Cruel Winter

County Cork Mystery #5

by Sheila Connolly

The New York Times–bestselling author returns with another “totally captivating page-turner . . . perfect for winter nights with a storm beating against the windows” (New York Journal of Books). A snowstorm leaves Irish pub owner Maura Donovan trapped inside with her patrons—and a suspected killer—in this 5th Agatha Christie-style cozy mystery in the County Cork series.   Snow is a rarity in Maura Donovan's small village in County Cork, Ireland, so she wasn't sure what to expect when a major snowstorm rolled in around Sullivan's pub. But now she's stranded in a bar full of patrons—and a suspected killer in a long-ago murder. Maura's been in Ireland less than a year and hasn't heard about the decades-old unsolved crime that took place nearby, let alone the infamous suspect, Diane Caldwell. But the locals have, and they're not happy to be trapped with her. Diane, meanwhile, seeks to set the record straight, asserting her innocence after all this time. And since no one is going anywhere in the storm, Maura encourages Diane to share her side of the story, which she'd never had a chance to do in court. Over the next few hours, the informal court in Sullivan's reviews the facts and theories about the case—and comes to some surprising conclusions. But is it enough to convince the police to take a new look at an old case?

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Ireland, Fiction, Cozy, Audiobook, Irish Literature

294 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 14, 2017

About the author

Sheila Connolly taught art history, structured and marketed municipal bonds for major cities, worked as a staff member on two statewide political campaigns, and served as a fundraiser for several non-profit organizations. She also managed her own consulting company providing genealogical research services.

She was a member of Sisters in Crime-New England (president 2011), the national Sisters in Crime, and the fabulous on-line SinC chapter, the Guppies. She also belonged to Romance Writers of America and Mystery Writers of America.

Sheila was Regent of her local DAR chapter, and a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants. She was also the grandchild of Irish immigrants. In addition to genealogy, Sheila loved restoring old houses, visiting cemeteries, and traveling.

Reviews

[LORI CASWELL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dollycas’s Thoughts

What happens when it snows in Ireland? Like Maura I had not really thought about it but Sheila Connolly gives us and Maura just a little taste of the Irish lands covered in snow.

The snow is falling and friends and strangers are gathering at Sullivan’s Pub to wait out the storm. They have plenty of ale and fuel for the fire. Food is a little sparse but with a little creativity from Rose she stretches what she has enough to feed everyone. One of the strangers is Diane Caldwell, like Maura she had family that lived in the area, but she hasn’t been back to Leap in years. The local authorities had her pegged as the prime suspect in the murder of another young woman several years ago but never has enough evidence to make an arrest. Most of locals recognized her immediately. So because of the snow storm she has a captive audience. Could there be a better time to tell her side of the story? Heck, her listeners may even be able to shed light on something that had been missed all those years ago.

At first I thought this was going to be a closed room type mystery where the real guilty party just happened to be in the room too, but Ms. Connolly gives the story a nice twist showing fresh sets of eyes and ears can uncover new clues on an old cold case. She lets Diane tell her story and Maura and the other patrons ask questions and test out theories trying to find some way to prove Diane really is innocent and maybe give the garda a new lead on this old crime.

The characters in this story are so rich. I love Maura, but I really love Billy. He is an elderly man that basically holds court in the pub each day telling stories. This time his knowledge of the history and the land in the area help Maura and the others to keep pushing forward with new ideas. The author has set the scene so well in all the books in this series it is so easy to picture him in his overstuffed chair in front of the fire regaling everyone with his thoughts about the case.

Connolly also describes the rest of the pub, including the basement, in such detail readers are given a bird’s eye seat for the whole story. Even the snow falling outside and the drafts around the windows are easy to see and feel. They were so real I found myself pulling a blanket around my shoulders to keep away the cold.

In addition to the main plot, Gillian has some changes coming in her life and she is getting near to having her baby. Jimmy has a new woman in his life and Rose is growing up so fast.

I have enjoyed every book this author has written and this one is no different. I am so glad Maura decided to stay in County Cork. That little bit of the Irish in me anxiously awaits for each trip to Sullivan’s where Maura pours me a pint and I can sit and relax among friends.

Thank you Sheila for another wonderful escape!

[K. East · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll start by saying that I listened to this mystery as an audiobook in my car while running errands. Now normally, I am very tolerant of flaws in audiobooks [as long as the narrator doesn't have a voice that would cut glass] as I have always loved being read-to since my Mom did it when I was a child. So when I tell you that I've never wanted a book to end as badly as I wanted this one to end, you know there had to be some issues. The narrator was fine and actually made the book more tolerable. The problem came when the author repeated the same issues [and much of the dialog] over and over and over and over and over until I thought I would scream. Only my insatiable curiosity to see how she would work out the mystery and who did it kept me from deleting this book from my Ipod. And the conclusion, when it finally came, was rather anticlimactic, partly because the build up had been so interminably long and repetitive. So, unless you really love this series and want to know what happens to the ongoing characters, I would give this one a miss. Interesting premise but a poor execution.

[Chris Conley · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a clever idea. A mystery solved but no crime committed in this story! A murder but no body in the present. A room full of folks with only one person involved in the initial crime. This is a really inventive story.

[Melissa Borsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slow burn mystery set in a pub in Ireland during a bad snow storm where the only suspect of a long ago murder is trapped with other townspeople and spots the perfect opportunity to tell her side of the story. A well told story that was a bit too long, but still enjoyable. I thank Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I normally don't care for books written by Americans set in Ireland. They're off-key and inauthentic usually but this one is different. The main character is an American who has relocated to a small town in Ireland, Leap, to run a pub. She inherited it from a close friend of her grandmother's who came from Leap. The Americanisms are OK because the character is American.

A freak snowstorm hits the little town. Maura is surprised by the town's panic because she's from Boston where they are prepared. It's a big town that gets snow regularly so they have snow plows and ice and other help. Leap is small and it rarely snows so they have none of that. Maura tries to prepare but food is scarce and batteries are sold old. Still some town regulars, tourists with broken down cars, a musical duo scheduled to perform, and other stragglers gather in the pub for warmth and company. Then the electricity goes out and they are left with story telling as their entertainment.

A young lady who was the main suspect in a murder case twenty years ago makes an appearance. The snow bound group decide to hold a mock trial to discover the real killer. I think this is a clever idea. They have no Internet to check things out, they just draw from old memories and new ideas on what could have happened. The discussions are interesting.

This is the fifth book in the series and my first one to read. I had no trouble keeping up though. I really liked the story idea. I liked the fact that Maura is American so it explains those American slip ups. The writing is a cut above the average cozy mystery. I'll read more of this series.

Thank you Net Galley and Crooked Land Publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

[Pat · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was an absolute slog and took me many months to get thru but I was determine to see it to the end because I wanted to post a review and I was just curious enough to wonder who had actually 'done it' as the saying goes.

The first couple books in this series were real attention grabbers so I would wait with baited breath for each new one to come out. Book #4 is where it started getting boring for me. Maura just doesn't seem to have grown any throughout the series and it leaves me wondering why. In this book we are led to believe that only 9 months have passed since she arrived in Leap from Boston to take over Sullivan's Pub. Not sure why Ms Connolly wants so little time to have passed but that does explain why Maura seems to have not grown much and still doesn't know anything about running her own pub or even what is inside the building.

The real problem with this book is none other than Maura Donovan herself. She is young, inexperienced, and she doesn't seem to really care about what she is doing or where she is. She hasn't really bonded with anyone in the little town of Leap. She has two male suitors though neither are ever in the story for long. Poor Sean Murphy, the gardai, seems to make such brief appearances that he never even gets to drink his cup of coffee that he is constantly ordering but not getting the chance to drink! And Mick the bartender who kissed her once but neither one of them can remember the moment. Come on Ms Connolly! No one gets kissed and then forgets the moment. Maura doesn't even give it a second thought. Are you trying to keep the characters so clean and unassuming that they don't even have feelings? One of these men should have stirred something in Maura but did not.

And that not knowing what is in her building? OMG they have regular music evenings there. A character died there during a music fest and yet she doesn't know there are sleeping quarters upstairs? Beds, bathrooms? And the basement - how clueless can one person be. The day she took over Sullivan's Pub she should have gone down in that basement and had a look around. Where are the taps kept, pots and pans, extra candles for emergencies? Maura doesn't really run this pub the other characters of the book do - Jimmy, Mick, Rose, even old Billy knows more than she does. And then we find out Jimmy has been stealing heating oil. Lots of heating oil and when she confronts him all she does is ask that he doesn't do it again. Oh come on!

If there is a #6 in the series I may read it just because I am curious if she ever grows a spine and becomes a real character. Does she ever become an adult and develop feelings for someone other than her old dead Gran? We shall have to wait and see.

[Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book exceptionally frustrating. Point one - it took me almost a third of the book to figure out how old the main character was, which apparently was important since she kept referencing how young she was in comparison to everyone else. Point two - they were trying to solve an old murder, which occurred in 1996. From the way everyone talked, you would have thought it occurred in 1896. "Something that was so long ago..." "Things were so different then..." "They didn't have all the resources and knowledge we have now...." Uh, excuse me? 1996 was 20 years ago. We may not have been blessed with smart phones and Google then, but it wasn't exactly the dark ages. I believe even Ireland had running water, indoor plumbing and telephones in 1996. It was much more believable to chalk the errors made by the police as being due to their inexperience with a nasty murder than to the technology available at the time. Point three - did this author have a minimum word or page count they needed to achieve? I have seldom read a book that repeated itself so very much and said so little. So many conversations about the main character's reasons for moving from Boston to Ireland. So many times Boston specifically and America in general were maligned. So many times the main character lamented her youth and inexperience. So many times they talked about how the little town-ness of Ireland was the way it was. Ergh. Enough! Way did I even bother sticking with and finishing this book? Because, frankly, I currently had nothing else to read. Dumb reason, but there it is.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maura, I think I might be done with you. Your utter lack of curiosity, your failure to grow as a person, and your complete cluelessness about being an adult is wearing on my last nerve. Seriously. You inherit a pub, but don't have the curiosity to explore it from top to bottom? Here it is, 9 months later, and you are all, "I've never been in the basement. I had no idea we had a working kitchen. What could possibly be in these rooms upstairs?" You are dumb. You have two men interested in you but you try to turn a blind eye. Grow a pair and let them know you aren't interested, for pete's sake, or go out with one of them, or both of them, but stop acting like a doe-eyed innocent, you dolt. You have no clue how to run the pub, you know nothing about the music scene, but just stumble along, letting life happen for you.

Also, this case was ridiculous and Maura is ridiculous, and how it all played out is ridiculous. You'll get one more chance with book 6, but if you can't show some character growth, I'm packing my bags and leaving Ireland.

[Mystereity Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this and all of my reviews at Mystereity Reviews

Although spring is around the corner, winter isn't giving up so easily in County Cork, and a blizzard strands Maura and several others at the pub, including a woman who was suspected in a murder 20 years ago. Unable to leave the pub, they all gather to pick apart every detail of the crime, revealing a decades old secret and new revelations that could bring a killer to justice.

This was an outstanding read with a fresh, original plot that drew me in and kept me turning pages. There's no stumbling over a dead body here; instead, a cold case is poured over and debated. It was almost Agatha Christie-ish, simple, yet complex in a locked room setting.

The setting is quaint and inviting, a small Irish pub with a peat fire, a lively atmosphere, the regulars bellying up to the bar, the musicians cranking out Irish tunes, Rose in the kitchen cobbling together meals for everyone, and especially Ol' Billy, in his usual chair by the fire. All well described and vivid, it's not tough to envision the scene at Sullivan's Pub.

Overall, Cruel Winter is an enjoyable escape, with an unconventional plot that will keep cozy mystery fans guessing with each page. This book can be read as a standalone, or as an entry into the series, but I recommend reading the whole series.


Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley for an advance copy of the book in return for my honest review

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific entry in a beloved series. Connolly puts a fun twist on the conventions of the locked-room mystery. Instead of a killing occurring in a closed setting, a group of locals and visitors stranded in Sullivan's Pub during an unexpected snowstorm finds that one of their number is a woman long suspected of a local murder. Never charged, she's never gotten a full hearing, until Maura, the young American pub owner, decides to ask the woman to tell her story. Between them, demonstrating the old adage that a jury as a whole is smarter than any of its individual members, they ask questions, test the evidence, poke holes, analyze motives, and identify the likely killer -- who is ultimately arrested after the weather clears. Maura is a terrific character and really comes into her own here. It's been a while since I've visited the County Cork mysteries, and I've missed a few in the series, but can safely say Connolly's writing has gotten stronger and stronger. No false notes in Cruel Winter.

[Patrizia · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stelle e mezza
Mentre all'esterno infuria una tempesta di neve, Maura e alcuni avventori che si sono rifugiati nel suo pub decidono di indagare su un vecchio omicidio irrisolto, visto che la donna che è stata indicata come colpevole dalla voce di popolo è una di loro e continua a proclamare la sua innocenza. Bella storia ed è consolante vedere che dopo 20 anni il colpevole viene finalmente arrestato. Accadesse anche nella realtà!

[Dorine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rated 3.5 - CRUEL WINTER by Sheila Connolly is an entertaining mystery that unravels in a pub in Ireland during a snowstorm.

(if you'd like to see pictures from our trip to Ireland, view this review on my site)

Upon her grandmother’s death, Maura Donovan from Boston inherits a pub in Ireland from a distant relative. When a bad snowstorm detains Maura and her staff, plus several locals in the bar, an unsolved murder begs to be solved while they wait out the weather.

From the curmudgeonly patron to a thief among her staff, American Maura has her hands full on a good day. Will a perilous snowstorm be the worst or best thing to happen in an unsolved murder case?

The aging Irish pub atmosphere in a small town is easily visualized in this novel. I found the historical details enjoyable as they scrounged around in the basement for oil lamps, then got the old stove fired up to cook when they lose power. The characters seemed realistic but not necessarily distinctive. More emphasis seemed to be on the impending storm. But, I didn’t read the prior four books in this COUNTY CORK series, so these characters may have been more fleshed out previously.

The storm is a major part of the story, but the weather talk felt repetitive. Even though I realize it is all that people want to talk about in a small town when it’s happening, it slowed the reading for me. Maura seemed to have more questions than she should after running the pub for nine months. As an outsider, she took nothing for granted, so her questions often furthered the murder investigation they were re-hashing among themselves.

Maura has an innocence that can be annoying, since she should know more than she lets on. Even with that shortcoming, I still found her to be a caring hostess for a bunch of stranded people during the storm.

CRUEL WINTER is an easy read full of Irish charm. The mystery isn’t overly complicated, but it is interesting how they solve the case. The atmosphere was my favorite part of this novel. Having been to Ireland years ago, I yearn to go back and this book took me there for a few hours.

Review by Dorine, courtesy of The Zest Quest. Digital ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley for an honest review.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am tired of this series and bored with the main character, who had such promise. I thought the premise of Cruel Winter was intriguing: a rare blizzard bears down on West Cork, Ireland, and traps an assortment of characters at Sullivan's Pub, owned by the American "blow-in" Maura Donovan. In addition to the staff and a handful of locals, Diane, a woman accused of murder 20 years ago, is among the stranded. What follows is a kangaroo-court of sorts, where Maura leads the group in study of the murder and why all the locals think Diane did it. Maura, being an outsider, feels Diane was unjustly accused and since no one is going anywhere on this snowy night, everyone agrees to hear the story. Why Maura is capable of doing this was beyond me, but my main gripe is lazy writing and plot development. The characters go through what happened based on local accounts from a guard (local cop) who was in on the initial investigation, and Diane herself and too much speculation by locals who heard this and read that. The scene never changes. The ending is a total cheat and something the show "Midsomer Murders" does often: the murderer is (SPOILER ALERT) someone never introduced to the reader. While the author says her story was based on an actual cold case, a better story would have been to just have a murder take place and our intrepid unlikely sleuth Maura solves the crime. Perhaps in this story she could have been involved with the accused murderess who becomes her BFF and she decides to poke around into the case. The way this was done instead was dull. As in previous books in the series, Maura is BORING. I am constantly frustrated by the lack of development of Maura, who could be a very interesting character: an American in one of the most beautiful and remote areas of Ireland (I visit here frequently), yet it's lost on our Maura, who toils in the pub day after day. The author could be exploring the VAST differences between America, and especially a young woman from Boston, a city! I mean, the plumbing and heating alone are a chapter! LOL. She's been here 9 months now. Have her take up knitting or something! Embrace farming, hiking. Redo this tired pub! She doesn't even have a winter coat. The charity shops there are amazing, go shopping for goodness sake. Maura, get a life, but I think I'm done with ye.

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love this. I love Ireland. I love mysteries, but I need to accept that other than 2 authors' series, cozy mysteries are not for me.

I didn't get attached to the main character, other characters, or story. More than half way through the book, I continued to be bored and unaffected by anything and found the way the main topic was written uninteresting. It should've been gripping and tense, but that didn't translate IMO.

[Eden · Rating 5 out of 5]

2020 bk 21. A diversion from the regular 'find a body, solve a mystery" cozy, Cruel Winter finds Maura, her employees, and a mismatched group of people stranded in the pub during a winter storm/blizzard. When one of the people is recognized as 'the person of interest, but never taken to trial" in a 20 year old murder, the night and day become an opportunity for Diane (p.o.i.) to tell her side of the story and to change the hearts and minds of those in the room. It is a long night, with lots of breaks for mutterings. The book is interesting because you can see the points where opinion is defeated by facts and speculations are considered and likewise destroyed by the facts. This is a technique used successfully in films, but I don't remember reading a book that has used it so well.

[Jessica Robbins · Rating 4 out of 5]

For complete review check out my blog at https://booksaplentybookreviews.blogs...

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maura Donavan and friends are snow bound at Sullivan Pub. They have warmth and food. Among the group is Diane Caldwell, she is not accepted by the patrons. Maura wonders why and soon learns that Diane is the major suspect in a 20-year-old murder. She was never arrested or convicted of the murder but public opinion has assumed her guilt. Maura convinced Diane to share her story with the group?. Will those snowbound convict Diane or find another candidate. I highly recommend this book.

Disclosure: I received a free copy from Crooked Lanes Books through NetGalley for an honest review. I would like to thank them for this opportunity to read and review the book. The opinions expressed are my own.

[Sanny · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a murder some years ago. The townsfolk and some strangers are snowed in.at Sullivan's, so they work on solving the crime to pass the time. Not quite a closed room murder, but that idea. Unfortunately, we the readers are snowed in with them. And we spend every minute of every hour doing what they are doing.

While interesting, the plot moved so slowly that I was almost willing to confess to the crime myself, if it meant I would get out of the pub at last. Had I been reading the book, I could have skipped pages. On the audio, all I could do was speed up the narration.

[Tracey · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure how I ended up with only book five of the County Cork Mysteries - some sale or other on Audible, I suppose. It filtered near the top of my search list when I was looking for my next book, so I gave it a shot.

Thank God that's over.

I mean, it's an interesting idea. A bunch of people get stuck in an Irish bar and solve a murder. It doesn't snow often in Ireland - if you don't know that at the beginning of this book, you will surely know it by the end, because you are so told, frequently. And because it doesn't snow often in Ireland, even what would be considered a moderate snowfall here in New England is crippling for County Cork. Maura, a born-and-bred Boston native who has transplanted to Ireland in a manner which is also related frequently, has no idea what to do to prepare the bar she has found herself owning. How do I know this? I know because she asks her main employee what she should do about eleven times, and after they've exhausted the subject (I was exhausted after the second time, but they kept on going) he sends her across the street to ask the owner of the inn there. And so she somehow manages to ask that woman eight times. (I was not counting. It may have only been three or four times, but it felt like about eighty, so I picked a number in between.) Oh, I forgot - the local cop (garda) swings by, and she asks him several times as well. (Towards the end of the book Maura even says "Tell me again that this kind of snow is rare around here". Don't worry - they will.)

And of course the local beat cop is enamored with her - as, apparently, is one of her employees (the one that isn't a thieving, skiving father of a teenager). Because of course they are. It wouldn't be a cozy(ish) mystery if the main character didn't have two men pining for her despite a marked lack of pine-for-able attributes. It's part of the cozy mystery checklist. Completely unqualified woman falls into dream job - check. Quirky side characters - check. Potential love triangle - check. One tiny point I'll give to this author - neither of the swains is, as far as I recall, described as irresistibly hot. At least not in this book. And another one from the checklist (or bingo card, if that's how you play) - the local inspector trusts Maura's instincts, listens to "wacky theories", and places them above actual detective work.

Now, ok. As a born-and-bred native of Connecticut, I wouldn't technically know how to prepare an Irish bar for a snowstorm either. But I'm not an idiot: given a bit of thought and imagination, I could come up with a plan. However, this is a woman who has somehow made it to whatever blizzard-prone date this is without a coat. She says (repeatedly, because that's how this book works) that it was spring when she arrived in Ireland, and she never intended to still be there nine months later. OK. Fine. But - - well, first of all, where's all her own stuff? Has she been paying rent on an apartment back in Boston all this time? (But she's poor! She says so - several times!) Or are all her possessions in storage somewhere? Surely she owns a coat in the US that could be sent to her? Or ... something? And second of all ... Look, honey, even if it doesn't snow a whole lot, it does rain a great deal. If you don't have the brains to have gotten yourself a coat - yes, at a thrift shop or on sale somewhere or whatever - you're just a moron.

She mentions that she has always been too poor to have a cell phone. Lady, if I have been able to afford a cell phone for the past ... twenty? years, you can flaming well afford a cell phone. And if you were so astonishingly poor, how did your granny manage to send you to Ireland, just to 'say goodbye' or whatever it was? Not to have her ashes scattered (which would be only mildly outrageous, given the cost) - just for her grand-daughter to ... what, go around and say "So, I'm Maura, you knew my granny, she's dead"? I've always been too poor to take a whimsical trip to Ireland. Which is much more expensive than a basic cell phone. Also, the main reason I had a cell phone for most of those twenty-odd years was that I had an elderly mother. With an elderly grandmother, it's just irresponsible not to have one.

Going back to the storm prep, and the repetitions. For I believe five chapters she bumbles about trying to get ready. And I mean, fine, she's a young moron who's new to the area and to running a business (and to socializing, apparently) - but shouldn't SOMEbody else have said, after seeing the weather forecast a couple of days ago, "Hey, so, snow coming - do we have oil and coal and peat (how many different combustibles are being used??) and lamp oil and candles and food (they had NO food in the place????) (None??) (Not even crisps?) and some way of accommodating anyone who might be snowed in overnight?" If not her employees, then the woman from over the street, or the elderly barfly Billy, or the attentive cop? Someone? Maybe they could have found out before the snow started falling that someone had been stealing their oil and they were almost out?

Oh, her employees. All three of Maura's employees show up, admittedly because they don't want to have to heat their own homes. So she's going to be expected to pay all three of them for this day. And yet she is apparently giving away all the beer and whisky (and coffee) anyone can drink. Oh, and the food they manage to scrape together. She sort of timidly mentions at one point that if anyone wants to chip in to, you know, actually pay for stuff, that would be cool - and there is absolutely no response, and she never asks again.

That food I mentioned? Again I ask: how did they have absolutely nothing in the bar, and yet people expect to be fed? Why would you show up at a bar which has never, apparently, served food, expecting to be fed? Anyway. That food has to be prepared in ridiculously makeshift conditions; it's as if they just walked into an abandoned pub and decided to start operations. But this is a place that was running forever and a day under previous ownership, and of which Maura apparently gained possession nine months ago. In all that time - the nine months, at least, if not the previous forever - she never did a damn thing to clean the place up, make the kitchen usable for staff if nothing else, never did anything about the hoarder's paradise upstairs and in the basement? Nine months you've been there. What on earth have you been doing? "Right now, I need sleep - even if it's on that dirty floor." Lady, it's your bar. If the floor's dirty, that's on you.

The writing isn't horrible, but there are many, many issues with this book that could have been resolved with a decent editor. I don't know if that would be enough to salvage it, but it would help - a good pair of eyes might at least have picked up on the repetitiveness, which was so bad by the halfway point that it was almost physically painful.

Another thing the editors should have caught: you might not want to have all your characters talking about how few, how incredibly few murders there are in Ireland, how the number of murders is so vanishingly small, when this is the fifth book in a series of mysteries - murder mysteries SET in Ireland. If one person said it, and Maura kind of gaped at them in a "but I've already been involved in four investigations this year" sort of way ... no, it would still have been absurd. "This place isn't filled with violence, like Boston" - gosh, I hope both Ireland and Massachusetts contact this author to do some tourism campaigns. Things like this were said so often that I did some Googling. For reference, based on a quick search the population of Boston (48.4 square miles) is more than 675,000. The population of County Cork (2,900 square miles) is more than 581,000. Gosh, wait - hold everything - you're telling me that there's more crime in a place with 116% the population of a place 69% larger? How bizarre! Boston - that's 7.17 people per square mile, as opposed to 0.0049 people per square mile in Cork. These people need to just shut the hell up and stop thinking they're so damn superior. AAARGH - I'm almost done with the thing, and someone has to say to Maura "Maybe you attract [events like this] like a magnet, since your country is so violent." A) That makes no sense. B) See above, regarding population density. C) Shut your stupid gob, you ignorant twat.) (Oh, and to cap it all off, we get one more Reality Show Recap in this bit. I hate this book.)

And it made me do more searches. According to the Boston Herald there were 41 homicides in the city in 2022. Same year, there were 69 in the Republic of Ireland. I can't find anything for Cork specifically. So, ok, maybe you're considerably less likely to be murdered in County Cork than in Boston. HOWEVER. Keeping in mind the population densities I mentioned above, consider this: According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, the number of sexual assaults in Boston in 2022 was about 175. In County Cork? Rape and sexual assault totaled 164. Yes, as a woman, I would feel SO much safer in Ireland.

I started this in hopes of, if nothing else, much brogue, and so I was a little worried when the narrator gave the opening credits in a plain old American accent. But she handled the three main character accents - Irish, English, and Boston - credibly well. Her cadence was a touch odd in places, but it was fine. It was better than the book deserved, actually.

You'll notice in all of this I haven't even mentioned the mystery the book is supposed to feature. That is partly because for about six chapters - six long chapters - there IS no mystery. It's all storm prep. I literally double-checked the book's page on Audible to make sure it was supposed to be a mystery and not a chick-lit fish-out-of-water straight fiction novel. The mystery, when it does finally unfold, is interesting; it's an interesting set-up. It could have been a really interesting story. As written? For a murder mystery, it's a fair book about a snowstorm. Oh, Audible, no: "A clever spin on the classic locked-room mystery"? No. No, that's not how locked room mysteries work, Audible. That's false advertising.

I cut out a lot from this rant, believe it or not - it's not worth the words, and I don't want to memorialize the specific nonsense I had made notes on. Suffice to say that I want my 7 hours and 27 minutes back.

[Laurel-Rain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Snow is a rarity in Maura Donovan's small village in County Cork, Ireland, so she wasn't sure what to expect when a major snowstorm rolled in around Sullivan's pub. But now she's stranded in a bar full of patrons—and a suspected killer in a long-ago murder.

Maura's been in Ireland less than a year and hasn't heard about the decades-old unsolved crime that took place nearby, let alone the infamous suspect, Diane Caldwell. But the locals have, and they're not happy to be trapped with her. Diane, meanwhile, seeks to set the record straight, asserting her innocence after all this time. And since no one is going anywhere in the storm, Maura encourages Diane to share her side of the story, which she'd never had a chance to do in court.

Over the next few hours, the informal court in Sullivan's reviews the facts and theories about the case—and comes to some surprising conclusions. But is it enough to convince the police to take a new look at an old case? A clever spin on the classic locked room mystery, Cruel Winter, the fifth in New York Times bestselling author Sheila Connolly's series, will delight fans of the Emerald Isle.

My Thoughts: Maura’s pub is the centerpiece of this unexpected lockdown during a rare storm. A woman who has appeared unexpectedly is the focus of all eyes as the villagers ask their questions and probe the events that took place twenty years before.

Maura has her hands full keeping her guests fed and warm during the Cruel Winter hours, and we gradually find out more about the past, while also dealing with the hostilities and quirks of the present. We get another glimpse of the residents of Leap as the morning arrives.

I liked observing the interactions of the characters and learning how adept Maura has become in leading her group. During each of the books in the series, we find out more about Maura, the villagers, and how things work in the Irish setting. A delightful journey that earned 4.5 stars.

[Hilary (A Wytch's Book Review) · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is Maura's first Winter in County Cork and this one is turning out to be a doozy! The have people stranded at the pub, including an English woman and then the lights go out, luckily Old Mick's habit of hoarding comes in handy as there are some kerosene lamps and there is also coal, peat and firewood (luckily as it turns out Jimmy has been adding to his wages with the pub's heating oil!) and Rose has managed to cobble together some food.  Everyone gets to chatting and then they start rehashing an old murder, and it seems the English woman (Diane) was the main suspect, but nothing could be proven and so she was just found "guilty" by the press.  Over the course of the evening they try and discover what could and indeed did happen that night 20 years ago.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heavy snowstorm forced Maura to offer overnight hospitality to those trapped In the pub.
They passed the night exploring a twenty year old unsolved murder and found a solution.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always wanted to travel to Ireland and reading this mystery gave me a better understanding of Irish culture and how vital their history, family and love of the land are to them, so the setting definitely enhanced my enjoyment of the book. I felt the story got off to a slow start and not having read the first four books in the series made it a challenge to keep up with all of the characters but soon the urgency to solve the mystery became more appealing. As the storm raged outside of Maura's pub the winding road of supposition leading to the revelation of the events the night of the twenty year old crime fully illustrated the talented storytelling of this author. I'm definitely planning to read the entire series in the very near future.

[Ferne (Enthusiastic Reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite cozy series as Sheila Connolly brings all my imaginations to life of visiting a pub in a small town in Ireland. Maura Donovan has been in Ireland for less than a year and so she's not sure what to expect when there's talk of a major snowstorm in an area where snowfall is rare. It's all hands-on-deck for the employees and the guest list seems unpredictable. Will it be like the snowstorms she was familiar with in Boston or something completely different? How should she prepare O'Sullivan's pub to care for her employees and pub guests especially when the pub doesn't serve food? What will Maura do to keep everyone comfortable when she realizes one of her guests is a long-standing suspect of an unsolved murder that all the locals are well aware?

It's always easy to curl up with a mystery by Sheila Connolly but be sure to curl up with blankets and nourishment for this winter treat! The cold air is swirling snowflakes with no end in sight and there's a different twist for a murder investigation long after the crime. I can hear Maura saying, "Only at O'Sullivan's would this be possible!"

[FangirlNation · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cruel Winter, book five in Sheila Connolly’s County Cork Mystery series, Maura Donovan, owner of Sullivan’s Pub, opens the Irish pub on a day when the worst snowstorm in years is due to arrive. As customers trickle in, before long, they all find themselves snowed in. Most are locals who know each other, but one woman from England, Diane Caldwell, comes in because she can’t travel due to the storm. Soon, Mick Sullivan, one of Maura’s employees, privately points out to Maura that Diane was the chief suspect in a notorious murder 20 years earlier. Soon, everyone in the pub is whispering with suspicion and fear about Diane. But though Diane was interrogated several times for the murder, she never was even arrested yet has borne the stigma of the crime for all these years.

Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation

[Kristina Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cruel Winter by Sheila Connolly is the sixth book in A County Cork Mystery series. Maura Donovan owns Sullivan’s Pub in Leap, Ireland. Maura inherited the pub from Old Mick Sullivan nine months ago, after the death of her grandmother. This is Maura’s first winter is Ireland and she is unprepared (she had originally only planned to spend a week in Ireland). Maura heads to Sullivan’s to check in with Mick Nolan, her bartender. A big snow storm is expected to come through that night and Maura is unsure what to do to prepare for it (she is from Boston where they have big snowstorms frequently). It turns out that other people do not want to stay home alone during the storm and decide to visit the pub. One of pub’s patrons turns out to be Diane Wolfe Caldwell. Diane was questioned in the murder of her neighbor, Sharon Morgan twenty years ago. In the court of public opinion, Diane was found guilty. The murder is still unsolved. Maura decides that this is the perfect opportunity to hear Diane’s story and get some answers (Maura wants to prove that Diane did not commit the crime).

Cruel Winter is nicely written and can be read alone (the author provides the necessary background information on Maura and how she ended up in Ireland). I did, though, find the pace of the novel to be extremely slow. The story takes place over the course of one day (a very long, drawn out day). I give Cruel Winter 3 out of 5 stars. The mystery is one that plays out over the course of the novel. Most readers will be able to figure out the whodunit before the reveal. I did find some elements of the story to be unrealistic. Maura knew winter was coming, but she has no winter clothes (wouldn’t you purchase some clothes if you did not bring them with you). Maura has been responsible for the pub for nine months, but she has no clue how it is run. I found it odd that after living in Boston, Maura has no idea on how to prepare for a storm (making sure you have fuel, food, batteries, blankets, water). There is some information that is repeated throughout the novel (how Maura only planned to stay in Ireland one week and facts about the murder). For some reason, Maura felt it necessary to keep recapping the facts presented about the murder. I found Cruel Winter to be atypical for Sheila Connolly. I have read her other cozy mysteries and enjoyed them. In future books of A County Cork Mystery series I would like to see Maura start to grow up and take responsibility. In Cruel Winter, we do get to catch up with Jimmy, Rose, Mick, Gillian, Harry, Sean, Eveline, and Old Billy.

[Cozybooklady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cruel Winter by Sheila Connolly is a captivating story that will leave the reader waiting for more.
A winter storm is bearing down on Sullivan's Pub and though her quaint little pub isn't booming with business, there are enough patrons to keep the fires going and the need for hot food a must.
They few regulars are willing to wait out the storm with Maura and Mick, but when a stranger wanders in, the talk shifts to an unsolved murder from years past.
Diane Caldwell was accused of killing her neighbor but the evidence was lacking and she was never arrested or convicted of the crime.
Diane is tired of the rumors and she confides to Maura that she wants to tell her side of the story, and before long, everyone is sharing theories.
Can it be that simple? Could a decades od crime be solved during a rare winter storm?

Take the plunge and read this riveting story and see for yourself how it ends.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I was transported to Sullivan's, sharing a pint and a cup of soup with the wonderful characters Ms. Connolly has created.

I voluntarily read an ARC of this book provided by the publisher and NetGalley.

[Micky Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book from the County Cork series is the best installment yet! A huge snow storm is brewing so Maura, her employees and a couple of friends decide to ride the storm out at the pub. As the storm starts to roll through, a few other stranded stragglers find their way in as well. When it turns out that one of them was a woman accused of murder over 20 years ago, most of the locals decided she was guilty and have stuck to that. However, with no power and running low on food they decide to let the woman tell her story while they try to work out what really happened back then. The plot was woven masterfully and rolls out in part "dinner theater" and partly like the game "Clue." As always each character has a bit of their story unveiling itself as well, which just enhances the nuances of each characters personality. If you like a good cozy mystery and enjoy an Irish setting, then this series will delight you. I won this book in a giveaway and that led me to read the entire series! I am so thrilled that I found this series and can't wait for the next book to come out!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Friday I finished Cruel Winter an up coming Irish based cozy by Sheila Connolly. I have really loved this Irish based cozy mystery and it felt like coming home again and spending time with family. This is book five in the series and this one is being published by Crooked Lane Books . The setting and characters are so richly written, endearing and realistic. This is a March 14th release and set in the dead of winter. Being surrounded by ice and snow myself with the winds howling I had no trouble settling into this captivating story. As Irish based series go this is one of my top favorites and this mystery based on loyalty and family and history struck all the right chords with me. It is my belief that you are in for a big treat with Cruel Winter!

[Foxyj · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sixth book in the County Cork series by Sheila Connolly and is just as enjoyable as the previous ones. The author provided well rounded characters that were enjoyable to get to know. The mystery plays out while a group of locals are seeking shelter in the local pub while waiting out a storm. These locals also include an individual that was accused of a murder 20 years ago. Maura, the main character, makes it her mission to solve that “cold case.” The book was easy to read and put the clues together to solve the murder along with the characters. The author describes the setting well, something I enjoyed. I look forward to the next in the series.