CHRISTINE TIPPER
Author • Storyteller • Mystery Lover
Week of 27 April 2026
Hello, lovely readers!
Spring is properly here now, and I don’t know about you, but I always find this time of year puts me in the mood for a good cosy mystery. There’s something about the longer evenings and the first warm cups of tea taken outside that makes me want to curl up with a book full of quirky characters, charming villages, and just the right amount of peril. Sprite, my loyal writing companion, has been making the most of the garden — terriers and fresh air are a winning combination — and I’ve been making the most of some wonderful new reading.
This week, I want to take you on a little trip across the Irish Sea. Ireland has always held a special place in my heart, and the cosy mystery scene coming out of the Emerald Isle right now is absolutely thriving. So grab your favourite mug, settle in, and let me introduce you to two Irish treats that deserve a spot on your reading list.
Featured Author
Lucy Connelly
The Mercy McCarthy Mysteries
If you haven’t yet discovered Lucy Connelly, you are in for a real treat. Lucy writes under this pen name (she also writes as Candace Havens), and her Mercy McCarthy Mystery series is the kind of reading that makes you want to pack a suitcase for the west coast of Ireland — even if your only means of transport is your imagination and a well-stocked Kindle.
The series is set in the fictional village of Shamrock Cove, where Mercy and her twin sister Lizzie have inherited a charming antique bookshop from their grandfather. Mercy is a crime writer herself, a coffee lover, and the kind of protagonist you’d want as your next-door neighbour — unless, of course, you happened to be a murderer, in which case she’d be the last person you’d want poking around. Right from the first book, An Irish Bookshop Murder, Mercy finds herself at the centre of village intrigue when a neighbour drops dead on his own doorstep and, with his final breath, accuses her of the deed. Nothing like a good wrongful accusation to get the sleuthing started!
One of the things I particularly love about this series is Mercy’s relationship with the local detective, Kieran. It’s built on trust and mutual respect, and it develops naturally across the books — no forced dramatics, just a genuine partnership that grows warmer with each instalment. There’s also Mr. Poe, Mercy’s dog, who is apparently inspired by Lucy’s own real-life pet. Any series that gives a dog a meaningful role in the proceedings is a series after my own heart. (Sprite would approve, naturally.)
The series now runs to five published books, with a sixth on the way later this year. Here’s the reading order if you want to start from the beginning:
1. An Irish Bookshop Murder (2024)
2. Death by the Book (2024)
3. Death at Inishmore Castle (2025)
4. Murder on the Clock (2025)
5. A Body at the Irish Book Club (2026)
6. A Body at the Bakery (coming November 2026)
What makes Lucy’s writing stand out in the cosy mystery world? For me, it’s the sense of place. Shamrock Cove feels real — you can almost smell the sea air and the fresh scones. The mysteries themselves are well-plotted and satisfyingly twisty, but never so dark that they spoil the warmth of the setting. And there are running storylines threaded through the background of the series that reward readers who follow from the start, even though each book works perfectly well as a standalone.
Lucy is also the author of the Scottish Isle Mystery series (written under her Candace Havens name), and she’s recently announced a new Welsh Village Mystery series as well. If you love cosies set in the British Isles, this is a writer who clearly shares that passion and writes with genuine warmth and a sharp eye for a good puzzle. Her readers are devoted — retired librarians, lifelong mystery fans, and everyone in between — and there’s a lovely community building around her books.
I’d recommend starting with An Irish Bookshop Murder and letting yourself be swept along. You’ll be through all five before you know it.
Book of the Week
A Plot to Die For
by Ardal O’Hanlon • Published 7 May 2026 • Simon & Schuster
Staying with the Irish theme this week, my Book of the Week pick is one I am genuinely excited about: A Plot to Die For by Ardal O’Hanlon. Yes, that Ardal O’Hanlon — Father Dougal from Father Ted, star of Death in Paradise and Derry Girls, and one of Ireland’s best-loved comedians. But don’t let the celebrity name fool you into any snobbery. Ardal is a serious and accomplished writer with two previous novels under his belt, including the acclaimed The Talk of the Town, which was featured in the reference guide 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die.
A Plot to Die For is the first in a planned mystery series — called the Blooming Murder Mysteries — and it introduces us to Finn O’Leary, a celebrity gardener with his own TV show in London. Finn has returned to his Irish hometown of Abbeyford to care for his ageing mother, nursing a broken heart after the end of his marriage. He’s barely unpacked before the locals rope him onto the Tidy Towns committee — a competition that, as anyone who knows Ireland will tell you, is taken with deadly seriousness. And then, at his mother’s choir practice, one of the singers drops dead mid-song. Suddenly Finn, along with his mother, her Nigerian carer Happiness, and a local teacher called Aoife, finds himself at the heart of a murder investigation in a town full of secrets.
What I find most appealing about this book is the tone. Ardal brings his comedian’s instinct for timing and absurdity, but wraps it around a properly constructed mystery with real emotional depth. The early reviews have been glowing, with critics praising the way he blends light comic touches with keen observations on contemporary small-town Irish life. It sounds like the perfect marriage of cosy crime warmth and intelligent wit — exactly the kind of thing that, as a fellow cosy mystery writer, I find both inspiring and thoroughly enjoyable to read.
The book is published on 7 May, so you can pre-order now. I’d say this is one to watch — and I wouldn’t be surprised if Finn O’Leary becomes a firm favourite with cosy mystery readers everywhere.
From My Writing Desk
What I’ve Been Up To
On the home front, work on my new series is coming along nicely. I can’t say too much just yet (a mystery writer has to keep some secrets), but I will say that the process of building a new world and new characters from scratch is both thrilling and slightly terrifying in equal measure. After five books with Paige Harper and the ever-faithful Sprite, stepping into fresh territory feels a bit like moving to a new village — exciting, unfamiliar, and full of possibility.
Speaking of Paige, I know many of you have asked about the Paige Harper Mysteries and whether there might be more to come. I love that these characters and stories still mean so much to so many of you. For now, the five-book series stands complete, but never say never in the world of cosy crime. Paige and Sprite have a way of nudging their way back into my thoughts when I least expect it.
If you’re new here and haven’t yet met Paige, her Norfolk Terrier Sprite, or the rest of the gang, you can find all five books on my website. There’s nothing quite like a completed series to binge-read on a spring weekend.
The Cosy Corner
Why Ireland Does Cosy Crime So Well
It struck me this week, while putting this blog together, just how naturally Ireland lends itself to cosy mystery fiction. It’s a country built on storytelling, where every village has its characters and its secrets, where the landscape is dramatic enough to provide atmosphere without needing to resort to anything too grim, and where humour runs through everything like a seam of gold through rock. The tradition of the Irish local pub, the village fete, the community event where everyone knows everyone — these are the building blocks of great cosy crime.
Both Lucy Connelly and Ardal O’Hanlon tap into this beautifully in their own ways. Lucy’s Shamrock Cove feels like a place you’d want to live (murders notwithstanding), and Ardal’s Abbeyford captures the particular intensity of small-town rivalries and the warmth that sits alongside them. If you’re a reader who loves setting as much as story, Irish cosies are well worth exploring.
I’d love to hear from you — are there other Irish cosy mysteries you’ve enjoyed? Drop me a message through my website. I’m always on the lookout for recommendations, and I suspect many of your fellow readers are too.
Thank you so much for reading this week. Whether you’re deep into a Mercy McCarthy marathon or eagerly awaiting Finn O’Leary’s debut, I hope there’s something here to add to your reading pile. Until next time —
Let the adventures continue.
Christine x
Author of The Paige Harper Mysteries