YOU HAVE GONE TOO FAR is the third book in the County Kerry Mysteries by Carlene O’Connor. Set in the small village of Dingle, this suspenseful mystery kept me turning pages, as I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next. This is not a cozy mystery, although Ms. O’Connor brings the cozy element of close-knit, well-developed characters, a small community, and a strong descriptive voice. Protagonist Dimpna Wilde is the town’s veterinarian. I enjoyed her interaction with the town’s people and how she’s a caring individual. The author also touches on the heart wrenching situation of Dimpna caring for her father as he deteriorates from the ravages of Alzheimer’s. She treats the subject with sensitivity and even interjects a touch of humor to lighten a dark subject.

The dual mystery itself spans a few decades and the timeline of the story jumps back and forth from 1994 to the present day. The frightening cult that disappeared pregnant young women so long ago seems to have a copycat. Ms. O’Connor is a masterful storyteller and keeps the readers on their toes. I wasn’t sure how the long-ago crime would tie in with the current day disappearance of a young boy and a young soon-to-be mother. Yet as the plot unfolded, it all made sense. This is a race-against-the-clock type of mystery with a heart-pounding reveal. If you enjoy your mysteries less than cozy and like the atmosphere of Ireland with a determined amateur sleuth, then you’ll enjoy this series!

I was provided with an advance copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

You Have Gone Too Far
A County Kerry Novel #3
by Carlene O’Connor
Genre: Mysteries/Thrillers
Pages: 368
Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2024

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for a free e-copy of the book. All opinions are my own.

**Carlene O’Connor’s County Kerry books are not cozy mysteries. If you are familiar with her Irish Village Mystery series or the Home to Ireland Mystery series, the County Kerry novels are darker and more intense books. If you’re not sure if the County Kerry books are for you, borrow one from the library and give it a try.**

When one pregnant woman is murdered, and another one goes missing at the same time as a small boy, veterinarian Dimpna Wilde is desperate to find them both before another body is found.

Two women, both pregnant, receive disturbing emails from an anonymous source. When the body of one of them is discovered in a bog, memories of another horrific murder surface. Thirty years ago, another pregnant woman was discovered murdered, a member of a local cult suspected of selling babies. Then a pregnant woman goes missing, along with one of the boys who had discovered the body in the bog. Is someone trying to revive the cult? Or is something more sinister at play? Time may run out before the answers are found.
Wow. This book. The plot careened around corners on two wheels, zipped when I expected it to zag, and kept me off balance the entire ride. I’ve read all the County Kerry books, and this one is the best. I put off reading this book until I knew I had a chunk of time for reading because I knew once I started it, I wouldn’t be able to put it down. I’ve read all three of the County Kerry books, and this one is the best one yet. 5/5 stars.

This series, set in tiny Dingle, Ireland, is focused on Dimpna Wilde, a veterinarian. In the first two novels, Dimpna was front and center, but in this third outing she takes a bit of a back seat to a full on, ticking clock police investigation. Stepping up is Detective Inspector Cormac O’Brien, who catches the most nightmarish of cases, and it’s haunted by a similar case from 20 years ago. The perpetrators of that case have recently been released from prison, and Cormac’s Sergeant, Barbara Neely, has never gotten over working that one. It drives her forward with pure fury.

The book dips back and forth between two timelines. In one, around 1994, the author portrays a cult where pregnant women live with a “Shepherd” and a “Staff” (Staff is the muscle) awaiting the birth of their children. With the birth of the fist child, everything goes sideways, and the women realize the set up may not be what they thought it was. When one of them is discovered with her throat slit, the two men in charge are ultimately sent to prison.

In the present, the two have recently been released. They live in supervised housing and are still under the watchful eye of the law. However, when another pregnant woman is found murdered in the same fashion, the eyes of the community turn to these two men and things get ugly. Uglier. The crime is so horrific it threatens to swallow Cormac just as it did Barbara; and when another pregnant woman goes missing along with a ten-year-old, the investigation becomes laser focused. Secrets of not only the two men but of several others in town begin to come to light.
One of the real strengths of these books is the community O’Connor has built around her main character, Dimpna. O’Connor also writes cozies, and in a cozy novel, community is king. Bringing a different slant to things with a grimmer storyline doesn’t erase the author’s skill with what fantasy writers call “world building.” I would call it world building here as well, it’s just that the world is our own familiar one.

Dimpna is grounded by her veterinary practice, her retired vet father who now has Alzheimer’s, her psychic mother, who lives in a trailer next to her Dad, and her son, Ben, who has recently returned to Dingle. She also has a brother who has just launched his own tattoo parlor. Dimpna, as it happens, is involved with Cormac and being a part of the investigation seems natural as she provides him with several essential clues in his search for the killer of the young woman.

This novel works on many levels. It’s a propulsive read, for one thing. This author tends toward the operatic in her violence level but somehow her books aren’t as disturbing as they might be – if this story was penned by Elizabeth George, for example, it might be almost unreadable. O’Connor has a glint of optimism throughout, even when writing about the most dire of circumstances, and the characters and community she has created back her up. While this book is indeed full of grim occurrences it’s also full of hope, in a weird way.

The ending is actually a pretty happy one and the complex crime at the center of the story is satisfactorily resolved. I’m pretty sure there are a couple readers in my book club who might have sussed out the culprit, but I was surprised. Not in a bad way, as the author had fairly set things up for her ultimate reveal. My main critique of this series are the completely unmemorable titles. This is a thoughtful, well written book and even if you can’t remember the title, you’ll remember the story and the characters.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishing Corp. for the opportunity to read "You Have Gone Too Far" the 3rd book in the County Kerry Mystery series, in exchange for my honest opinion.

This story start off with a strange email talking about butterflies, a wolf, a hound and sheep. This is followed by messages debating the first email.

There are a lot of characters introduced and complicated storylines. There are different timelines as well. A body in the bog, but no one finds it, a couple adopting a baby but they disappear, two pregnant girls and a cult? I'm a huge, huge fan of Carlene O'Connor and read everything she writes but this plot just confused me. I was expecting more along her usual Irish mystery style.

You Have Gone Too Far by Carlene O'Connor is once again like the previous books in the County Kerry - much more a chilling thriller than a cozy mystery. Dimpna Wilde has her hands full with her personal life but added to this is the missing boy who had been a help to her. DI Cormac O’Brien and DS Barbara Neely are on the case when a pregnant woman is reported abducted.

The reader can see both the views of those on the case looking for the missing and the ones missing. When fear of ties to a past case comes to light the level of terror is up for the detectives and the reader. Dark and gritty this is a story that will keep you awake at night reading to see if the kidnapped victims are saved and the guilty ones are caught.

Such a terrifying read but so well written and plotted. I stayed up too late to finish! All her books are good but this was best yet.

You Have Gone Too Far is the 3rd in the series, yet you can read it as a stand alone. You do see some of the other characters from the previous book. Yet each book is different story.
Pregnant woman go missing, and woman turn up dead.
Seems like Dimpna literally runs into trouble, without wanting to.
When reading you try and figure out who the bad guys are. Then when the book is winding down and the pieces fall into place. You're shocked because it wasn't who you thought it was.
All the characters have their own quirks. Those quirks is what brings mysteries together.

Readers who have been following bestselling author. Carlene O’Connor’s County Kerry series, will want to pick up the third installment, You’ve Gone Too Far, where the protagonist, Dimpna Wilde, a delightful country veterinarian, finds herself investigating the kidnapping and murders of unmarried pregnant women in the area. One of the women, Shauna, who is deaf, goes to the market to meet another pregnant woman who corresponded with her online, but the woman doesn’t show up and Shauna focuses on working with the family she has promised to give her baby to. Some young boys on bicycles discover the body of one of the missing pregnant women, and one of the boys is kidnapped along with Shauna, and Shauna works to free herself and the boy. All the while strange things are happening in the county and the vets office.

Dimpna is a delightful character, and readers will love her. The supporting characters in the county – Dimpna’s parents, detective boyfriend, and friends – are interesting and seem real. O’Connor captures the culture of the Irish town and it is charming as a backdrop to the suspense filled novel. Her storytelling ability is excellent and readers will find themselves on the edge while reading this novel and enjoying the interactions between the characters.

All told, this novel is a change from O’Connor’s usual cozy novels, but is well written, suspenseful, and fascinating. It is highly recommended, and readers will want to pick up the previous novels to get themselves up to speed on the characters and scenarios that have happened previously.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I have read and enjoyed all of Carlene O’Connor’s Irish Village Mysteries: the setting, characters and plots.
This latest work is startlingly not only confusingly mysterious, but also dark and shocking.
The narrative begins with a very strange letter to “My darlings”, written by someone named by “One Who Has Not Forgotten”, who seems to be “mothering” 2 pregnant women who are on an incomprehensible, concerning email interchange to meet each other.
Circumstances don’t allow that to happen and the narrative twists and turns in the book throughout the never-ending chapters are a mix of murders, threats, veterinarians, and a cult community with names like Eternal Mist, Grand Ruler and The Shephard.
Brutality and confusion continues to occur as many others are caught up in monstrous actions which I, the reader, found overwhelmingly disturbing.
I really don’t know after the Irish Village collection what Carlene O’Connor entended the reader to learn or feel.
I am sorry to say: You have gone too far
Carlene O’Connor

veterinarian, dementia, deafness, Ireland, crime-fiction, thriller, secrets, lies, suspense, suspicion, rural, small-town, investigations, invisible-disability, local-law-enforcement, procedural, cults, friendship, triggers, fear, missing-persons, adoption, unpleasant-suspect, restraints, brain-washed, abductions, murders, multiple-perspectives, amateur-sleuth, captives, terror, intense****

This atmospheric tale of terror and fear in rural Ireland brings Veterinarian Dimpna Wilde to the limit. It is not herself nor her father with dementia who are in deep trouble, but a neighborhood youngster and an unknown pregnant young woman. DI Cormac O’Brien and DS Barbara Neely are on the job and the evidence points to a repeat of a disturbing case from twenty years ago, when a demented charismatic leader calling himself the Shepherd, lured poor pregnant girls into his cult. Though he’d been put away, they learn that the Shepherd has recently been released from prison and their worst fears seem realized. Now the investigations become even more intense as each hour is more frightening.
I requested and received a free temporary EARC from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you! Avail Oct 22, 2024
#YouHaveGoneTooFar #NetGalley

“You Have Gone Too Far” by Carlene O’Connor it's the 3rd instalment in the County Kerry Series, grapples with death, friendships, and secrets…
Some fear a mysterious cult from 30 years ago could be connected to the disappearance of a young pregnant woman and small boy…

The story is character-driven and also very descriptive you feel like you are right there in Dingle, Ireland. I’m a huge fan of the authors other mystery series set in Ireland , but her more gritty and suspenseful mystery novels are becoming my favorite.

The mystery is interesting and had lots of twists which kept me guessing. With so many suspects to follow I was surprised I guessed just before it was revealed.

I highly recommend this book to all my Irish Mystery loving friends.

I requested and received an Advanced Readers Copy from the publisher and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.