Strange Winds: A Raven's Wing Irish Murder Mystery

by T.E. Harkins

Find Audrey Murphy. She’ll know what to do.

Those were my mama’s final words to me. A cryptic message that led me from the beaches of Florida to a quaint, coastal village in the south of Ireland. All to track down a woman I’ve never heard of who, supposedly, has answers to questions I never even knew I had.

But as I sit outside the crumbling ruins of an ancient castle, working up the courage to go to Audrey’s house, I see something. Or at least, I think I do. Out of the mist, a woman dressed in white materializes. She seems to need my help. Then, as quickly as she appeared, she vanishes. Like a ghost. Maybe my grief-stricken mind was just playing tricks on me.

Or maybe not…

Before long, the little village is buzzing with news of a brutal murder. And, as the only witness to the crime, I find myself squarely in the killer’s crosshairs. Which means I’ll have to get to the truth of what happened…or the next obituary in the local paper could just be my own.

Genres: Mystery

276 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 17, 2024

Reviews

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was fun, even though it began with a murder that carried on to be a mystery. The excitement began as soon as Savannah, sent to Ireland in a note from her murdered mother, but with no idea why, arrived on the outskirts of the village of Ballygosier.
The locals are convinced she's seen a ghost and a frantic Savannah only feels a bit better when aunt Madeline and her somewhat annoying little grandson, Curt arrive. This book was a bit of a workout for my brain, trying to "hear" in my head the Irish accents of the villagers in this tiny village at the bottom of Ireland, and the accent of Savannah, Madeline and Curt from Alabama. Plus the names of all the different characters. Of course my favourite character was Fergal, the Irish Wolfhound. The book is well written, the characters interesting and the plot entertaining enough that I want to read books 2 and 3 in this series.
A good read

[Beth Peccarelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

rest read that starts a new series

This was the beginning of a new series that had a carryover of a few characters from the An Egret’s Loft Murder Mystery trio. This storyline was very interesting as it melded Irish lore with modern crime themes that include murder. The setting is a Southern Ireland village of Ballygoseir. The village and its eccentric characters add to the story. My only hesitancy in giving a 5 star review is that I had been so entrenched in Madeline being the narrator from Egret’s Loft that I had a hard time wrapping my mind around switching to Savannah as the narrator. I’d be inclined to 4.85 stars if it was an option.

[Polina Posner · Rating 5 out of 5]

From Alabama to Florida to Ireland. Wonderful branch off to become a series on its own.
Love the Southern colloquialisms interlaced with Irish expressions.
A mystery is presented and is in need of solvin'. Murder prompted the trip to the Emerald Isle, and murder greets Savannah as she follows her murdered mothers directive to find someone. What follows is a nicely woven mystery.
Enjoyable read

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The way the author chose to represent Savannah's southern way of speaking at times seemed almost like a hick, not like an educated woman who is a writer. The Irish people's speech was represented so that they sometimes clashed with the American. Writing a story with varying speech patterns and accents is a challenge; reading it is as well. The best part of the book was Fergal.

[R.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange Winds whisks you up from your mundane life and deposits you onto the coast of Ireland where a woman accidentally witnesses a murder while trying to solve her own family mystery. Was she sent to Ireland for a reason? Is that reason connected to the murder? And how many of Ireland's ghost stories should she believe?

This book was fun to read and the story, albeit predictable, is very good at tossing out red herrings. Even though I assumed the correct person was involved, I had my doubts throughout the story until the end when I confidently exclaimed, "I knew it!"

The characters are loveable, especially Curt. He's a 7-year-old "Young Sheldon" type of character and I absolutely loved his involvement in the mystery! Savannah (main character) is easy to root for, though I can't say that she differs from the cliché "Nancy Drew" style of sleuthing. Lots of accidental discoveries and angering people with her nosiness and assumptions; but clichés like this are why we read and love mysteries, are they not?

Overall, I enjoyed my time in Ireland via reading Strange Winds and might be enticed to continue the series in the future.