A Diet of Death

Ballyfortnum Get Slim group – putting the die in diet.

In the close-knit Irish village of Ballyfortnum, getting slim might just get you dead. Mystery-lover Jess O’Malley is distraught when her elderly friend dies, but she’s also suspicious – he’s the third of the local slimming group to die this year and it’s only February. Is something amiss in the Get Slim group?
Jess, aided by sidekick Fletcher, her boisterous Labrador, must convince local policeman Marcus that there’s a murderer at large in Ballyfortnum. If Jess can’t solve the mystery, will another dieter die? And if she doesn’t stop asking awkward questions, will Jess become the next victim?

A Diet of Death is the first book in the Jess O’Malley Irish Village Mysteries.

A Hover of Trout

Ballyfortnum village – where something fishy is going on.

In the close-knit Irish village of Ballyfortnum, a careless fisherman could catch his death down by the river.

It’s not so peaceful on her riverside walk when aspiring sleuth Jess O’Malley stumbles across a dead fisherman bobbing in the water. As if that’s not enough, he’s not quite the stranger she thought he was. Nor is he the only dead body in Ballyfortnum this week.

Jess, aided by loyal sidekick Fletcher, her exuberant black Labrador, has uncovered another mystery to get her hook into but will her policeman friend Marcus believe her this time? As she fishes for clues, casting aspersions on friends and neighbours, can she reel in the culprit without becoming the killer’s next catch?

A Hover of Trout is the second book in the Jess O’Malley Irish Village Mysteries.

A Wake of Buzzards

In Ballyfortnum, a buzz about a dead bird can cause a killing.

Jess O’Malley’s found another body and needs to report it, but at least it’s only a bird this time.

A bird in the hand isn’t worth much if it’s dead and all the bushes have been ripped out by a heartless landowner. In this close-knit Irish village, gossip spreads like a flood after rain: soon the disliked farmer is accused of killing the buzzard and damaging lands that should be protected.

Really, he should be shot.

Everyone says it.

Then somebody does it.

When the farmer is found dead, the whole community agrees he had it coming. But if everyone’s a suspect, why is Jess’s name at the top of the list?

With so many suspects and so many motives, it’s hard to see the wood for the trees. Will Jess be able to clear her name and unveil the real killer? And why does no one seem to care if the killer is found?

***

A Wake of Buzzards is the third book in the Jess O’Malley Irish Village mystery series.

A Deathbed of Roses

In Ballyfortnum, the Tidy Village contest is causing chaos.

In the close-knit Irish village of Ballyfortnum, it’s judging day for the Tidy Village contest.

Ballyfortnum’s blooming and Jess O’Malley is ready to welcome the judges, but one’s been taken ill and the replacement’s from a rival village. Before Jess and her friends can process this, there’s a bigger mess to clear up. Someone’s vandalised the village!

But at least they don’t have a body on their hands.

Or do they?

One of the gardeners turns up on a bed of roses, but is he the victim or the vandal?

Jess thinks there could be connection between the sick judge and the body in the backyard and she’s determined to find the link. Ballyfortnum’s chance at Best-Kept Village may be slipping away, but is the new judge holding the best-kept secret?

• A sick judge who may be poisoned.
• A replacement judge who may be jealous.
• A victim who may be a villain.
• A village with an All-Ireland Championship at stake.

Not everything in Ballyfortnum is smelling of roses.

Can Jess reveal the culprits and save the village’s chance at the trophy, or will the Tidy Village mess prove too much to clear up?

***

A Deathbed of Roses is the fourth book in the Jess O’Malley Irish Village Mystery series.

Claude, Gord, Alice, and Maud

A corpse in a cupboard. Four likely suspects. One visually-impaired seventy-something sleuth.

Introducing the brand-new cozy mystery series: Mrs Smith’s Suspects

It’s nearly Christmas in the small English town of Little Wittering, and retired teacher Sally Smith is enjoying an afternoon in the hair salon.

Until she sniffs out a corpse.

With a body in the broom cupboard and a police-imposed lock-in until the culprit is caught, it doesn’t take long to deduce someone in the salon is a cold-blooded killer.

Sally’s most challenging former pupil may have scraped through Police College but he’s as incompetent as ever, so when the cops think they’ve collared the criminal, Sally’s not sure they’ve made the right cut.

Can a blind woman identify the true culprit or will Sally’s sleuthing make her the chief suspect – or the next victim?

***

Claude, Gord, Alice, and Maud is the first of Jinny Alexander’s British small-town cosy mystery series, in which septuagenarian Mrs Smith sniffs out both the corpse and the culprit, in this modern-day version of a Golden Age locked room mystery. Buy now to discover this delightful new series for yourself.

Claude, Maud, Alice, and Gord (LARGE PRINT EDITION)

A corpse in a cupboard. Four likely suspects. One visually-impaired seventy-something sleuth.

Introducing the brand-new cozy mystery series: Mrs Smith’s Suspects

It’s nearly Christmas in the small English town of Little Wittering, and retired teacher Sally Smith is enjoying an afternoon in the hair salon.

Until she sniffs out a corpse.

With a body in the broom cupboard and a police-imposed lock-in until the culprit is caught, it doesn’t take long to deduce someone in the salon is a cold-blooded killer.

Sally’s most challenging former pupil may have scraped through Police College but he’s as incompetent as ever, so when the cops think they’ve collared the criminal, Sally’s not sure they’ve made the right cut.

Can a blind woman identify the true culprit or will Sally’s sleuthing make her the chief suspect – or the next victim?

***

Claude, Gord, Alice, and Maud is the first of Jinny Alexander’s British small-town cosy mystery series, in which septuagenarian Mrs Smith sniffs out both the corpse and the culprit, in this modern-day version of a Golden Age locked room mystery. Buy now to discover this delightful new series for yourself.

The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

The Weaver’s Legacy: A Historical Novel of the Irish in the American West

The Weaver’s Legacy: A Historical Novel of the Irish in the American West

The year 1865. Goldie O’Neill was nine years of age when she trekked across the unclaimed American West with her family to form their own Irish Catholic colony. Their new community had dreams of self-governance and prosperity far removed from the anti-Irish sentiment and prejudice of the ruling classes. They soon learned about the extremes of the American West and the ongoing Indian war. A year after their arrival, Goldie blames herself for her sister’s disappearance. She forms an unlikely friendship with a Lakota Indian boy who promises to help with her lifelong quest to find her sister. In the intervening years, as their community flourishes and a new prejudice surfaces, her sister’s disappearance ebbs away for everyone except Goldie.

The year 1937. Lucy O’Neill was adopted by her aunt Goldie O’Neill. When she learns that her father, Lorcan O’Neill, has returned to the small town in the Midwest after a 30-year absence, she returns to meet him. Aware of the silence that surrounds his name and the reluctance of her family to reveal the real story, Lucy delves into the past to find a story far removed from the account her aunt had told her.

Manhattan Ember: An Immigration Story of Friendship, Rivalry & Betrayal

Manhattan Ember: An Irish Immigration Story of Friendship, Rivalry & Betrayal 

The Memory of Music: An Irish Family Saga of War & Redemption

The Memory of Music: An Irish Family Saga of War & Redemption

One Irish family, 100 turbulent years.

1916: Betty O’Fogarty is proud and clever. Spurred on by Betty’s belief in her husband Seamus’s talent as a violin-maker and her desire to escape rural life, the couple elopes to Dublin. She expects life there to fulfill all her dreams. To her horror, she discovers that they can only afford to live in the notorious poverty-stricken tenements. Seamus becomes obsessed with republican politics and neglects his lucrative craft.

As Dublin is plunged into chaos as the Easter Rebellion of 1916, Betty gives birth to her first child to the sound of gunfire and shelling. But Betty vows that she will survive war and want, and move her little family out of the tenements. Nothing will stand in her way. A hundred years later, secrets churn their way to the surface, and Betty’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren uncover both Betty’s ruthlessness and her unique brand of heroism.