This was a fantastic thriller. Twists, suspense, tension. The mystery was riveting. I . Right away, I was hooked with how odd this situation was, and things only increased, which had me on the edge of my seat.

I really enjoyed to first book in this series. This one: not so much. The series is about a bridal designer, Rayne McGrath, who was scammed by her business partner, lost her business and all her savings, inherits an Irish castle, McGrath Castle, and the responsibility for the surrounding village and a mandate to make a profit in order to keep the castle. She also inherited a cousin, Ciana Smith, as a partner in the castle who was not keen at first at the idea to turn the castle into a wedding destination. This book is about their first wedding and, of course, the next murder. I wasn't impressed with "Death at an Irish Wedding." It could have taken place just about anywhere, hardly any Irish flavor and I didn't care for most of the characters, especially the wedding party, who were a bunch of entitled jerks. I do have to say that the ending and the baddie were great, but having to slog through the whole book to get to the good ending was no fun.

What I did like was that Rayne and Ciana are working together in making McGrath Castle a profitable business. These two are growing from enemies into the best of friends and cousins. They have each other's backs, and each is beginning to respect the abilities of the other. I also liked he slow developing attraction between Rayne and Amos, the property manager. No sparks flying, but a definite smolder. Should be fun to see this relationship kindle into a proper fire. Ciana is unbending toward Garda Dominic Williams, a past lover who believed, for a time, that she had murdered her father. Blarney, an Irish Setter pup, stole the show - I loved him!

Thank you, NetGalley, Publishers, and Ellie Brannigan, for gifting me a copy of Death at an Irish Wedding in return for my honest review.

3.5/5 stars

Rayne keeps her promise of staying in the Irish Countryside at the castle she inherited from her uncle. One of the ways they decided to make money was to open the castle up for weddings. This coming weekend, their first clients will be arriving for their wedding. Heiress Tori Mongomery and Actor Jake Anderson want to have a small wedding, and McGrath Castle is the perfect place. When one of the wedding guests is killed in the castle, Rayne and her cousin will have to put on their detective hats again to clear their name as a business.

I enjoyed this story more than the first one; there weren't as many unrealistic parts to this one as there were in Death at an Irish Castle. But there were still some aspects that I found unbelievable. For example, His con-man ex-boyfriend has escaped from prison and has made it to Ireland, but she isn't worried. I mean, come on, how can you not be?

I also enjoyed this one's plot more than the first. It kept me hooked throughout, and the mystery was more entertaining. I also felt like Ciara wasn't as obnoxious of a character in this one as she was in the first book. She seemed more mature in this one, which was a nice change.

I enjoyed this novel more than the first in the series. Its plot was stronger, with fewer inconsistencies and holes, making it a more enjoyable read.

What a perfectly cosy, fun and enjoyable mystery and one I really enjoyed. I love teh bridalwear theme and the castle and all the characters in this book. It is also quite a short book to read and one I had finished within a day.

But having now realised there was another book (this being the second) I feel the need to find book 1 and start from the beginning. Even so I still enjoyed this one, found it rather entertaining and would read more books from this author given the chance.

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Ellie Brannigan continues her Irish Castle mysteries with Death at an Irish Wedding. Rayne McGrath who designs bridal wear has inherited rundown Irish castle. She has a year to raise the funds to refurbish the castle while her cousin is booking the venue for special events to bring in the funds to do the remake. A billionaire bride and an actor are to have the perfect wedding on the site. Then everything falls apart. A staffer of the bride's best friend is found fallen from the tower. Pushed or jumped? Trouble in Paradise among the wedding party. The garda investigate as does Rayne and more dirty gossip emerges. What could go more wrong?

Death at an Irish Wedding
An Irish Castle Mystery
Ellie Brannigan
Crooked Lane Books

This is the second book in the Irish Castle Mystery series and every bit as enjoyable as the series starter. I have read mysteries with wedding drama, or upper crust drama, or Hollywood drama, but this is the first time that I have seen all three wrapped up in a single book. This is book two of the Irish Castle Mysteries and the cousins Rayne and Ciara need to make the wedding venue idea work or lose the family estate, which means the town gets annexed into the next town over. A unique aspect of this story is that Rayne is an amazing wedding dress designer who’s boutique catered to the Rodeo Drive crowd until…(read Murder at an Irish Castle). Suffice it to say that she knows a few things about fancy shmancy and all things designer, but a working castle with sheep and such, well that is another thing all together. The funny bit about this situation is that Ciara knows the workings of the castle and taking care of what needs to be done but she is as fancy as a bowl of porridge. This is a wedding for the tabloids, that is, it would be if anyone knew it was taking place. Why all the secrecy?

There are some unique characters for suspects including the bride, hotel heiress Tori Montgomery, who doesn’t really seem to like her own movie starlet maid-of- honor, Amy Flores. Animosity amongst the players seems par for course because Amy barely tolerates her own PA (personal assistant), Tiffany Quick. The groom, Hollywood heartthrob, Jake Anderson gets along with everyone, but his brother Josh can be a bit much sometimes and to round out the out of town suspects is Jake’s personal assistant, Ethan Cruz, who keeps reminding Jake that he is supposed to appear available per his Hollywood contract. So why did Tiffany and up dead and could it have been a local? The visitors seem to be completely at odds with each other. Not unlike Rayne being at odds with a few of the locals, like Bran Wilson, plumbing contractor for the estate has been spreading some nasty gossip about the estate and the murder for no good reason, as if he wants to sabotage the girls’ efforts. Gossip doesn’t seem to be the only form of sabotage, when a Swarovski crystal heart disappears from Tori’s wedding dress and Rayne has to do some quick thinking and fast stitching to save the day.

The plot was so well crafted that I couldn’t put the book down. From the Irish accents of my imagination to the description of the beyond amazing wedding dress with hand adorned Swarovski crystal hearts that almost didn’t fit the bride, I felt completely immersed in the story. I am already invested in Rayne’s possible relationship with Amos Lowell, the ground’s manager. Rayne says she doesn’t have time for a relationship and is not about to start trusting herself after her last relationship fiasco. I look forward to the next book and to see what Ellie Brannigan has in store for the cousins and if Rayne is going to get to keep the pretty pink Hermes bag instead of selling it to cover estate costs.

A quick cozy mystery that takes the reader to Ireland. I can't wait to read more in the series. Though I'm not going to lie I didn't enjoy it as much I as I did the first one in the series.

Why oh why do I keep reading books I don’t like? Is this a naïve hope that at some point in the book the story will get better or the characters more agreeable?

I couldn’t really get into this one. For a start, there are too many characters in most scenes. Sure, there’s a wedding party of eight (and they all arrive together) and there is staff, each with different tasks, to assist the guest, but did all of these people need to be introduced (name and description of physical attributes and other tokens) in the same scene?

There’s a level of detail in the descriptions that distracts from the main action. While the police are securing the possible crime scene the narrative says: <em> His pale fingers had a dusting of blond hair.</em> It was around midnight and cloudy; how could anyone have noticed this?

Then one of the guests gets killed. And all the guests turn out to be rather unlikeable people. Jake (and his entourage) seem to be more concerned with how publicity concerning the wedding will affect his career than with the feelings of his bride. Apperently, Jake is stuck in some kind of studio system where a pregnancy could ruin his career. (He’s a man! Doing action movies. It’s not like his belly will get in the way of being kick-ass. His fan base probably does not care either.)

Rayne and Ciara want to make their ancestral home into a money maker by turning it into a wedding venue. With you on that one: castles for weddings is a romcom trope. For some reason it means the participate in all activities of the guests. Why? It’s not like the guests were impressed with having an actual Lady at their table, nor did Rayne and Ciara strike up some rapport with the guests that enabled them to snoop to solve the mystery.

For that matter, very little snooping is done. Rayne is mostly concerned with altering a wedding dress and sorting through other last minute wedding stress, and speculating about who could have killed Tiffany (and speculating about who has sexual or romantic interest in who).

The twist were the motive becomes clear was a surprise, but at the same time rather pathetic.

Except for the phones with camera and the mention of wifi, a lot of things made it seem like this story was set in the 1950s.

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.