3 Word Summary: Cute breezy read
The Luck O’ the Irish perhaps missed the town of Lisfenora, where Ireland’s latest murderer lurks in the fog or as natives call him/it “The Grey Man” (and FYI say this quietly with a heavy Irish brogue and it sounds completely badass!!). Plus, readers are visiting the town at the right time because the Matchmaker Festival is in full swing (old school Tinder) bringing along all sorts of characters with all their “issues”, aka dead bodies. 
As I struggled to shake the image of a young Adrienne Barbeau scuttling about a lighthouse dodging an eerie specter (Google “The Fog”, millennials!), I considered this book and decided I define it as a “cute” mystery, or what some call a “cottage” mystery (okay, only I call it that). 
Not scary. Not macabre or graphic. It’s “cute” murder, sort of like Jessica Fletcher from Murder She Wrote (seriously, Google it lazy millennials), a sort of sleepy-town story where oops – there’s a dead body! There’s the small town characters – the cop, the matchmaker and his long lost American daughter, the pub “crows”, along with shop owners. Someone dies and then everyone in town is a suspect. (PS… remind me NEVER to visit Cabot Cove. How do the police not just follow Jessica Fletcher around all day? I mean a LOT of people die around her).
It’s a little too tidy for me. The gravy? Not as dark or rich as I enjoy my mystery book “shepherd’s pie” (Is that Irish?). I like to chew on my mysteries. Savor some aroma. Truly be fed in terrifying ways. Relish some shock. This wasn’t my usual flavor, but that doesn’t mean there’s not a worthwhile nibble from author Lisa Alber (Damn now I’m hungry). I would highly recommend this for a quick read, beach read, light mystery lovers, etc.
The imaginative town, the setting drew me in (hello, it’s IRELAND) and the creative characters led to many possible suspects and many future books. I could easily visualize the town, the people, the beer… 
However, the writing itself seemed scattered, a bit flailing in places as if the author didn’t quite know where to come in for a landing with a chapter. The storyline jumped a bit frenetically. A slightly slower pace (think roller coaster, not the Tilt-a-Whirl) and the story would be improved.
Side note: I didn’t read the first book and will advise that you should read the first book as a few references went over my head, but it’s not completely necessary.
As always a huge thank you to NetGalley and Midnight Ink for an advanced copy in exchange for this honest review. Also for encouraging me to watch re-runs of Murder She Wrote on the Hallmark Channel.
