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The Celtic Crow Murders
A Murder... A Mansion... A Romance...
Larissa O'Connor is terrified after being threatened by an intruder in an empty mortuary. When she finds out he left cultic symbols in her husband's casket, Larissa is even more convinced her husband's death was not an accident.
She receives an intriguing correspondence that summons her to Cushendall, Northern Ireland. The letter is signed "The Celtic Crow," and the writer states that there she will learn who killed her husband. What she doesn't know, however, is the dark mansion Dalriada awaits with eerie elements for her discover.
The first glimmerings of romantic attraction she feels for the blue-eyed, tousle-haired Col surprise and confuse Larissa, but she learns she is not the only one with secrets.
Can Larissa trust the warnings and advice of Deirdre, an old keeper of tales? And could an entire town be hiding the truth concerning a Druid's curse on an ancient royal family of Ireland?
Larissa O'Connor is terrified after being threatened by an intruder in an empty mortuary. When she finds out he left cultic symbols in her husband's casket, Larissa is even more convinced her husband's death was not an accident.
She receives an intriguing correspondence that summons her to Cushendall, Northern Ireland. The letter is signed "The Celtic Crow," and the writer states that there she will learn who killed her husband. What she doesn't know, however, is the dark mansion Dalriada awaits with eerie elements for her discover.
The first glimmerings of romantic attraction she feels for the blue-eyed, tousle-haired Col surprise and confuse Larissa, but she learns she is not the only one with secrets.
Can Larissa trust the warnings and advice of Deirdre, an old keeper of tales? And could an entire town be hiding the truth concerning a Druid's curse on an ancient royal family of Ireland?
- GenresMystery
128 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2009
About the author
Patricia La Barbera
14 books8 followersOriginally from New York City, Patricia La Barbera moved to Oklahoma with her husband when they were newlyweds. She spent eleven years of discovery there and developed a deep respect for Native Americans.
When they moved to Florida, she went back to college and received a BA and an MFA in creative writing. Besides being an author, Patricia’s a freelance editor, specializing in genre novels and short stories. She’s an active member of the Horror Writers Association and a member of Mystery Writers of America and Mensa. Patricia's had fiction and poetry published in a variety of journals and in three anthologies. She's also a writing-contest judge.
In addition to the first three books in The Tala Chronicles, she’s written a mystery novella, The Celtic Crow Murders.
Patricia’s grateful to her hometown fire department who sponsored the first writing contest she won for her fire-prevention essay when she was in the third grade. And she forgives the teacher who told her in front of the class that she must have had a brain tumor when she wrote a story about a cat from outer space. But she does wonder what that teacher would think about her paranormal romance novels.
Patricia now lives on the west coast of Florida with her husband and her mews, Maeve. She loves the sunshine and swimming in the gulf.
Patricia hopes her readers enjoy her stories as much as she enjoys writing them. She’s working on the fourth book of The Tala Chronicles. Learn more about the author by visiting her website. http://www.patricialabarbera.com
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 13, 2024
Loved it!
July 19, 2013
Although this novella is only 128 standard pages La Barbera manages to pack in as many twists and uncertainties as a mystery twice its length, without skimping on detail.
Larissa O’Connor’s husband died in a car crash. At the funeral she discovers a hooded stranger performing a ceremony over her husband’s body and making cryptic references to the Celtic Crow, leaving her more convinced than ever his death was not an accident. When a letter arrives claiming the answers lie in her family’s past in Northern Ireland, she discovers that her husband might be the latest victim of a curse that stretches forward from the conversion of the Irish Kings to Christianity.
Larissa is a well-rounded character, displaying the usual modern disbelief in ancient prophecies and occult conspiracies to begin with but neither diving into magic nor unfeasibly disregarding evidence as she investigates further. By making her a travel journalist, La Barbera creates a justification for her investigative competence without the sacrifice of risk that making her a law enforcement professional would bring.
The supporting characters are also well crafted, from the intense and changeable emotions of Larissa’s daughter to the slow revelation of unsettled depths behind the openness of her seat-mate on the plane to Ireland.
As well as balancing the revelation of who sent the letter and whether Larissa’s husband really died in an accident, the book carefully maintains uncertainty about a mystical cause: even as the dénouement looms it is not clear whether Larissa’s dreams are echoes of a past life or merely nightmares built from the day’s events.
Instead of glossing over meals as most novels do, this book gives small word portraits of key meals. These snapshots of enjoyment carry a holiday mood, echoing Larissa’s cover story for a sudden trip to Northern Ireland and making the growing paranoia of the main plot darker by contrast.
The mystery remains unresolved until almost the last page before resolving the immediate threat. This resolution is plausible but leaves the reader sharing Larissa’s feelings of anti-climax. Larger issues in her family’s history are left unresolved, leaving an opening for a sequel.
Overall I enjoyed this book; however, the volume of plot and detail is almost too much for the length, teetering on the brink of being rushed. I recommend it to readers looking for a few hours of intriguing mystery.
I received a free copy of this book.
Larissa O’Connor’s husband died in a car crash. At the funeral she discovers a hooded stranger performing a ceremony over her husband’s body and making cryptic references to the Celtic Crow, leaving her more convinced than ever his death was not an accident. When a letter arrives claiming the answers lie in her family’s past in Northern Ireland, she discovers that her husband might be the latest victim of a curse that stretches forward from the conversion of the Irish Kings to Christianity.
Larissa is a well-rounded character, displaying the usual modern disbelief in ancient prophecies and occult conspiracies to begin with but neither diving into magic nor unfeasibly disregarding evidence as she investigates further. By making her a travel journalist, La Barbera creates a justification for her investigative competence without the sacrifice of risk that making her a law enforcement professional would bring.
The supporting characters are also well crafted, from the intense and changeable emotions of Larissa’s daughter to the slow revelation of unsettled depths behind the openness of her seat-mate on the plane to Ireland.
As well as balancing the revelation of who sent the letter and whether Larissa’s husband really died in an accident, the book carefully maintains uncertainty about a mystical cause: even as the dénouement looms it is not clear whether Larissa’s dreams are echoes of a past life or merely nightmares built from the day’s events.
Instead of glossing over meals as most novels do, this book gives small word portraits of key meals. These snapshots of enjoyment carry a holiday mood, echoing Larissa’s cover story for a sudden trip to Northern Ireland and making the growing paranoia of the main plot darker by contrast.
The mystery remains unresolved until almost the last page before resolving the immediate threat. This resolution is plausible but leaves the reader sharing Larissa’s feelings of anti-climax. Larger issues in her family’s history are left unresolved, leaving an opening for a sequel.
Overall I enjoyed this book; however, the volume of plot and detail is almost too much for the length, teetering on the brink of being rushed. I recommend it to readers looking for a few hours of intriguing mystery.
I received a free copy of this book.
April 13, 2013
Well, there is nothing to say about this book which isn't in the blurb. You could say someone told you everything about the story there. One thing which isn't in the blurb are Larissa's weird dreams and some information on her family's history. Nothing to write home about. It's just a mystery. One with occasionally annoying heroine.
June 26, 2013
This was okay, the story needed to be flushed out more. There were quite a few timing errors that a good editor should have caught and there was a huge hanging story line that never was addressed so why even bring it up.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews