The Bride Collector

by Siobhán MacDonald

Something old, something new

Winter brings more than fierce Atlantic storms to the thriving tourist town of Kylebeggan in County Kerry. On a cold January night, a woman is murdered and laid out in her wedding dress on her bed. And then another woman is discovered murdered in her flat, laid out in the same way. Weeks later, taxi driver Ellie Gillespie collects a bride-to-be on her hen night and drops her home. Ellie is horrified when this woman too is later discovered dead in her gown.

Something borrowed

The gardaí, mayor, and tourist board are desperate to end the negative publicity of a town that relies on the holiday trade; they cannot afford to have a rumour spread that a serial killer is at large.

Someone... Dead

Ellie also has her own suspicions about the killer. She is persuaded to share her thoughts with investigative journalist Cormac Scully; digging into past secrets of the town, can they figure out who it is before the Bride Collector strikes again?

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

320 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 29, 2021

About the author

Siobhán studied electronic engineering at National University of Ireland Galway and had a successful career writing for the technology sector in Scotland, France and Ireland. A plot-aholic, Siobhán now spends her time writing crime and thriller novels.

She published her first novel in 2016, the widely acclaimed TWISTED RIVER. THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE - 'Her terrific debut novel, Twisted River, could hardly be more steeped in classic American pulp. MacDonald develops her twin stories with masterly control of mood and scene.' THE TORONTO STAR - 'In a remarkable debut novel, MacDonald keeps the reader riveted'. KIRKUS REVIEWS - 'MacDonald toys with the reader, leading right then feinting left with plot twists that genuinely surprise. The big thrill here is the constant undermining of assumptions.' Author Kimberly McCreight - 'Evocative and richly detailed, Twisted River is a page-turning mystery about the tragic consequences that result when the tightly held secrets of two families collide.' INSTYLE MAGAZINE - 'This gripping novel commands your attention from the very beginning ... a property swap fraught with problems. Expect to finish this one seriously debating your next Airbnb reservation.' CHRIS PAVONE, NEW YORK TIMES best-selling author – ‘Twisted River is a superb thriller – gripping, surprising, and terrifically rewarding.’ RT BOOK REVIEWS – ‘Dark and intriguing… MacDonald's strong writing accentuates pertinent details, and her vivid descriptions will have readers feeling the suspense throughout the story.’

Siobhán followed up this success with her second novel THE BLUE POOL, a thriller described as an 'ingenious and unpredictable psychological thriller ... a mesmerising exploration of loyalty, friendship, and the corrosive effects of guilt'. CRIME REVIEW - 'Similar to TWISTED RIVER, in that she achieves fantastic levels of tension. THE BLUE POOL is an intense read that you will want to devour as quickly as possible.'

GUILTY had its Irish début in 2020 to equal praise. THE IRISH TIMES - 'This is a terrifically dark, twisty thriller, skilfully plotted and stylishly written.' THE IRISH EXAMINER - 'Page turner guilty of a gripping story. You could choke on the delicious venality & hypocrisy. Just one of the creepy thrills in this page turner.' THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT - 'GUILTY is a classy and cleverly plotted psychological thriller that grips from page one, packed with well-drawn characters and delivering an absolute zinger of a twist in the tale in the final pages.' RTE GUIDE - 'GUILTY is a twisty tale of ruthless ambition, family dysfunction and cold-blooded vengeance.'

The Bride Collector published on 29 July 2021 and is being well-received. Declan Hughes of THE IRISH TIMES says, “MacDonald builds the action to a spectacularly creepy climax and there is a spectacularly worked twist to follow that will take your breath away”. Dymphna Nugent of THE WATERFORD STAR says, “A gripping sinister novel, where a serial killer in a small Kerry town targets brides-to-be. Fast-paced, engaging, and terrifying.” Mairead Hearne, SWIRL AND THREAD Book reviewer says, “An engrossing read with some very unexpected twists.”

She is published in the UK & Ireland by Little Brown, in the US and Canada by Viking Penguin, in France by Archipel and in Germany by Piper. Siobhan lives in Ireland with her husband and two sons. Twitter @SiobhanMMacD Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/siobhan.m.m... Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/SiobhanMacDo...

Reviews

[Aoife · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from Hachette Ireland in exchange for an honest review.

When the town of Kylebeggan, County Kerry, is shocked by the murder of three female residents - all left dead in their bed, dressed in wedding clothes, female taxi driver Ellie teams up with local journalist Scully to see if they can get to the bottom of the mystery.

This was an okay thriller/mystery book for me - I felt like the middle was the strongest point for me when it felt like there were a few red herrings in the mix, and we also really got to know the characters and their backgrounds pretty well too. I liked Ellie as a character and I feel the perspective of a female taxi driver was cleverly done in this book - in a case of murdered women, other women are more prone to seek out a female driver to bring them home and talk more openly with them too. I do think some of the clues and hints with the case were very obviously done, and the story as a whole lacked a finesse and subtlety I've seen in other thrillers.

I did enjoy reading a thriller set in Ireland, and not just in Dublin - and how the guards, journalists and locals all reacted to everything. There were some things that felt far fetched like Ellie's brother getting so much information in jail (and casually using someone's phone in there too), and I think Ellie's story as a whole wasn't much of a surprise.

The ending with who the killer turned out to be was so disappointing as it all felt very Scooby Doo in nature. And very unrealistic in a way that a character who was hurt would have no trauma or anything, and would just pop back in in a few weeks like nothing ever happened.

[Melanie Peak · Rating 5 out of 5]

first time reading this author and I really enjoyed it. great storyline and great characters with a proper good twist at the end.

[Ellie T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable enough story about a female taxi driver with a past, who teams up with a small-time journalist who wants to make the big time, in an Irish town, to investigate a series of macabre murders. Each have their own reasons for doing so. The local garda seem mainly useless.

I was left with some unanswered questions, but didn't feel hugely disappointed by that.

[Nicky Mottram · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read though a little far fetched in places. A slow burner to start but then twists and turns that kept you guessing, and a great ending that you really don’t see coming at all !!

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book UK for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review

[jo freeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

First book finished 2023 and this was an amazingly great read. Full of twists and turns, red herrings and massive surprises. I’ve never read Siobhan MacDonald before and will definitely pick up another as this was unputdownable xx

[Speno · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite liked the opening chapters setting things up and the ending, but a bit a bit too much in the middle where things just seemed to plod along. I could have given up at that point but glad I decided to read to the end as it was worth it.

[Mads · Rating 3 out of 5]

wouldn't have picked this one up myself (book group) but it was alright. a lot of threads weaved together well, and a genuinely unexpected twist re. the killer that still made sense. the prose itself is a bit lacklustre, plodding along, but overall it wasn't bad

[Sara Brady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Siobhán MacDonald is a rock star!!!

[Katarzyna Waniek · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half was quite boring.... got much better in the end

[Nicola Nicholson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid three,interesting setting and ideas but characters and crimes a bit underwhelming.

[HyperPuff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Off to a slow start but wow that was a wild ride!

[Lucy McLaurin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable twisty tale of murders in a small place.

Interesting how Taxi Driver Ellie starts to look into these murders along with Cormac Scully, a small town reporter. I liked the dynamic between the two of them; and enjoyed finding out their back stories and their lives today.

A couple of unexpected discoveries at the end!

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful story telling and a genuinely unexpected twist at the end.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first book by Siobhan MacDonald really enjoyed it and a great twist at the end.

[Orlagh Doherty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this the day after I got engaged and the day before I was the sickest I've ever been so don't trust my review. But I think it was great.

[Gabs · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 🌟

Had me hooked in the beginning but felt like the ending was SO poor and completely ruined my experience with the last half of the book !

[Charlotte Beck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice story, unexpected ending.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent

[Mairead Hearne (swirlandthread.com) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bride Collector by Siobhán MacDonald was just published today, July 29th, with Constable (Little Brown UK) and is described as ‘a compulsive serial killer thriller’. Set in a small town in Co. Kerry, a woman’s body is discovered dressed in her wedding dress laid out on her bed. Her name is Isolde Hanley. She did not die a natural death.

‘It was done. She was centre stage and she was beautiful’

The town of Kylebeggan reels with shock as Isolde Hanley was a very well respected member of the community and events like this do not happen in Kylebeggan. But things take a turn for the worse when, soon after, the body of another woman, Imelda Gannon, is discovered in her bed, laid out in a similar fashion. She was a local primary school teacher, a bride-to-be, excited with the prospect of her upcoming nuptials to local publican and rugby star, Harry Kirby. The town mayor and the Gardaí are determined to keep the details as low key as possible. Kylebeggan is a tourist town with a reputation to withhold, named ‘a jewel in the Garden Trails of Ireland’, with a race course, a number of luxury hotels and top championship golf courses. A popular stop on the renowned Ring of Kerry, rumours of a murderer on the rampage is something the economy of this small town could not entertain. But the women of Kylebeggan are afraid. Two bodies, both discovered in their bridal attire sends chills down the spine of every would-be bride.

Ellie is a local taxi driver with her own intriguing story to tell. She doesn’t have the regular appearance of a taxi driver with designer labels her go-to wardrobe. She has a store of expensive ware in a spare bedroom which is incongruous with her rented accommodation where she lives a very solitary and private existence. Ellie is on-call one evening when she picks up a fare of three women out celebrating a hen-night, the bride-to-be among them. Her name is Marina Willoughby and she is a local solicitor about to embark on her married life. Ellie drops Marina home, only to discover the following day that Marina was another victim of the murderer now being called ‘The Bride Collector’, discovered laid out in her bridal attire, dead. Ellie is shocked. She was one of the last to see Marina. She does her duty, reporting to the local Garda station but she is left with an unsatisfactory feeling. Something feels off.

Ellie is an amateur sleuth in her down time, always looking one step ahead trying to figure out cases and, immediately, she senses that something is wrong. When she is approached by a local reporter, Cormac Scully, they come to an agreement to trade information. Her job places her in a position where she overhears private conversations and Cormac has a source within the force. Together they start to investigate the case outside of the Garda investigation with some very shocking discoveries.

The Bride Collector is a very entertaining return to the old fashioned idea of the amateur detective solving the case Miss Marple style. With great characterisation throughout Siobhán MacDonald creates a very vivid picture of all the individuals involved while slowly drip feeding us snippets from Ellie’s background. We begin to gather up the jigsaw pieces and create a full picture of the goings on in Kylebeggan. I am very familiar with Kerry so I did have a town in mind when reading The Bride Collector and I can easily imagine how the economy of a local community could be destroyed as the media speculate and fill their column inches. Siobhán MacDonald accurately depicts the ways of a small country town community bringing a very authentic and relatable layer to her writing.

An engrossing read with some very unexpected twists, The Bride Collector is a highly enjoyable addition to the brilliant array of incredible Irish crime writing and is currently available in all good book shops now!

[Elaine Tomasso · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to thank Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for an advance copy of The Bride Collector, a stand-alone set in the fictional village of Kylebeggan in County Kerry.

Over the course of several months three women have been found dead, all dressed in their wedding dresses and murdered. Taxi driver, Ellie Gillespie, is horrified to learn that she drove the last victim home the night before. She teams up with local reporter, Cormac Scully, to investigate as neither has much faith in the local Gardai.

I enjoyed The Bride Collector, which is an interesting read with some good twists. It is told from Ellie and Cormac’s points of view so the reader can enjoy the mystery of whodunnit and speculate alongside them. I liked that, although I must confess that I came nowhere near solving it as the perpetrator is a late addition to the cast. Nevertheless, I found their investigation absorbing and, in some ways, ingenious.

There is a fair amount of misdirection in the novel, starting with how Ellie became a taxi driver. The author allows the reader to draw certain inferences and only later corrects them. It’s well done. There is, perhaps, too much tragedy in the characters’ backstory to be wholly credible as not one seems untouched but it adds colour to the narrative so who am I to complain? I also thought the main solution is a bit lame, but the secondary one is a cracker.

The Bride Collector is a good read that I can recommend.

[Margaret Mary Lynch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I enjoyed this story. I liked the "drip" feeding of little pieces of additional information about the characters and situations which gave hints to past secrets which contributed to the mystery of the dead "brides". There were many avenues to explore and many suspects that could potentially have motive and opportunity But when the age difference was revealed I began to suspect who might be responsible.
There were a few instances that irked me. First of all I thought it was an unlikely alliance between the reporter and the taxi driver and I wondered what "Tall dark" had to gain from being an informer and putting himself at risk in doing so.
I was a bit disappointed in the ending. It wasn't clear why the final victim was treated differently and also a little unlikely that she would survive when the others hadn't. Then when the perpetrator was allowed lead the Gardai to the scene, why did they allow opportunity to escape?
Apart from that, the narrative kept me interested throughout and I enjoyed it .

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a mysterious killer has started to leave bodies in Kylebeggan, taxi driver Ellie has been approached by local reporter Cormac and together they try to solve the crime.
This was such an atmospheric read. The descriptions of the town and area were really good at putting me in the scene. I loved Ellie but did find her slightly frustrating at times! Cormac was a brilliant character as well. Odd but came across with a tenderness.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

[Siobhan Brosnan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5
First time reading a book by this author and I enjoyed it, certainly found it fast paced and didn't know who had committed the crime until the reveal in the book. I enjoyed the characters and the way the book was written, I would definitely read more by this author. There was enough to keep me guessing, interested and engaged in the story.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars/5 stars