“ Murder at an Irish Garden” the 11th instalment in the "Irish Village" Mystery series by Carlene O’Connor. This is one of my many favourite cozy series and I loved this story!

I always love visiting the village of Kilbane in County Cork and the O'Sullivan Six this time a murder investigation blooms out of a deadly gardening competition. Eoin hires a mercurial landscape designer known for her killer designs. His new partner’s unflattering reputation and questionable practices nearly eclipse her talents—and plunge the prestigious competition into chaos.

I love the characters which are well developed. I also like where the series is heading as the siblings spread their wings. The mystery is super interesting and well plotted, and loaded with red herrings. I kept guessing and second-guessing myself on whodunnit right to the very end.

I highly recommend this book to all my cozy loving friends.

I requested and received an advance reader copy of this book from Kensington Books and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

We're back in Ireland with Siobhan and Macdara and I love them so much! Truly, every time there's a new book in this series I drop everything. There's something so charming and cozy about this whole cast of characters and the landscape. Of course when I saw this particular installment centered around a Garden Competition, I was sold. There were quite a few plot points that I saw coming, but that's part of the charm of these for me. If you love cozy mysteries, look no further.

Fans of Irish bestselling author, Carlene O’Connor will want to pick up the eleventh installment of her popular Irish Village Series, Murder in an Irish Garden. In this novel, the residents of Kilbane, County Cork, Ireland are excited for the annual Gardening contest, and several serious gardeners have been chosen to compete. One of the competitors, Cassidy Ryan, grew up in Kilbane but moved away and some of the residents don’t think she should be allowed to enter the contest. She is a professional landscape designer with a bad reputation and unfortunately is murdered, sprayed with gold paint, and placed in the center of her garden as the showpiece. All of the other contests, as well as their crews are suspects. In addition, Siobhán and Macdara are having their first big argument since their recent marriage while Siobhán studies for her Detective Sergeant test, and that makes it hard to investigate the murder. In addition, all of the contestants, crews, and others connected are lying about different things, so Dara and Siobhán end up with plenty of suspects and a lack of clues.

O’Connor has a way of capturing the Irish culture in her books, and readers will feel they are actually there. She is an excellent storyteller, and this series is fun to read. The characters have Irish names, and readers will find themselves looking up pronunciations because the characters seem real and we want to pronounce their names correctly in our minds. She does an excellent job of developing the characters and they are likeable. The supporting characters are also well developed, but not always so likeable. They vary from book to book, but help to move the story along.


All told, this is a good addition to the series, and even though it is a light cozy, it has plenty of suspense and ups and downs to keep readers interested; as usual, readers won’t know who the murderer is until the dénouement at the end of the book.

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

Murder in an Irish Garden is the 11th book in the Irish Village Mystery series. I have read this series from the beginning. It takes place in the town of Kilbane, Ireland. Siobhan O'Sullivan is the main character along with her husband, detective sargent Macdara Flannery. She is studying for the detective sargent exams. Eoin is getting ready for his grandopening of his new restaurant, The O'Sullivan Six on the property. He has rented the field infront of the restaurant to Cassidy Ryan, a professional landscaper for the Kilbane's Top Garden contest which he thought would boost his business.

Molly Murphy from the Kilbane Times was there as the photograher and interviewer for the contestants of the contest. She told Siobhan and Macdara that this is her first feature assignment. The contest was not only flowers this year. Each garden has to incorporate a water feature, shrubbery, statues and garden sculptures. Molly had asked the other contestants how they felt about Cassidy being in the contest. They were not happy about it. The contestants are: Nessa O'Neill, Alice McCarthy, Teagan Moore, and Sean Bell along with Cassidy. Larry Larcan is the judge. He owns Larcan Nursery. Finnouola Connor who has won the contest the last 3 years had nominated Larry to be judge.

A large container with a statue in it arrives at her tent. She is not there to accept it. Eoin tried to call her but she doesn't answer but later text's Eoin to give him permission to sign for her. She said that her feature would be a real show stopper.

Siobhan, Macdara and the contestants go for the tour of their gardens. The first garden is Sean Bell. They go into his tent and find it totally trashed. Sean is not there. They hear a noise in the shed and find Sean locked in the shed. When he sees his garden he becomes upset. Said that Cassidy had been checking out his garden the day before. When he had finished and was putting his garden tools away the door was shut and held closed by a rake. There is a golden bell on the floor. He tells them that it isn't his bell. His was black.

The second garden is Teagan Moore's. They go into his tent and find all the rose pedals on the ground. All the rose bushes are bare. The fountain jis full of dirt, The base was gurgling sounds. A gold rose is at the base of the fountain. He said that he had finished the garden around six the night before. There was a charity shop on the ground floor of his home caled The Raven. He said that Finnoula was there.

The third garden is Nessa O'Sullivan. A herd of goats were in the garden. They had destroyed everything. Two goats were in the bath tub which was her garden feature.

The fourth garden was Alice McCarthy. Her theme was Alice in Wonderland. The tea party was thrown over. All the furniture turned over and all the tea cups and plates shattered.

The fifth garden is Finnoulia Connor. Her entire garden is flooded. Golden Trophies were floating in the water.

Siiobhan went to Cassidy's tent and pulled the cord. Her garden looked like nothing was out of place. There was a golden statue of a woman with her arms out streached with buds resting on her palms. At the base of the statue were all the missing pieces from the other gardens. On a closer look Siobhan notieced the gold was sprayed on the body and had some frost on it. Inside was the real body of Cassidy. A man's wedding ring was on her left hand.khis restaur

Siobhan, Maddara and Garda Aretta were standing infront of the restaurant. Guards were cordoning off the tent. Eoin was upset that this had happened on his property. He had been fond of Cassidy. He had waited a long time to open his restaurant. The okaying the crate was not her but someone else. They were waiting for Jeanie Brady, the state pathologist, would not get there until the next day. All the gardeners would have to be kept at the Kilbane Inn. Rooms were reserved. The inn was owned by twin sisters Emma and Eileen. They also had to question Larry Larcan as all the gardeners used his nursery, Who was the man who delivered the crate? What company was he from? Did he help with the crime? A guard had to be put on each tent.

This is where the story takes off. As you read the story you wonder who the killer is and to what extent the killer kept the police guessing. The author kept putting up road blocks throughout the story. It makes the reader what to continue to find out who the murderer is. Also why such an elaborate way to cover it up. I will leave it to the reader to enjoy with all it's twists and turns to the exciting ending,

Thank you Netgalley and Kensington Publishing Corporation for the ARC.

I really enjoyed getting to read this book and thought this worked in the Irish Village Mystery series, it had everything that I was looking for from the previous ten books. It had that element that I was looking for and enjoyed the overall story going on. Carlene O'Connor has a great writing style and was glad I was able continue reading this series and from Carlene O'Connor.

Ireland, local-law-enforcement, family, relationships, relationship-issues, banter, competition, contemporary, situational-humor, family-dynamics, local-gossip, small-town, murder, murder-investigation, reporter, vandalism, rivalry, witty, closed-circle-mystery, threats, suspense, siblings*****

Garda Siobhan O’Sullivan is studying up for her DS exam with the "help" of her husband Detective Macdara when they are interrupted by a furor. There has been vandalism/destruction of each of the intricately themed landscaped gardens (complete with non-flora accents) in the local competition, even that of the despised victim. Intricate red herrings and diabolical twists make this a superb addition to a delightful cozy style series.
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected digital galley from Kensington Publishing | Kensington Cozies via NetGalley. Thank you!
Avail Feb 25, 2025 #MurderInAnIrishGarden by Carlene O'Connor #IrishVillageMysteriesBk11 @KensingtonBooks #NetGalley

Murder in an Irish Garden is the newest book in a series, and new to me as well. It is a cozy mystery with amusing dialogue and refined characters. It takes place in Kilbane, County Cork, Ireland. Siobhan is studying for her detective sergeant exam, being quizzed by her husband Macdara, already a higher level officer, and their banter is entertaining. Siobhan is part of the large O’Sullivan family of six siblings. She finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery during the town garden competition. The story is full of town gossip and plenty of suspects. This series is fun and there are plenty of earlier novels to catch up on reading. With thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Publishing for this ARC. My opinions are my own.

Murder in an Irish Garden by Carlene O'Connor
is a great cozy mystery that is the 11th book in the An Irish Village Mystery series.

This is an awesome series that I have followed from the very beginning. I feel like the O’Sullivan family and are almost part of my own at this point. Siobhán and her husband, Macdara make a great team and the dialogue and interplay between the two make this so much fun. It balances the seriousness of the murder/mystery. Plenty of suspects in the garden competition, plenty of twists…and an enjoyable ride in the process.

An excellent addition to the series.

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Kensington Publishing | Kensington Cozies for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 2/25/25.

Complex characters and intriguing mysteries make this a great series. Character relationships are just as enjoyable as the mysteries themselves.

First off, I have to say that the blurb isn't completely accurate as to the action in the book. Eoin is never suspected of anything, even though Cassidy's garden is to be behind his new restaurant. He's too busy focusing on that than to notice much of anything else.

But back to the book -- There's a new gardener in town to enter the yearly local gardening contest, and the other gardeners are not happy about it. Cassidy left town many years ago, and is now a winning garden designer. Why she should want to enter is anyone's guess. But soon, an intrepid local reporter named Molly susses it out, and the other gardeners aren't happy/ When someone is killed during the competition, and vandalism occurs, garda O'Sullivan and her husband, Detective Macdara, are on the case trying to figure it out. A killer is loose, and the last thing they want is for someone else to be murdered...

This is the eleventh book in the series, and I have been watching Siobhan and her siblings as they grow and create new lives for themselves. They began years ago as orphans, and Siobhan refused to allow them to separate and took on the responsibility of raising them. Now, the six each have their own lives, and she has a hard time letting go. But she discovers that time doesn't stop, not even for a killer. When the person turns up dead, Siobhan doesn't know who is involved. It could be anyone -- a rival gardener, a crew member, local merchants, or even the reporter. But where does she start to decipher clues -- if she has any at all?

This book is wonderful. I did figure out a few things before our protagonist, but that doesn't matter as while reading it, it comes more convoluted and the clues are harder to find. What we have is a medley of suspects who all might have had reason to kill -- but learning the truth is going to be harder than she ever expected.

She's also dealing with personal problems, but refuses to allow it to get in the way of her case. Studying to be a detective might be hard, but this takes priority right now. Even Eoin's wonderful food can't turn her away from what is going on around her.

When Siobhan stumbles across the truth, she is stunned, and even Macdara thinks the answer is fiendish. But they press on and in the climax they confront who is responsible, and it's even sadder than one might think; mainly because it's a tad insane. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.

Another fun cozy mystery in the series. I must admit that some of the Irish names make me stumble a bit, but other than that I really liked this book, author and series and highly recommend it. This one is centered around a gardening competition, with lots of red herrings and suspects. Reminded me of Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express”. Also liked the confrontation scene at the end. Only thing I didn’t like was the silly fighting of the newly husband and wife, but overall that was a minor issue. Enjoyed this one.

One of my favorites from this series. Plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing. It’s good to be back in touch with the characters that are evolving with the series.

#MurderinanIrishGarden #NetGalley is the newest book in this series, as well as my favorite.
Siobhan is studying for her detective sergeant exam, she butts heads with her husband Macdara. Their comical bickering shows a spicy side of each spouse, and they both kept me chuckling.
Her brother Eion is preparing for the grand opening of his new restaurant, and decides to participate in a garden contest.
Things don't go well and Siobhan finds herself wrapped up in another murder investigation. The pressure is on to solve this one, especially since she's not feeling well and she can't afford to be sick.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of this book.