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Torrey Tunet #1
The Irish Cottage Murder: A Torrey Tunet Mystery
Meet Torrey Tunet. Great career. Big dreams. One terrible mistake.
Accept an invitation from a stranger who spills soup on her at a restaurant to stay at his Irish castle? What is pretty translator Torrey Tunet thinking? That's easy. She's thinking that luxurious rooms and gourmet meals beat the seedy Dublin hotel her agency booked for her. Fluent in numerous languages, Torrey intends to say non, nicht, nyet, and no way to any passes her host makes. But even Torrey is left speechless by what he actually suggests...and by stumbling upon a murdered man near a forest cottage. And when a priceless heirloom disappears and an old secret from her past surfaces, all fingers point to Torrey. Now she faces ruin-and gaol (jail)-unless she uncovers a truth darker than Irish nights about twisted minds, sinister passions and red-hot revenge...
Accept an invitation from a stranger who spills soup on her at a restaurant to stay at his Irish castle? What is pretty translator Torrey Tunet thinking? That's easy. She's thinking that luxurious rooms and gourmet meals beat the seedy Dublin hotel her agency booked for her. Fluent in numerous languages, Torrey intends to say non, nicht, nyet, and no way to any passes her host makes. But even Torrey is left speechless by what he actually suggests...and by stumbling upon a murdered man near a forest cottage. And when a priceless heirloom disappears and an old secret from her past surfaces, all fingers point to Torrey. Now she faces ruin-and gaol (jail)-unless she uncovers a truth darker than Irish nights about twisted minds, sinister passions and red-hot revenge...
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
11 people are currently reading
272 people want to read
About the author
Dicey Deere
7 books14 followersDicey Deere (1916-2015) was the nom de plume of Harriet (Adler) La Barre.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
January 5, 2017
I am dishing out 2 stars for this book because I enjoyed the seldom descriptions of the books setting in Ireland. Other than the wonderful cobblestones and the dark forests and mysterious castle and walkways, I found this book totally boring.
I tried to skip a few paragraphs, then I tried speed reading, skimming, then chapter skipping, nothing was helping. I did go all the way to the end. I did read over half of the book without any skimming. The book does have short chapters which I like in any book, but it felt choppy in this one. It jumped from character to character and I became lost and finally disinterested. The sad thing is, I have books 2 and 3 as well, in this series. Ill try book 2 and see if it is any better at capturing my attention, but Ill leave that for another day. After this book, I am ready to leave Ireland for a while.
I tried to skip a few paragraphs, then I tried speed reading, skimming, then chapter skipping, nothing was helping. I did go all the way to the end. I did read over half of the book without any skimming. The book does have short chapters which I like in any book, but it felt choppy in this one. It jumped from character to character and I became lost and finally disinterested. The sad thing is, I have books 2 and 3 as well, in this series. Ill try book 2 and see if it is any better at capturing my attention, but Ill leave that for another day. After this book, I am ready to leave Ireland for a while.
March 11, 2011
This book was perfect for the category of "omg, this is SO bad it's entertaining, I must read it to see how it ends."
The rating is for entertainment value (3-4), but I've had to lower it because of the many mistakes in the book.
If you haven't read the book yet, and plan to read it, skip my spoiling details from below. Go and read the book now.
Torrey Tunet is a 27 years old American interpret, who 16 years ago was 14. The details of her current age, the things that happened 16 years ago (it was 1980 then), and her being 14 then are repeated several times in the book. How can I trust a mystery with this flaky mathematic skills?
Anyway. Torrey is the protagonist, the one resolving the mystery. Let me go back to her... 16 years ago (when she was 14, even though her intellectual age at that stage seems to be of single digits) she was babysitting with a 12-years old friend of hers. They found a bag in the house where they babysat containing over $ 500,000 in cash. Torrey moves $ 100 because she wants to make an impression to her friend. They don't get caught, but her friend acts like an idiot, and the man whose cash stash they found, is caught for IRS evasion. He commits suicide (and this is what Torrey gets blamed for, even though it was her friend that twittered and who caused the scandal). Then that twittery friend of Torrey wants to escape her home, but her parents send her upstairs to her room. She jumps out of her second floor window, gets paralyzed at waist, and this is also Torrey's fault - not only in Torrey's own view but everyone seems to think so. What I don't get it how that would be HER fault...
Back to Torrey. She is in Dublin for a "Hungarian-Belgian conference", doing Hungarian to French interpretation and back. But wouldn't it be slightly easier, cheaper, and less work visa intensive to find such interpret from, say, Hungary?
And not only does she speak fluent English, Hungarian, French, Turkish, Greek, Finnish, Gaelic, two Scandinavian languages, Portuguese, conversational Russian, but she's also interested in the etymology of many Latin, Germanic and Anglo origin words. Wait, 10 fluent languages? I could buy that, except with not those language combinations. And not as something she learned in 10 years period living in a village of barely 3,000 people in US. Of the languages she knows so perfectly, these are not related to any language, and are a horrendous task to learn even one of these: Finnish, Hungarian, Gaelic, Turkish (and Greek to an extent). It is extremely incredible she would be fluent in that language combination: if she was, she'd have to have been submerged to those languages since childhood (and no, having a Romanian farther does not help with any of those languages. It would help for Latin based languages, but she only seems to be perfect in Portuguese as no others were listed). She would be one of hundreds of millions with a brain anomaly, and if she had that - what an earth would she be doing with the sporadical interpret gigs to start with? And hey - very few of my Irish colleagues in Ireland, born and raised there, would have even basic Gaelic skills despite them having learned it in school for many years.
Torrey also has an annoying habit of know-it-all for explaining some words history in other languages.
While Torrey is in her conference in Dublin, she stays in a castle that is close to Ballynagh, in Wicklow, 30 minutes from Dublin in rush hour. But Wicklow is over an hour drive in South, outside rush hour, and Ballynagh is 2-3 hours towards West of Dublin. The castle owner, whom she had met only once, had invited her to stay at his place while visiting Dublin, and even though Torrey doesn't like that man, she accepts the invitation.
A Finnish man, with a Finnish last name, and Swedish/Scandinavian first name, so who apparently would have been of a Swedish speaking minority of the Finns, is found (by Torrey) dead close to the castle. How did he end up there? That didn't tie credibly in the solution in the end, or in any part of the story before then.
The annoying castle owner loans Torrey a family heirloom, which Torrey "loses". When her conscience makes her return it, he tells her she can keep that $ 50,000 piece of jewelry. Later that day, when Torrey is in Dublin, she asks casually for the value of the heirloom, and gets arrested for murder.
I'll skip the parts of the murder investigation (of which police does none) to make the list of what makes no sense, or what is as dimensional as the way the church viewed the earth's shape in the middle-ages, or which is story or solution wise as solid as a Swiss lacey cheese.
The Finnish man drove an automatic car. In the 1990s very few Finns would have ever driven an automatic, and the cost of renting an automatic vs manual in Ireland would have been about 5 x as expensive.
There are a lot of interesting characters hanging around the castle: Winifred, a poet, lesbian cousin of the castle owner, and her girlfriend/publisher Sheila. Another American who is from the same village Torrey grew up and whose family was destroyed by what happened 16 years ago, see above. There are some Irish characters too, of course, but none of the dialogs by or with them seem to fit an Irish mouth. "How do you do?" Guess how many times have I heard that or by how many people while living in Ireland for 6 years? Not even once.
An Irish lady working for a butcher earns 32 pounds a week. This story was apparently set to happen in 1996, yet her salary would have been at minimum wages of maybe early 1980s or late 1970s.
And while Torrey finds a way to get out of the police station, and investigate who really murdered those men, she's also desperately searching for $ 40,000 to finance an operation that will magically fix the spine of her friend that I still don't understand how it would have been Torrey's fault if the friend jumped out of her window...
Apart of those tiny little details, a fast read, a light mystery, and entertaining in how badly all those mistakes stood out. This is probably the longest systematical trashing of details in a book I've ever written, but it definitely has more holes than an Emmental or Octopussy's screenplay.
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/9...
The rating is for entertainment value (3-4), but I've had to lower it because of the many mistakes in the book.
If you haven't read the book yet, and plan to read it, skip my spoiling details from below. Go and read the book now.
Torrey Tunet is a 27 years old American interpret, who 16 years ago was 14. The details of her current age, the things that happened 16 years ago (it was 1980 then), and her being 14 then are repeated several times in the book. How can I trust a mystery with this flaky mathematic skills?
Anyway. Torrey is the protagonist, the one resolving the mystery. Let me go back to her... 16 years ago (when she was 14, even though her intellectual age at that stage seems to be of single digits) she was babysitting with a 12-years old friend of hers. They found a bag in the house where they babysat containing over $ 500,000 in cash. Torrey moves $ 100 because she wants to make an impression to her friend. They don't get caught, but her friend acts like an idiot, and the man whose cash stash they found, is caught for IRS evasion. He commits suicide (and this is what Torrey gets blamed for, even though it was her friend that twittered and who caused the scandal). Then that twittery friend of Torrey wants to escape her home, but her parents send her upstairs to her room. She jumps out of her second floor window, gets paralyzed at waist, and this is also Torrey's fault - not only in Torrey's own view but everyone seems to think so. What I don't get it how that would be HER fault...
Back to Torrey. She is in Dublin for a "Hungarian-Belgian conference", doing Hungarian to French interpretation and back. But wouldn't it be slightly easier, cheaper, and less work visa intensive to find such interpret from, say, Hungary?
And not only does she speak fluent English, Hungarian, French, Turkish, Greek, Finnish, Gaelic, two Scandinavian languages, Portuguese, conversational Russian, but she's also interested in the etymology of many Latin, Germanic and Anglo origin words. Wait, 10 fluent languages? I could buy that, except with not those language combinations. And not as something she learned in 10 years period living in a village of barely 3,000 people in US. Of the languages she knows so perfectly, these are not related to any language, and are a horrendous task to learn even one of these: Finnish, Hungarian, Gaelic, Turkish (and Greek to an extent). It is extremely incredible she would be fluent in that language combination: if she was, she'd have to have been submerged to those languages since childhood (and no, having a Romanian farther does not help with any of those languages. It would help for Latin based languages, but she only seems to be perfect in Portuguese as no others were listed). She would be one of hundreds of millions with a brain anomaly, and if she had that - what an earth would she be doing with the sporadical interpret gigs to start with? And hey - very few of my Irish colleagues in Ireland, born and raised there, would have even basic Gaelic skills despite them having learned it in school for many years.
Torrey also has an annoying habit of know-it-all for explaining some words history in other languages.
While Torrey is in her conference in Dublin, she stays in a castle that is close to Ballynagh, in Wicklow, 30 minutes from Dublin in rush hour. But Wicklow is over an hour drive in South, outside rush hour, and Ballynagh is 2-3 hours towards West of Dublin. The castle owner, whom she had met only once, had invited her to stay at his place while visiting Dublin, and even though Torrey doesn't like that man, she accepts the invitation.
A Finnish man, with a Finnish last name, and Swedish/Scandinavian first name, so who apparently would have been of a Swedish speaking minority of the Finns, is found (by Torrey) dead close to the castle. How did he end up there? That didn't tie credibly in the solution in the end, or in any part of the story before then.
The annoying castle owner loans Torrey a family heirloom, which Torrey "loses". When her conscience makes her return it, he tells her she can keep that $ 50,000 piece of jewelry. Later that day, when Torrey is in Dublin, she asks casually for the value of the heirloom, and gets arrested for murder.
I'll skip the parts of the murder investigation (of which police does none) to make the list of what makes no sense, or what is as dimensional as the way the church viewed the earth's shape in the middle-ages, or which is story or solution wise as solid as a Swiss lacey cheese.
The Finnish man drove an automatic car. In the 1990s very few Finns would have ever driven an automatic, and the cost of renting an automatic vs manual in Ireland would have been about 5 x as expensive.
There are a lot of interesting characters hanging around the castle: Winifred, a poet, lesbian cousin of the castle owner, and her girlfriend/publisher Sheila. Another American who is from the same village Torrey grew up and whose family was destroyed by what happened 16 years ago, see above. There are some Irish characters too, of course, but none of the dialogs by or with them seem to fit an Irish mouth. "How do you do?" Guess how many times have I heard that or by how many people while living in Ireland for 6 years? Not even once.
An Irish lady working for a butcher earns 32 pounds a week. This story was apparently set to happen in 1996, yet her salary would have been at minimum wages of maybe early 1980s or late 1970s.
And while Torrey finds a way to get out of the police station, and investigate who really murdered those men, she's also desperately searching for $ 40,000 to finance an operation that will magically fix the spine of her friend that I still don't understand how it would have been Torrey's fault if the friend jumped out of her window...
Apart of those tiny little details, a fast read, a light mystery, and entertaining in how badly all those mistakes stood out. This is probably the longest systematical trashing of details in a book I've ever written, but it definitely has more holes than an Emmental or Octopussy's screenplay.
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/9...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 27, 2013
This book was headed for two stars. It caught my interest later but takes too long. If I didn't insist on finishing books, I would have pitched it. The action augmented and honed in on the key players. The core is a girl who made a small mistake as a child but suffered the reverberation of consequences much larger. She is faced with the son of one affected family, who should be a childhood friend but calls her a nemesis. A new crime is convincingly pinned on her in Ireland but there are a lot of crimes involved. They are dark and belie the cozy categorization. Other than the book’s warm cover and title, it doesn't belong. This isn’t criticism. Addressing tough subjects is valuable.
The problem is 'Dicey Deere's' style. Short chapters introduce ten or so people I consider beyond external. I don't care about any perspective except a protagonist’s. The great Maeve Binchy characterized well and I imagined Dicey tried to emulate her technique. You don't know 'Torrey Tunet' or any content, which means you don't care until a good way through. The bitter poet cousin for instance, could have dropped smug remarks without a chapter highlighting her.
I might read more only because I own the next two titles. It's possible they are better. I should connect with the protagonist because I too am talented with languages. Also, the synopsis marketed for this book implies that readers see the restaurant scene in which the castle owner offers Torrey a room. We don't. It's in the past along with too many more important portions at the crux of the novel. They come to light far too slowly and too staggered. This is a worthwhile subject and setting, poorly executed. The creativity to devise this many intricacies is admirable.
The problem is 'Dicey Deere's' style. Short chapters introduce ten or so people I consider beyond external. I don't care about any perspective except a protagonist’s. The great Maeve Binchy characterized well and I imagined Dicey tried to emulate her technique. You don't know 'Torrey Tunet' or any content, which means you don't care until a good way through. The bitter poet cousin for instance, could have dropped smug remarks without a chapter highlighting her.
I might read more only because I own the next two titles. It's possible they are better. I should connect with the protagonist because I too am talented with languages. Also, the synopsis marketed for this book implies that readers see the restaurant scene in which the castle owner offers Torrey a room. We don't. It's in the past along with too many more important portions at the crux of the novel. They come to light far too slowly and too staggered. This is a worthwhile subject and setting, poorly executed. The creativity to devise this many intricacies is admirable.
February 28, 2024
I don't like it when characters decide that the police are inept and/or corrupt and take it upon themselves to solve the mystery. I don't mind when they corroborate WITH the police, which can be charming (i.e. old ladies who pop up every time there's a mysterious death and convince the police they can find out information in a way that the police cannot). Not every mystery can be a cop story, of course, and I wouldn't want it to be - but Torrey Tunet was very annoying in the way that she worked behind the backs of the police to solve the case. She also has this sense of entitlement that I found grating.
Read
September 1, 2015No rating, because DNF. Tried 3 times to get into this, never got beyond the 4th chapter. In the words of Simon Cowell, "I'm sorry, but it's a no."
August 21, 2016
I enjoyed it although it took me a bit to fall into the rhythm of the writing and characters. I'm glad that I stuck with it. Tightly written.
October 20, 2013
First the good, the book has a strong female protagonist and interesting writing style, such as using chapters of varying lengths and different points of view (some are only a page long). The bad is ..well, bad. The protagonist is 27 or is that 30? Depends upon which section of the book you are reading (not really a bad error over all), the combination of languages the translator speaks is almost completely impossible to believe, especially coming from a relatively small American town where she would not have had the opportunity to be be immersed in them, we are talking about Scandinavian languages, Greek, Hungarian, some Russian, French, Portuguese, Gaelic and so on. I could understand a large group of Romance languages, but not this combination. And if by chance she is some unique human language savant, why would she be working hit or miss contract work and struggling for money?
Next, up some of the geography in Ireland, as in the distances is off. The pay for Maureen Devlin is off for the time period and some other little anachronisms as well. The biggest problem with the plot is the back story for the protagonist, Torrey Tunet. I don’t want to tell the whole thing, but it drives much of the plot in the current story, so the fact that it is far fetched is an issue.
As many problems as there are, the main character is strong and charming, very individualistic, it does leave me wondering if things improve in later books.
Next, up some of the geography in Ireland, as in the distances is off. The pay for Maureen Devlin is off for the time period and some other little anachronisms as well. The biggest problem with the plot is the back story for the protagonist, Torrey Tunet. I don’t want to tell the whole thing, but it drives much of the plot in the current story, so the fact that it is far fetched is an issue.
As many problems as there are, the main character is strong and charming, very individualistic, it does leave me wondering if things improve in later books.
October 1, 2021
Looks like your typical cozy mystery. It IS...but...it isn't. The Irish Cottage Murder is quick, witty, serious, perplexing, well-written and well, unique in the land of the cozies. I've not read anything quite like it really. Certainly will read Dicey Deere again.
April 22, 2021
Took a while for me to get into this one as there were too many characters and found it a little over the place. Very choppy at times, just like my reviews. I am glad I stuck with it as it did get better. Some great uses of humour and the descriptions of the country were lovely. Tons of twists and turns to keep you interested. Could have used a little more work that is all.
March 8, 2016
I loved my trip to Ireland and I am fascinated by languages, so I had high hopes for this book involving a woman who is a translator during her trip to Ireland. It was a decent mystery, but I never really became attached to the character of Torrey Tunnet or to most of the characters in the book (the one exception was Fergus Callaghan). The murder victim was a truly reprehensible human being and deserved what he got and more. I felt like the setting of Ireland got downplayed almost as much as Torrey's work as a translator, although I know both played a part in the solution of the crime. It wasn't a bad book, but given how many series there are that I am more attached to the main character, I doubt I will pursue any more of these books.
Read
June 14, 2012I didn't rate because I never finished this (p. 131 in 12 weeks) -- I just couldn't buy in to Torrey's teenaged turbulance causing such repercussions, her overwhelming feeling of responsibility for her friend's injury, or Luke's vendetta when it was his FATHER who had committed fraud. The writing is convoluted, but I actually enjoyed that, liked the Irish sense of place, and the strong female character (translator is an intriguing occupation) but just didn't bond with the characters. I did not call it a "gentle read" because there is some descriptive violence.
February 4, 2014
Great title.
OK, bit too involved murder of 2 people.
Family drama, child sexual abuse, geneaology.
Theft.
OK to boring.
OK, bit too involved murder of 2 people.
Family drama, child sexual abuse, geneaology.
Theft.
OK to boring.
July 14, 2015
loved the description of the scenery, but the story was so/so
August 20, 2016
Another great read! This one started a little slow and I initially thought it was gonna be a DNF...but after about page 50 the story took off and was just fantastic.
November 5, 2018
First, the good. I chose this book for a little “Blind date with a book” game I did for an on-line bookclub. So, this is not a genre I typically read, I have never heard of this author before (not even sure if it’s a male or female,) and have never heard of this series or this book. The good point of this book was that it kept my attention throughout the entire convoluted plot; I even stayed up late finishing it.
The bad - oh, how much bad there is! When the story of Torrey’s childhood theivery is explained, it is completely ridiculous. I actually exclaimed out loud, “Oh, come on!” First, this crucial identity of her as a thief is preposterous. She stole $140 out of a suitcase of ill-gotten hundreds of thousand of dollars. Hardly does that make a life-long criminal of someone. Second, Luke hates *her* because the friend, Donna, broke down and confessed to the theft, leading to his step-father’s indictment and suicide? It’s preposterous. Third - and this is where I made my exclamation of disbelief - Donna’s parents lock her in her bedroom, a distressed young girl, they lock her in the bedroom and figure they’ll deal with it tomorrow and then Donna, who is clausterphobic, jumps from the 2nd story window and becomes paralyzed! What parent locks a distressed 12yo in her room and just goes to bed?! Why would she *jump out* a 2nd story window - merely opening it should alleviate clausterphobia and most people have a more emphatic fear of jumping from a height than whatever other fear might be at play. Even people who need to jump from burning buildings are hard to convince to jump. Besides all that, WHY would everyone blame Torrey? Why don’t the parents feel plagued with guilt that they chose to go to bed instead of staying up all night with their daughter?
Moving on, why is there any urgency whatsoever to come up with $40k for Donna’s surgery when she was hurt 16 years previous? Surgeons are not mob bosses, after all. And Torrey is employed; it’s not as though it should be impossible for her to get a loan for a medical procedure...even though the premise of her bearing all this guilt for her friend’s injury is preposterous already. The idea that there is this big deadline to come up with the money for surgery is stupid.
Also - just how old is Torrey? The author doesn’t mention her age until ten pages before the close of the book - 27. Except the incident was 16 years ago, when Torrey was 14. So she’s 30. Except when the author wants her to be 27. She should also be much too old for the disgusting Desmond.
The plot was so convoluted. I got really tired of, “It was him! No, it was her! No, wait, it was him!” I also thought it was inelegantly done when the red herrings were placed. It was like each brief chapter was giving a motive and/or opportunity to a different character. Skillful authors do this seamlessly; ham-handed authors do it ham-handedly. This was the later.
The one thing about which I am extremely grateful is the author never detailed the sex abuse of children. I was going to have to burn the book if that had happened - and it’s a library book! The author doesn’t describe sex scenes at all, which I’m glad for.
There were a few other non-sequitor details. The knife turned up back at the butcher shop after Maureen supposedly lifted it. Yet, Brian also has the knife hidden in his drawer, where he washes and re-washes it like Lady MacBeth. Also, the relationship between Maureen and Fergus is at first, all about how much he loves her, which she does not seem to be much aware of. She is a grieving widow, after all. He is nervously making excuses to come to her house; there is no indication he is getting anything but freshly-baked bread, but then that is turned on its head later when they have a sexual relationship. Umm, ok. Lastly, the necklace turns out to be real and voila! She can use it to pay for the surgery that’s somehow urgent.
Sorry for panning the book so hard. I hate illogical plots. I can say the book was entertaining enough that I felt compelled to finish it, so there’s that.
The bad - oh, how much bad there is! When the story of Torrey’s childhood theivery is explained, it is completely ridiculous. I actually exclaimed out loud, “Oh, come on!” First, this crucial identity of her as a thief is preposterous. She stole $140 out of a suitcase of ill-gotten hundreds of thousand of dollars. Hardly does that make a life-long criminal of someone. Second, Luke hates *her* because the friend, Donna, broke down and confessed to the theft, leading to his step-father’s indictment and suicide? It’s preposterous. Third - and this is where I made my exclamation of disbelief - Donna’s parents lock her in her bedroom, a distressed young girl, they lock her in the bedroom and figure they’ll deal with it tomorrow and then Donna, who is clausterphobic, jumps from the 2nd story window and becomes paralyzed! What parent locks a distressed 12yo in her room and just goes to bed?! Why would she *jump out* a 2nd story window - merely opening it should alleviate clausterphobia and most people have a more emphatic fear of jumping from a height than whatever other fear might be at play. Even people who need to jump from burning buildings are hard to convince to jump. Besides all that, WHY would everyone blame Torrey? Why don’t the parents feel plagued with guilt that they chose to go to bed instead of staying up all night with their daughter?
Moving on, why is there any urgency whatsoever to come up with $40k for Donna’s surgery when she was hurt 16 years previous? Surgeons are not mob bosses, after all. And Torrey is employed; it’s not as though it should be impossible for her to get a loan for a medical procedure...even though the premise of her bearing all this guilt for her friend’s injury is preposterous already. The idea that there is this big deadline to come up with the money for surgery is stupid.
Also - just how old is Torrey? The author doesn’t mention her age until ten pages before the close of the book - 27. Except the incident was 16 years ago, when Torrey was 14. So she’s 30. Except when the author wants her to be 27. She should also be much too old for the disgusting Desmond.
The plot was so convoluted. I got really tired of, “It was him! No, it was her! No, wait, it was him!” I also thought it was inelegantly done when the red herrings were placed. It was like each brief chapter was giving a motive and/or opportunity to a different character. Skillful authors do this seamlessly; ham-handed authors do it ham-handedly. This was the later.
The one thing about which I am extremely grateful is the author never detailed the sex abuse of children. I was going to have to burn the book if that had happened - and it’s a library book! The author doesn’t describe sex scenes at all, which I’m glad for.
There were a few other non-sequitor details. The knife turned up back at the butcher shop after Maureen supposedly lifted it. Yet, Brian also has the knife hidden in his drawer, where he washes and re-washes it like Lady MacBeth. Also, the relationship between Maureen and Fergus is at first, all about how much he loves her, which she does not seem to be much aware of. She is a grieving widow, after all. He is nervously making excuses to come to her house; there is no indication he is getting anything but freshly-baked bread, but then that is turned on its head later when they have a sexual relationship. Umm, ok. Lastly, the necklace turns out to be real and voila! She can use it to pay for the surgery that’s somehow urgent.
Sorry for panning the book so hard. I hate illogical plots. I can say the book was entertaining enough that I felt compelled to finish it, so there’s that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 10, 2019
This author is allergic to complete sentences.* Cliche overload, but then, wait. Are we supposed to know this about the MC yet? Look it up, no, this is the first in the series. Jumbled, confusing. Dialogue! That too! Oh, if only.... Be someone else now.
The story is told in brief snippets from multi POV’s in an almost stream-of-consciousness style. Which is like trying to collect your clues from the back of a galloping three-legged horse. Whatever else hindsight may be, it is no excuse for this strip tease of an obvious plot.
*She might have been able to fit a few more in - full sentences, that is - if she didn’t describe exactly what everyone is wearing every moment. In the author’s own words, “Oh, God! Get on with it! I don’t care what you decided to wear. Is this a fashion conversation? What are we talking about?”
The story is told in brief snippets from multi POV’s in an almost stream-of-consciousness style. Which is like trying to collect your clues from the back of a galloping three-legged horse. Whatever else hindsight may be, it is no excuse for this strip tease of an obvious plot.
*She might have been able to fit a few more in - full sentences, that is - if she didn’t describe exactly what everyone is wearing every moment. In the author’s own words, “Oh, God! Get on with it! I don’t care what you decided to wear. Is this a fashion conversation? What are we talking about?”
July 4, 2018
An easy read and entertaining enough if you can ignore all the inconsistencies. It's supposed to be set in the 90s but it feels like a much earlier time period. And how old actually is Torrey because the author didn't seem quite sure. And why would an American be employed to interpret between French and Hungarian? That's not how it works! I also found the number and combination of languages Torrey speaks implausible. But the murder mystery aspect was interesting and I didn't guess who was responsible. Part of the subject matter seemed unsuitable for the type of book. A low 3 star book but I enjoyed it enough not to go down to 2.
June 15, 2017
An easy read, that was entertaining. The plot is basic but well crafted. The characters are interesting and enjoyable.
I was worried that the brevity of the book would make this a dull read, but it was tightly put together for the reader.
An enjoyable mystery.
I also learned that the artist Pissarro taught Gauguin, Cassatt and Cezanne.
One of the fun parts about mysteries is that they can introduce the reader to many facts about topics we wouldn't normally research.
I was worried that the brevity of the book would make this a dull read, but it was tightly put together for the reader.
An enjoyable mystery.
I also learned that the artist Pissarro taught Gauguin, Cassatt and Cezanne.
One of the fun parts about mysteries is that they can introduce the reader to many facts about topics we wouldn't normally research.
April 15, 2019
I read Dicey Deere's Irish Cottage Murder from a paperback. Very weird to keep a light on to read & not be able to highlight anything. Dicey Deere was a very interesting author. She passed away @ 99 years old in 2016. She wrote the 1st of 4 Torrey Tunet books in 2000, so she was older when she started the series. She was from the East Coast, but the series is set in Ireland. It would be fascinating to know what motivated her?
June 19, 2023
This is a great example of a cozy murder mystery, perfect for taking with you to bed at night with just the right amount of quirkiness and mystery. I liked the character of Torrey Tunet, a free-lance translator with an unfortunate past that makes her present world very challenging.
Her background in languages makes her more interesting as she navigates a tricky situation that leads to her being a murder suspect. Well done.
Her background in languages makes her more interesting as she navigates a tricky situation that leads to her being a murder suspect. Well done.
March 17, 2019
When the author referred to Desmond Moore's "yellow-green eyes" four times before page 16 (twice on page 11!) I almost stopped reading. But I like stories about Ireland so I powered on. Somewhat amateurish novel but some decent characters and plots. Torrey Tunet has an interesting job and I liked the language lessons. Maybe Dicey Deere will find an authoritative editor to focus her writing.
May 3, 2019
This book started out slow and somewhat disjointed. At that point I was thinking 2 stars. Eventually it picked up the story line and got my interest, If available a 2.5 rating would have been my final choice. Perhaps I will try the next book in the series sometime in the future.
March 4, 2022
As a murder mystery this was ok, quirky main character, interesting support characters, quaint setting. But there was a disturbing element to the plot that would have kept me from reading the book if I had known about it. As a result I skimmed through the book to find out “whodunnit”.
May 19, 2018
The style was very choppy and the plot all over the place. Needed someone to pull the threads together into a tighter story.
August 10, 2018
Quick read
This was a quick read, but seemed to be very much like a "immature" mystery . The author leaves a lot to be developed.
This was a quick read, but seemed to be very much like a "immature" mystery . The author leaves a lot to be developed.
December 2, 2018
First book in a new series by Dicey Deere featuring Torrey Tunet. A decent little cozy. I look forward to the next book.
February 15, 2020
Most of the way through, I was going to give the book 3 stars. However, I like how the mystery unfolded in so many layers. Each layer was a true solution, but there were more solutions to come.
April 27, 2022
What a strange book! Not your typical cozy mystery at all. Content warning for sexual abuse — which really, really ruined this book for me. Ugh.
May 21, 2022
A great Torry Tuney mystery. Many characters kept me trying to solve throughout the story.
June 8, 2022
Perfectly adequate little cosy mystery. Most of the characters are rather unlikeable but they get better. I might read more in the series.
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