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    Buried in a Bog
    Buried in a Bog
    Buried in a Bog
    Audiobook7 hours

    Buried in a Bog

    Written by Sheila Connolly

    Narrated by Amy Rubinate

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook


    Honoring the wish of her late grandmother, Maura Donovan visits the small Irish village where her Gran was born-though she never expected to get bogged down in a murder mystery. Nor had she planned to take a job in one of the local pubs, but she finds herself excited to get to know the people who knew her Gran.

    In the pub, she's swamped with drink orders as everyone in town gathers to talk about the recent discovery of a nearly one-hundred-year-old body in a nearby bog. When Maura realizes she may know something about the dead man-and that the body's connected to another, more recent, death-she fears she's about to become mired in a homicide investigation. After she discovers the death is connected to another from almost a century earlier, Maura has a sinking feeling she may really be getting in over her head . . .
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJan 31, 2014
    ISBN9781452689173
    Buried in a Bog
    Author

    Sheila Connolly

    SHEILA CONNOLLY (1950-2020) published over thirty mysteries, including several New York Times bestsellers. Her series include the Orchard Mysteries, the Museum Mysteries, The County Cork Mysteries, and the Victorian Village Mysteries. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Society of Mayflower Descendants.

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    Reviews for Buried in a Bog

    3.5/5

    169 ratings27 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This was the best book I have read in a long time. It is very well written, with a bit of a mystery thrown in. I have always been intrigued by bog bodies and how they got there, and what happened to them. The book is also quite atmospheric with the countryside and interesting people in County Cork, Ireland. It makes me want to pull up stakes and move over there to a slower pace of living.
    • 1/5
      The single star is for the author’s acceptable descriptions of the Irish countryside. Those descriptions are the only parts of the book I enjoyed.Buried in a Bog was a considerable disappointment to me. I was anticipating a light mystery with maybe a little bit of romance thrown in, interesting characters, and a bit of humor.To my sad surprise, the book turned out to be stale, flat, and unprofitable. The premise is intriguing enough: young Maura was raised by her recently deceased grandmother. Gran has requested that Maura go to Ireland, where Gran was born, get acquainted with Gran’s home town, and “say a mass for Gran.”That threw me off immediately. Only a priest can say a mass. Gran would have known that, and would have requested that Maura ask a priest to say a mass in Gran’s memory, for the repose of her soul. This may seem small, but it’s a very basic tenet of Catholicism. If the author didn’t care enough to get that detail right, what else did she gloss over? And then the requested mass is never mentioned again (as far as I know; I skipped some pages).The characters are barely two-dimensional. They don’t change, and the reader doesn’t get to know much of anything about them. The “mystery” isn’t much, and worst of all, there is absolutely no humor in this book. None.I’m obviously not the right audience for this book. I’m glad some other readers liked it. I’m sorry I can’t recommend it.
    • 4/5
      After the death of the beloved grandmother who raised her, Maura Donovan finds herself in Ireland – where Gran had been born and married. Their life in Boston, where Gran and her son immigrated to after the death of Maura’s granddad, was tough and there was no money for travel, much less for international travel. But among Gran’s things, Maura finds money and a note in which her grandmother expresses her wish that Maura visit Ireland, specifically Leap in County Cork. Once Maura’s in Leap, bad things start happening in the little village. A body is found in a peat bog and police are anxious to know whether it’s ancient or of more recent vintage. Then a local man is murdered while taking money out of an ATM. Soon Maura herself is being followed, her borrowed car rammed on purpose, the room she’s renting ransacked. One of the people Maura is anxious to talk to – to learn more about her Gran – is Bridget Nolan, mother of Mick, who runs Sullivan’s of Leap, a dark, dirty and seedy pub that becomes popular overnight when villagers have a body or two to discuss. Maura, who has years of experience as waitress and bartender in Boston’s Irish pubs jumps in to help and soon finds herself with a job and a more permanent stay in Leap. Buried in a Bog came with a great recommendation from a friend whose taste in mysteries overlaps my own. Plus recently, I’ve discovered that my ancestry may go back to Ireland in the 1650s, a real surprise when I’ve always thought I was a mix of Hungarian, German and French. So, I read this book with pretty high expectations and interest. I was not disappointed. Buried in a Bog is a lovely cozy mystery with a tough, feisty heroine who, despite her lamented lack of formal education, is smart, resilient and able to fend for herself in a foreign country. Leap is populated with great eccentric characters, who have big hearts and soft spots for the brash young women with an American accent. Highly recommended.
    • 2/5
      Was a decent first of a series. Enjoyable, but a bit predictable with the direction the life of the main character was going to go. Enjoyed the small Irish village feel.
    • 5/5
      This book is wonderful! Some travel. Some life changes. A family mystery. And all done smoothly and intelligently. No silliness. I'm already reaching for the next one.
    • 3/5
      This was another one were it felt that there wasn't really much of a mystery... just a girl who fell into a strange situation. Couldn't get into the story of care about the characters much.
    • 5/5
      At loose ends after her grandmother's death, Maura Donnelly decides to honor her grandmother's wishes and use her small inheritance to visit the small Irish village where her grandmother was born. Her grandmother never talked much about her life before emigrating; she was too busy working multiple jobs and taking care of Maura after Maura's father's death and her mother's desertion. Maura finds that there are a number of people in Leap who knew her grandmother and a number of relatives she didn't know she had. She'd barely arrived when a man's body was discovered in a local bog and she discovers a letter in a pub where she is temporarily working which might point to the identity of the man. But a new murder of a man who had just been in the pub takes over the time of the local police before they can see the letter Maura found.Then Maura finds herself the target of a stalker who runs her off the road, harasses her when she's visiting her grandfather's grave, and breaks into her room at a local B&B. Neither she nor the police can understand why this is happening to a woman who's been in Ireland less than a week.I enjoyed this audiobook. The narrator made Maura come to life. I could understand her new feelings of rootlessness and her bewilderment as she learns about the things her grandmother hadn't told her about Ireland. I liked the descriptions of the people and countryside. The mystery was well done. I'm eager to read more of Maura's adventures as she begins her new life in Ireland.
    • 4/5
      Maura Donovan grew up in Boston with an Irish grandmother who could barely support them both. Her father died when she was young, and her mother left them shortly afterward. Now she's gone to Leap, Ireland, to complete her grandmother's dying wish - to say a Mass for her in the church where she was married.Maura discovered, going through her Gran's things, that there had been people she'd kept in touch with, and when Maura told them of her death, a Mrs. Nolan told her she would be welcome and not to worry about anything. But Maura is still surprised that the elderly friend of her Gran has secured lodging for her - and more, as Maura is soon to find out.Maura meets a young girl who works at a nearby pub, and is soon finding herself helping - Maura tended bar and waitressed back home - and discovers a letter among the bills of the late owner, who also has recently passed. When a body is found in a peat bog, and the letter mentions an uncle who disappeared years ago, she wonders if they're related. But as Maura finds herself becoming immersed in this little town, she also finds that there are others who don't want her here - and will do anything to see she leaves...I have to say that I grabbed this book for purely self-serving reasons: I, for one, am sick and tired of reading new books and finding that authors think we're interested in their personal beliefs and political views. I'm tired of them being 'subtly' thrown in here and there, like they think I'll be influenced somehow. So that's why I wanted to read a book which had been written years ago. I didn't want to be preached to, I wanted to be entertained, which is what books are supposed to do. (Admittedly, not all authors do this, but if I find more than one, it's one too many.)Therefore, I'm glad this is the one I've chosen, because entertained is what I was. Ms. Connolly takes us to the small village and the people that inhabit it. There are all sorts, just as there are everywhere. She finds friends among them, people who are willing to see that her stay is a pleasant one, and help her any way they can. Their kindness overwhelms this young woman, who has grown up with little money, no computer, no car, no cell phone. It makes you understand why Maura doesn't trust people and thinks negatively with the life she's led. Perhaps here she can finally come to grips with her past and find a better future.She wrestles with herself as to whether she will stay longer than the week she'd intended. When she becomes drawn into the mystery of the found body and the letter, and discovers the man was murdered, she has more reason to wonder if they're one and the same. She's also becoming interested in the people aro
    • 4/5
      What a wonderful opening to a new series! This is the first time that I remember reading a cozy mystery where the protagonist is a bartender. Add in the element of the cozy setting in Ireland and it becomes the perfect reading escape to Ireland without ever buying your own airline ticket. I've always wanted to travel to Ireland and this cozy allowed me to "travel" without even packing a bag. I drink iced tea but have never enjoyed a cup of hot tea but many times throughout the story I was even ready to have a cup of tea.

      Many of the amateur sleuths in cozy mysteries that are either a business owner or employee at a local business in the town/city setting of the story never seem to be actually working at their business or job. It's refreshing to have Maura Donovan become a sleuth so seamlessly within the storyline and still work at her "new job."
    • 1/5
      The single star is for the author’s acceptable descriptions of the Irish countryside. Those descriptions are the only parts of the book I enjoyed.Buried in a Bog was a considerable disappointment to me. I was anticipating a light mystery with maybe a little bit of romance thrown in, interesting characters, and a bit of humor.To my sad surprise, the book turned out to be stale, flat, and unprofitable. The premise is intriguing enough: young Maura was raised by her recently deceased grandmother. Gran has requested that Maura go to Ireland, where Gran was born, get acquainted with Gran’s home town, and “say a mass for Gran.”That threw me off immediately. Only a priest can say a mass. Gran would have known that, and would have requested that Maura ask a priest to say a mass in Gran’s memory, for the repose of her soul. This may seem small, but it’s a very basic tenet of Catholicism. If the author didn’t care enough to get that detail right, what else did she gloss over? And then the requested mass is never mentioned again (as far as I know; I skipped some pages).The characters are barely two-dimensional. They don’t change, and the reader doesn’t get to know much of anything about them. The “mystery” isn’t much, and worst of all, there is absolutely no humor in this book. None.I’m obviously not the right audience for this book. I’m glad some other readers liked it. I’m sorry I can’t recommend it.
    • 3/5
      Honoring her granmother’s last wish, Maura journeys to Ireland for a week’s visit. But plans change, and she becomes ensnared in the little community and its friendly people. Trying to figure why Gran would send her to Ireland, Maura researches her roots, as well as looking into the discovery of a body recovered from a bog. Rich in descriptions of the countryside and full of Irish history, this tale is enchanting as well as entertaining, and a good beginning to a promising series.
    • 4/5
      Young woman from Boston honoring her grandmother’s dying wish goes to Ireland to tell her grand’s childhood friend that she has passed. She meets an assortment of interesting characters who all new the grandmother’s family. Everyone is nice and the grandson of the friend picks her up and takes her to meet his grandmother who offers her a car. On the way back to the village she’s stopped by the garda who have discovered a body in a bog. Later while helping out at the local pub she comes across a letter written to the deceased owner and thinks it’s relative to the dead man in the bog. Looking forward to the 2nd book in this series.
    • 3/5
      Buried in a Bog by Sheila ConnollyCounty Cork Mystery series Book #13 StarsFrom The Book:Honoring the wish of her late grandmother, Maura Donovan visits the small Irish village where her Gran was born—though she never expected to get bogged down in a murder mystery. Nor had she planned to take a job in one of the local pubs, but she finds herself excited to get to know the people who knew her Gran. In the pub, she’s swamped with drink orders as everyone in town gathers to talk about the recent discovery of a nearly one-hundred-year-old body in a nearby bog. When Maura realizes she may know something about the dead man—and that the body’s connected to another, more recent, death—she fears she’s about to become mired in a homicide investigation. After she discovers the death is connected to another from almost a century earlier, Maura has a sinking feeling she may really be getting in over her head.My Thoughts:Stories of and from Ireland have a special place in my heart as that is where my grandmother came from and where my mother was born. This is a well written... easy to read story with a character in Maura that is strong and able to stand up for herself. The biggest part of the story is Maura's introduction to her grandmother's origins. The body found in the bog gave the armchair detective something to ponder but it was really fairly simple to solve. The history of the bogs and the descriptions of the countryside helped to paint a visual of this beautiful country for the reader. It's the story of a young woman's journey from a large American city to a place where time has all but stopped. For the cozy mystery enthusiast it will be a more than satisfying read...for the hard core mystery lover it will just be a delightful rest from the Blood and mayhem that we normally read. Glad I read it, but being one of the blood and mayhem bunch I probably won't be in any hurry to go on to the next one.
    • 5/5
      The County Cork mystery series was recommended to me, and this is the first book in that series. I absolutely loved it! The setting, the characters, the mystery - all were superb. The book is set in present-day Ireland in as small town located in County Cork, Ireland. Maura Donovan is a 25 year old woman from Boston who has made the journey to Ireland to the County where her Gran was born and was married, Maura's gran has just passed away so she takes care of the funeral and settles her grandmother's affairs and head to Ireland after promising her grandmother that she would make the journey. When Maura arrives in the small Irish village where her grandmother was born, she finds herself embroiled in a mystery. An almost century old body has been uncovered in a peat bog. Maura happens to drive by the bog when they are bringing the body out. Her curiousity is aroused, and when a sudden, more recent murder occurs, Maura finds herself involved in a homicide investigation which ends up somehow being dangerous for her too. I have been really enjoying reading mystery series set in various European countries, so was thrilled to find this one set in Ireland. This is definitley a series I will be continuing with. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
    • 2/5
      I enjoy mysteries and cozies, and will always happily read anything set in Ireland, so I fully expected to love this book. Sadly, it was very disappointing. As other readers have said, it was very slow, and very little actually happens in its nearly 300 pages. But it was the main character that I really take exception to. For example, she grew up in Boston but had absolutely no interest in any of the city's history or culture because "it had nothing to do with her". This girl has zero intellectual curiosity, no ambition, no plans, and no interest in her own heritage. Granted, the author used this book to set up an upcoming series, but there's very little "story" here to maintain the reader's interest. The book's contempt for Irish tourism was unnecessary, as well.
    • 3/5
      a little too conveniently wrapped.
    • 4/5
      I was not familiar with the author, Shelia Connolly, but thought the series title and location was interesting. I had traveled in County Cork a bit and I always like to read titles with a good 'sense of place'. It was obvious from Shelia's notes and the descriptions in her book that she had done some research and traveling before she began her mystery series, a County Cork mystery.I read both mysteries in her series, Buried in a bog and Scandal in Skibereen. I did enjoy the characters and the descriptions of various people and places in Cork. I liked the interweaving of genealogy and family histories into the plot. The plot seemed a bit 'light' at first, but did fit the characters and place and family history theme. I finished both mysteries hoping for more to be written.The series also renewed my interest in genealogy and another trip to Ireland!
    • 5/5
      I have enjoyed Sheila Connolly's Orchard series and was hoping this series was as good. Not only is it as good but I really loved this first in a series. Maura made a promise to her Grandmother that she would go to County Cork in Ireland to visit the land that Gran left behind. Maura wasn't sure she could every keep that promise but found money that her Gran had left for her, so she goes to Leap, to visit with Mrs. Nolan a contemporary of her Gran. She is hoping to meet a relative or two because for most of her life it has been just her and Gran.What Maura finds is a web of relations, close and shirt-tail that will keep her learning her complicated family tree for years to come. There is a great Pub, a host of people to get to know and a mysterious body found in a bog that somehow links with Maura.I'm planning on getting the next in this series, ASAP!
    • 5/5
      To be completely honest, I was surprised by just how much I enjoyed this book. Buried in a Bog has an unexpected depth that warmed the cockles of my heart and has me wanting to pick up the next book in the County Cork series as fast as I can. It relies on a strong sense of place, and Connolly delivers. I truly got the sense of village life in Ireland, of how the people interact, and even of some of the history-- such as how children are traditionally named-- and absolutely none of this is conveyed with a phony Irish brogue.We discover all this along with Maura-- a young woman whose life has been circumscribed by love, loyalty, and lack of funds. Being raised by her grandmother, Maura had no chance (and no inclination) to go to college. She's worked hard and lived in the tough neighborhoods of South Boston her entire life and has seldom gone more than a few miles outside the area. This trip to honor her grandmother is momentous on many levels. A different country, different customs, different laws, strange people, learning to drive a manual transmission car on the "wrong" side of the road... we experience all this with her. What's so marvelous about it is that Maura doesn't expect things to be just like they are in the United States.Maura isn't the easiest character to grow to like. Living in an impoverished area and working a series of dead-end jobs has left her suspicious of strangers and their motives, which means she often starts off on the wrong foot with the villagers of Leap. She can also be a bit of a whiner, and at other times she can be kind and compassionate. I grew to like her as I learned more about her-- and I didn't think I would because Maura and I have some glaring differences!To add to the strong sense of place and a very interesting main character, there is a cast of secondary characters that I can see taking turns in the spotlight. The icing on the cake is a well-plotted mystery that kept me guessing all the way through. Yes indeed, I can strongly recommend Buried in a Bog, and I can't wait to get to book two in this series!
    • 4/5
      Fun, light reading!
    • 5/5
      Maura Donovan goes to Cork County, Ireland as a last request of her grandmother. Her gran wanted her to learn about her family and the history of t he town where gran grew up.At the town, much of the activity is surrounding Sullivan's Pub whose elderly owner recently died. When the two managers meet Maura they ask her if she'd help at the pub until ownership was determined.She meets many local inhabitants and learns about her family. She also finds a letter from a man in Australia looking for info on his family and an uncle who died many years ago.At this time, police found a body in a bog. The body had been there for years. Maura thinks this might be the missing uncle from the letter writer. As she is bringing the letter to the police, a car runs her off the road. She is also threatened in another manner and thinks she is being stalked.A man is murdered in the next town and people come to Sullivan's to learn the latest gossip and socialize. In this manner Maura learns more of the people.She has a wonderful relationship with an elderly woman who her gran used to write to and learns about her own family and possible relatives.The author has an interest in genealogy and has written an excellent novel with characters who jump off the page in their realism.
    • 5/5
      Buried In A bog is the first book in the A County Cork Mystery series by Sheila Connolly.

      Sheila Connolly is a wonderful story teller and this is an excellent example of her talent.

      Maura Donovan's gran has recently passed and Gran's last request was for Maura's promise to visit the small community of Leap in County Cork. Maura has never been out of Boston is her 20 some years but is off to Ireland to fulfill her Gran's dying wish.

      Maura arrives at Sullivan's Pub where she is to meet Bridget Nolan, an old friend of Gran's. Needless to say, there is a big culture difference for Maura. To borrow a line from a TV show set in a bar in Boston, everyone seems to know her name and her family, going back several generations. The next day she visits with Bridget for a little while. Upon leaving from her visit, Maura is told by Bridget's grandson that she wants Maura to use her car while she is visiting.

      As she is driving back to the village, she notices some police activity near a bog and soon learns that a body has been discovered. Returning to the village, Maura stop by Sullivan's and business is rather brisk. Since she had bartended, she offers to give Rose, the barmaid a hand serving the customers, which in return becomes a job for as long as she decides to stay in Leap. In the process of cleaning up the pub, Maura finds a letter to Old Mick seeking information about the McCarthy's in the area. The writer of the letter had an uncle go missing in the 1930's. Maura thinks it might be the man found in the bog, but with so many McCarthy's in the area, the locals don't give it second thought.

      When another murder happens and then someone attempts to push her car off the road and verbal threats, Maura is beside herself. Soon these things become clearer to her and she is able to present to the police a possible scenario to the police.

      Connolly present the reader with well plotted story, interesting character and little history and understanding of Ireland.
    • 4/5
      This debut mystery finds Maura Donovan heading to County Cork, Ireland to honor one of her grandma's wishes that she visit the land where her grandmother was born and reared. As she begins visiting persons who may have known her grandmother, she drives by a scene and discovers that a bog body has been found. When it was determined to be under 100 years old, Maura, who has begun working at the local pub, discovers a possible identity for the corpse. There really isn't a whole lot of mystery to this first installment, but I loved the setting and characters. I had recently purchased a Michelin road map of Ireland at the used bookstore for a quarter and used it as I was reading the book to follow Maura along in her adventures in County Cork. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more in this series and am hoping that Maura becomes a bit more involved in sleuthing in future installments. I am glad that the author found a legitimate reason for Maura to remain in Ireland because the setting is quite unique compared to other books in the cozy genre.
    • 3/5
      After her grandmother's death, Maura Donovan makes a pilgrimage to the Irish village her grandmother left after the death of Maura's grandfather. Her grandmother never told Maura much about her past, but she had kept in contact with relatives and friends back in Ireland. Maura finds it disconcerting that these strangers know so much about her. Soon after Maura's arrival, a body is discovered in a bog near the village. Coincidentally, Maura makes a discovery that could help to identify the body. Then someone begins following Maura. Is this person just trying to scare her, or is her life in danger?Maura doesn't actually do much sleuthing in this book. It seemed more like a contemporary romance – but without a lot of romance – than a cozy mystery. However, I think the primary purpose of this book is to set up the rest of the series. There's a good explanation for Maura's return to Ireland, and a good reason for her to stay there at the conclusion of the story. The author is familiar with the setting from her own family history. My favorite cozy mystery series are as much about the characters and setting as about the challenge of solving a puzzle, so I didn't mind the lack of a real investigation too much. I'll look forward to reading the next book in this series, although I do hope that it will have a stronger mystery component since the setting and characters have already been established. The village setting and the main character's immigrant status remind me of Elizabeth J. Duncan's Penny Brannigan mysteries. Duncan's readers might want to give this series a try.
    • 5/5
      In Connolly’s mystery novel, Maura Donovan honors her grandmother’s last wish and travels to Ireland. What started out as a short visit turns into an opportunity to become better acquainted with the family her grandmother left behind years ago when she moved to Boston. The locals are friendly and eager to know her but what she never expected was to be involved in a murder investigation and acquire a job all in the same week!A promising new mystery series I thoroughly enjoyed. I can’t wait for the next book and a chance to spend more time with Maura in Ireland.
    • 3/5
      Amid a search of my Irish genealogy, Buried in a Bog (A County Cork Mystery) came up as suggested resource. Strange as it may sound, the book was extremely informative of the approximate area where my ancestors lived. The story is a thin veil for an Irish-American search for her family's past in Ireland. Thanks in part to Ancestry.com, I have located the area where my Irish ancestors hail and apparently not far from the protagonist, Maura's Ancestors. One of Maura's dying Grandmother was that Maura travel back to her family's homeland. Maura's future in her hometown of South Boston (blue collar neighbor gone Yuppie)was now null and void. Maura believed that granting her Grandmother's request would give her time to comtemplate her future plans but discovers that the small town of Leap has many secrets involving her ancestors.If you a lover of small town tales, a fast mystery read or an Irish American who would love to discover her family history, you will enjoy this book.
    • 5/5
      Maura Donovan heads to Ireland as part of her Gran's last wish before her death. Finally arriving in Leap at Sullivan's Pub, Maura is surprised by the familiar greetings upon her arrival, even being lodged in a family's home without a problem. A daily visit seems in order with her Gran's old friend, Bridget Nolan, a little cleaning up in the pub and before long, Maura has extended her return ticket. The news of a body being dredged up in a nearby bog flies through town via the visitors to the pub and Maura finds herself being targeted as someone who knows too much. This was a great read. Connolly has returned to the cozy mystery's roots--that small town feel with a protagonist who is both smart and likable, surrounded by a cast of great secondary characters. There is a bit of Irish history to learn and the pacing of the mystery matches the pace of life in this small corner of Ireland.