Biblio 411: An Early Wake (County Cork, #3)

Author: Sheila Connolly
Release Date: February 3rd, 2015
Publisher: Berkely
Read: February 5th, 2015
The Hook: Irish music, Maura + Sean possibilities, wondering what the Sullivan’s crew and the entire Cork County has been up to, Ireland, and mystery!

I just finished it (as of Feb 5th) and I’m bummed, as always, that I have to wait a year for the next one.

When I first picked up Buried in a Bog to read, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I love mystery and Maura’s story intrigued me–heading to Ireland to fulfill her grandma’s last wish.

Fast forward to book 3 and I’m still intrigued. I mean, wow. I mentioned in my previous reviews on Ms. Connolly has an amazing ability to weave history and mystery to make things work. I mentioned that this series, and her general themes, speak to all geeks in me. They only thing missing is the paranormal elements, but that’s okay because there’s mystery and that was my first love.

In the first book the history and mystery took place in the early 1900s while the second book took us through World War I or was it II. In this book, we head to the early 90s. It’s so cool. A newcomer, Tim (whom I love, by the way. His character is awesome), who is in town from Dublin to do some research on Irish music in the 80s-90s. Sullivan’s used to be hip to the music back then, kind of like an epicenter for the underground music scene. It’s a pretty cool storyline. And in this mystery, we see the effects drugs have a Ireland, so to speak (in that fictional-yet-not-really-fictional sense of things).

Aside from Tim, we meet musicians Niall and Aidan, and a few others. We have the old crew from the previous two books.

In An Early Wake, we also see Maura start to settle into the idea of living, and staying, in Ireland. She’s not sure if she can really manage Sullivan’s and make a living off of it and to see her grow into her decision is awesome, especially if you’ve been with her from the start. The Irish history and culture side of things which still mesmerizes me and I love seeing how Ireland is effecting her. We also see a bit more Sean and Maura. And we get to see a possible love triangle! I know I seem a bit excited and I kind of am because I didn’t think Ms. Connolly would’ve gone this route. I mean, I hoped she would in book one and then we got Sean so I was like … okay, I’m so cool with that and now … yay! I’m so darned curious to see how this will unfold.

And while history can sometimes be drab, it doesn’t for me with this series. Maybe it’s the mystery, maybe its the fact that I love history, I don’t know. All I know is that I enjoy this story. Really, really enjoy it and I can’t wait to see where Ms. Connolly will lead us in the next book.

I can’t wait!