisty, there's some interesting family dynamics between Rayne and Ciara, and there's a dog. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARc. A good read.

The wedding of a Hollywood action star and his heiress fiancee is scheduled to take place (in secret) at the McGrath Castle. Rayne and Ciara (the owners) are rushing to make sure this last-minute wedding goes off without a hitch. But, a murder causes all sorts of havoc and they're rushing against the clock while dealing with a police investigation. The identity of the killer was well-disguised (I didn't guess it), and the mystery kept my interest right up until the very end. The characters were a tad stereotypical, but the story was enjoyable nonetheless.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for providing an advance review copy of this book. My opinions are my own.

British Cozy Mystery about an American bridal wear designer who's Irish family castle's first time as a wedding venue turns deadly after the bride's best friend's assistant's killed.

5/5 stars: This is the second entry in Brannigan's Irish Castle Mystery series which is a Literary Cozy Mystery that takes place in Ireland and features an American bridal wear designer-turned-entrepreneur who's rundown family Irish castle's first time as a wedding venue turns deadly. In order to raise funds to repair her home, she offers the castle to a bridal wear client and her actor fiance's for their wedding but the occasion's marred when the bride's best friend’s assistant is found dead. While dealing with villagers protesting the new enterprise, she'll have to unearth all of the wedding party's secrets to catch the killer. With plenty of twists and turns, Brannigan has masterfully crafted a mystery that deftly balances the suspects, clues and red herrings and will leave you pondering the whodunit until the final reveal. Heartfelt and humorous, Brannigan's writing and character work are stellar; the characters are well-rounded and complex while remaining incredibly likable. It's great to catch up with Rayne, her cousin and business partner Ciara and the folks of McGrath Castle and Grathton village. I really like seeing the progress (and occasional setbacks) that Rayne and Ciara's making to meet the terms of the will. Oh and there's Rayne's lovely loyal dog, Blarney. Brannigan touches on some serious subjects; so take care and check the CWs. While you could read this as a stand-alone, you'll gain so much more by reading the series from the beginning; so be sure to pick up book one, Murder at an Irish Castle.

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

Secrets are rarely good, especially in cozy mysteries. In this case, there are so many secrets floating about that I almost felt like I needed a scorecard. Wow, I definitely didn't see that twist coming at the end. While I wasn't wowed by this book, I enjoyed it. The main characters, Rayne McGrath and her cousin Ciara Smith are both interesting, likable women. They come from very different worlds, Rayne from the fast pace of Rodeo Drive fashion while Ciara has spent her time in Ireland. Both bring different strengths and weaknesses to their shared goal, however, of keeping McGrath Castle productive and thus helping support the village. They have a year to make a profit or lose it all according to terms of Rayne's grandfather's will. Rayne thinks her prayers may have been answered, however, when Hollywood comes to call in the form of two stars seeking a remote, secretive place to marry. Things seem ti be looking up but, oops, then there's a murder.

That's when the story takes off. I won't detail the plot other than to say there are secrets galore, the unexpected, villagers in not-so-secret rebellion, a lost diary, an adorable dog, quaint pubs, carriage rides, gunshots, jealousy, an escaped prisoner, and, well, that's just the basics. The side stories were just that, kept to the side. I felt a bit deflated that one of them seemed to be building to a climax of some sort than....nothing. I assume it will be continued in the next book but just found it annoying. Through it all, however, Rayne proves highly resourceful with the help of Ciara and the castle regulars. Even Blarney, the dog on the cover, gets a moment to shine.
Bottom line, an okay book but it didn't quite hit a home run with me. That said, I loved the cover, liked Rayne and was happy to see Ciara and her working together this go-round instead of at odds with each other. It definitely kept me wondering what was going on with the wedding party the entire rime and the big reveal, with everyone brought together, was well done. The virtual tour of the castle was fun, too, and with so much left still hidden away, I expect to hear more about it's medieval furniture and objects as the series goes along. Thanks #CrookedLaneBooks for allowing me this early, quick visit to an Irish castle to catch up with the efforts of Rayne and Ciara to save McGrath Castle. What a lovely setting for a wedding.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Ellie Brannigan for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Death at an Irish Wedding coming out December 10, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I really loved the first book, so I was excited to receive the second book. I love the Irish castle setting. Weddings in cozy mysteries are fun. I think Rayne is a fun character and I enjoyed the mystery. There were a few things about the book that seemed a little shallow though about the descriptions of characters. There was some repetitive language like her always putting her hand on flat stomach. It just seemed unnecessary after the first time. But overall, I really enjoyed it. I would check out more books by this author.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys cozy mysteries!