Audiobook Review: Death of an Irish Druid by Catie Murphy

Death of an Irish Druid
Author: Catie Murphy
Narrator: Ruth Urquhart
Series: The Dublin Driver Mysteries (Book 6)
Publication: Tantor Media (January 21, 2025)
Length: 6 hours and 43 minutes

Description: Featuring the humor and charm of Ireland, a compelling whodunit, a sleuthing American expat, and Jack Russell Terrier puppies, the latest book in the Dublin Driver cozy mystery series is perfect for fans of Carlene O'Connor!

Megan is excited to show her visiting American friends the best of Ireland. A dead body in a holy well, however, was not on her list. The victim is Seamus Nolan, nicknamed "the Irish Druid" for his controversial efforts to rewild his country estate. The local police seem all-too-willing to write off his death as an accident. But Megan's instincts say not so fast.

Megan knows that sleuthing cost her her last girlfriend. Maybe solving another murder will help her make peace with that. And she's even more determined to figure out whodunnit when she learns that an antiquated law may pass the estate on to Nolan's land-grabbing, sell-out uncle instead of his beloved daughter.

But then, with Nolan out of the picture, a rival conservationist's bid for a major grant is uncontested. And as more suspects crop up, so does a toxic surprise on the estate, throwing everyone's plans, and Nolan's reputation, into jeopardy. Now Megan will have to unearth a killer with a dirty secret.

My Thoughts: Megan Malone has taken a couple weeks off as a limousine driver in order to show her friends Rafe and his wife around Ireland. Her first stop for them is Bridget's Well which is a site known for helping women get pregnant. The pair wants to have a baby and hasn't been able to get pregnant.

Megan discovers the body of a man in the well. It turns out to be Seamus Nolan who has been nicknamed the Irish Druid. He's a large landowner who is determined to rewild his country estate. Naturally, she calls the police but is unable to call her favorite policeman since he's off with his girlfriend as she shoots a movie in the Middle East. 

The local policeman is too quick, in Megan's opinion, to call the death an accident despite the fact that his bicycle has gone missing. Megan gets involved in the mystery when she befriends Nolan's teenaged daughter who needs help coping with everything surrounding the death. 

From a great-uncle who wants to sell off the land immediately to a mother who is wondering what's in the will for her and problems with just who is the one who stands to inherit the estate, the young woman has a lot of problems to solve. She's also like to know if her father's death was murder or the accident the police claim.

All the while, Megan is also still dealing with the loss of the girlfriend who just couldn't take being involved in one more murder investigation. 

This was another entertaining mystery filled with interesting characters. 

I bought this one April 8. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies by Kate Westbury

The Oxford Guide to Scandal & Lies
Author: Kate Westbury
Series: The Oxford Guide Series (Book 1)
Publication: Minotaur (September 1, 2026)

Description: Set against the backdrop of post-WWII Oxford University, The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies is the irresistible debut from Kate Westbury that seamlessly layers mystery, romance, and a dash of academia to introduce the Crown’s newest undercover operatives.

Oxford, England, 1951 - The Honorable Ginevra Bishop likes red lipstick, clever retorts, and earning top marks in her tutorials. She’s following her mother’s footsteps by studying at Oxford, eager to prove she’s more than a debutante.

Sidney Braithwaite likes brooding, Latin, and ignoring his nightmares. He’s determined to forge a new life for himself at Oxford, far from his childhood mining village and free from memories of the war.

Though Gin and Sidney have little in common, the British Security Service is keen to unite her charm with his espionage experience: there’s a Soviet spy at the university, and the agent tracking them down was poisoned. MI5 wants Gin and Sidney to pick up the trail and identify the informant before more sensitive information is compromised. As a team, the pair of undergraduates clash in personality, upbringing, and taste––but have a connection neither can deny. Gin and Sidney must unite their respective talents to follow the clues before they’re caught in the traitor’s crosshairs…if the sparks flying between them don’t blow up the operation first.

My Thoughts: Ginevra Bishop is a student at Oxford in 1951. She's studying German since she's already fluent in some romance languages. She's an Honorable grieving the death of her mother and at odds with her father. Sidney Braithwaite is a former soldier from a small mining town in Wales. He worked in intelligence during World War II and still has the nightmares to go with it. 

Two people less likely to work together would be hard to find. But since they first met over a conflict of who has rights to a table in the library, they had been crossing paths. When Gin's favorite librarian dies at her feet at a gathering, she and Sidney are recruited by a branch of British Intelligence to look into who murdered him. Rumor has it that someone at the University is selling information to the Russians which might be a reason for the librarian's death by cyanide.

Sidney, who has been earning his way as a handyman to supplement his grant, isn't eager to get back into the intelligence game. Gin who wants to have a meaningful life and not marry the fribble her father has picked out for her is eager since she sees a positive future for herself in intelligence. 

The two clash as their varied experiences and personalities mean they look at their assignment in widely different ways. However, their varied skills do let them discover more than one secret buried at Oxford University but not before they find themselves in danger.

This was an engaging story with two well-drawn characters. I liked the Oxford setting and the 1951 time period. I enjoyed the mystery too.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (August 24, 2026)

 It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

Want to See What I Added to My Stack? links to Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality.

Other Than Reading...

I don't know where the week went. August is just zipping by. The temperatures are hovering in the mid-seventies. We had just a trace of rain and could use a lot more. I finished a couple of review books and listened to lots of audiobooks. 

Reading Turning Darkness into Light introduced me to Marie Brennan's work. So, when the first in the prequel to the book I read series went on sale at Amazon, I snapped it up. A couple of the others in the five-book series were also on sale. I bought those too. I added the other two books to my "Books I'm Waiting For" list at Amazon and I'm hoping they go on sale before I get to them in my reading. 

I spent time this week setting up my October (!) calendar on my blog and preparing the posts as much as I can before I've actually read the books. 

I read two review copies and added two new ones leaving my review stack at 44 books. I have reviews scheduled for the next three weeks and am sort of taking time off to listen to the In Death series again. I'm up to book 55 with book 64 being published September 5. I've already read a review copy of that one and loved it. 

My Next Week books contain a number in series that I've enjoyed. I should be more eager to read them than I actually am. The In Death books are more compelling. 

I have a friend coming to visit late next week. She'll arrive Thursday after work and leave Sunday afternoon. I'm eager to see her. We're listening to The Others series by Ann Bishop and I'm eager to do that too. Since my brother Bill doesn't have time off while my friend visits, we'll have lots of chances to visit restaurants which is always fun.

Read Last Week

• The Pumpkin Vice Cafe by Ellie Alexander (Review, September 29) -- 23rd in the Bakeshop Mysteries. My review will be posted on September 22.
• Murder on the Sacred River by Tasha Alexander (Review, September 22) -- 20th in the Lady Emily historical mysteries. My review will be posted on September 15.

• Turning Darkness into Light by Marie Brennan (Audiobook, Mine since August 16) -- Epistolary novel in the Lady Trent Universe. Great worldbuilding. My review will be posted on September 18.
• Abandoned in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook reread)
• Forgotten in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook reread)

• Faithless in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook reread)
• Naked in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook reread)

Currently

• The Dying Light by Ann Cleeves (Review, September 29) 
• Desperation in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook reread)

Next Week

• Cursed City by Kate Golden (Review, September 29)
• The Velvet Knife by Maureen Johnson (Review, September 29)
• Murder on Threadneedle Street by Andrea Penrose (Review, September 29)

• The Fey Duology by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Kindle, Mine since July 1)
• The Vanished Sister by Sherry Thomas (Review, September 29)
• Where There's Smoke by Rachel Louise Adams (Review, October 6)

Reviews Posted

• The Ruling Class by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Audiobook)
• The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Audiobook)
• You Can Tell Me by Melinda Leigh (Audiobook)

• Make It Out Alive by Marie Brennan (Audiobook)
• And the Crowd Went Wild by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (Audiobook)
• The Bravest Hour by Anna Lee Huber (Review copy)

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

Review:

• The Last Mission to Paris by Susan Elia MacNeal (Review, January 19)
• Murder Most Cryptic by Alys Cummings (Review, February 16)

Bought:

• A Labyrinth of Drakes by Marie Brennan (Kindle, $3.99)
• Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan (Kindle, $3.99)
• A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan (Kindle, $2.99)

• Slightly Shady by Amanda Quick (Audiobook, $5.45)
• Turning Darkness into Light by Marie Brennan (Audiobook, Audible Credit)

What was your week like?

Audiobook Review: And the Crowd Went Wild by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

And the Crowd Went Wild
Author: Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Narrator: Kelli Tager
Series: Chicago Stars (Book 11)
Publication: Avon (February 10, 2026)

Length: 10 hours and 8 minutes

Description: From #1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Elizabeth Phillips, a romance between a star quarterback and one of the country’s most beautiful—and misunderstood—actresses.

After a mortifying—and very public—humiliation, Dancy Flynn is desperate to find sanctuary far from the crowd. But where can a washed-up sex symbol hide? How about making an unannounced appearance at the secluded lake house of the sweet, sensitive high school boyfriend she hasn’t seen in almost twenty years?

But Chicago Stars quarterback Clint Garrett is no longer the kid Dancy remembers. Now he’s a gridiron superhero, still holding a massive grudge against her for breaking his teenage heart. With no room in his life for either complexity or distractions, he banishes Dancy to a refurbished old railroad caboose tucked away in the woods…and out of his sight.

Except Dancy’s not good at staying invisible. Her efforts to rebuild her career clash with Clint’s desperation to regain his focus, all made more challenging by a rescue dog, a local woman in trouble, a meddling mother, an ex with an agenda…and the sizzle of rekindled emotions.

As Dancy attempts to get her life on track and Clint tries to get his groove back, can these two one-time lovers navigate their rocky pasts and complicated present to find themselves…and each other?

My Thoughts: Actress Dancy Flynn is in a bad place. She's recently divorced from superstar Roth Hardy who left her for a younger woman who is now pregnant. Dancy had wanted children. Roth had not. Once divorced, she visited a sperm bank to have a child of her own. A miscarriage at ten weeks was just about the final straw.

After meeting in a disastrous encounter at a gala in Chicago, Dancy flees to Wisconsin and to the home of her first boyfriend. Clint Garrett is the Chicago Stars quarterback who is still holding a grudge against Dancy for breaking his heart while they were in high school. 

Garrett does let Dancy stay, but only in the railroad caboose he's restoring on the edge of his property. Dancy adopts a dog she names Watch from the dog in The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warren. She didn't want a dog but couldn't abandon the already once abandoned mutt. 

When the ex arrives offering her a meaty role in his next movie and needing her help with getting into his role, Dancy thinks things are finally looking up for her. But she faces another heartbreak when he leaves after she gets him ready for the part and selects another actress to play the role Dancy had assumed was hers. 

And while all of this is going on, Dancy and Clint are becoming friends again even though Clint is suffering his own career issues. 

This was an engaging and excellent story of resilience and second chances for both careers and for love. I really liked it. 

I bought this one June 14. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Long Game
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Narrator: Cassandra Morris
Series: The Fixer (Book 2)
Publication: Audible Studios (August 2, 2016)
Length: 10 hours and 10 minutes

Description: For Tess Kendrick, a junior at the elite Hardwicke School in Washington, DC, fixing runs in the family. But Tess has another legacy, too, one that involves power and the making of political dynasties.

When Tess is asked to run a classmate's campaign for student council, she agrees. But when the candidates are children of politicians, even a high school election can involve life-shattering secrets. Meanwhile, Tess' guardian has also taken on an impossible case, as a terrorist attack calls into doubt who can - and cannot - be trusted on Capitol Hill.

Tess knows better than most that power is currency in Washington, but she's about to discover firsthand that power always comes with a price.

Perfect for fans of Harlan Coben and Ally Carter, the second audiobook in this thrilling series will leave listeners breathless.

My Thoughts: I loved this book. It is a fast-paced thriller with murder, intrigue, and betrayal primarily set in an exclusive private school in Washington DC. Tess Kendrick is a fixer like her mother. She has a talent for solving problems and her school provides her with lots of opportunities. Drafted into the campaign for student council president that one of her friends is mounting, Tess has to deal with the behavior of another of the candidates who thinks it is okay to post compromising pictures of her candidate to social media. Things get more complicated when the rival candidate is murdered and one of Tess's friends is the prime suspect. 

Meanwhile, her mother Ivy is dealing with a terrorist who happens to be the lover of one of the president's sons and an assassination attempt on the president. Strangely enough, the two cases are both parts of a bigger conspiracy.

I like Tess who is bright and loyal. I can see her working on her relationship with her mother who had left her with her grandparents to be raised while she pursued her dangerous career in Washington DC. Tess grew up believing that her mother was her older sister. She is having trouble getting over the lies and the abandonment. She is also forging a relationship with her grandfather who is a Washington kingmaker and her mother's rival. 

The writing was compelling and the story was filled with tension.

I bought this one July 13. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Make It Out Alive by Allison Brennan

Make It Out Alive
Author: Allison Brennan
Narrator: Suzanne T. Forlin
Series: Quinn & Costa Thrillers (Book 7)
Publication: Hanover Square Press & Harlequin Audio (January 27, 2026)
Length: 11 hours and 57 minutes

Description: Allison Brennan returns to her bestselling series with an edge-of-your-seat thriller that thrusts Quinn and Costa into the crosshairs of a sadistic serial killer.

Three newlywed couples have disappeared from an exclusive resort in Florida, only to turn up dead soon after. With the location and the similarities between the female victims as their only leads, it’s up to the FBI Mobile Response Team to catch a serial killer before anyone else ends up dead. And they have the perfect bait—Detective Kara Quinn, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the targeted women.

Undercover as newlyweds pretending to enjoy their honeymoon, Kara and FBI Agent Matt Costa set a flawless trap. When their plan works and they arrest the predator, Matt sends the rest of the team home so he and Kara can have the weekend for some much-needed R&R. But on Monday morning, the couple doesn’t show up to work, and the MRT learns they never checked out of their hotel.

As their team tries to find them, Matt and Kara learn the truth—the killer wasn’t acting alone. He had a partner who succeeded where he failed. Kidnapped and forced into a twisted escape room, they need to find a way out, because if they don’t escape, they’ll die.

My Thoughts: Quinn and Costa have been posing as newlyweds in order to catch the killer who has kidnapped and murdered three previous couples at the same resort. Their ploy works and they capture Garrett Reid when he attempts to drug and kidnap them. 

Having a suspect under arrest, Matt sends the rest of the team home so that he and Kara can have a nice, quiet weekend at the resort. But when they don't show up for meeting on Monday, it soon becomes apparent that Reid was working with a partner, a partner who has now kidnapped Matt and Kara.

As the team works to uncover what happened to them, Kara and Matt find themselves in an abandoned and boobytrapped factory in Georgia needing to find a way to make it out alive. Meanwhile, Catherine is trying to figure out why her profile was so far off and how the team can find the partner and Matt and Kara.

This was an exciting episode in the series. It was packed with tension and vividly described scenes when our heroes were in danger. I liked the way Matt and Kara's relationship is growing. I also liked the way the team all works together to unravel the clues to save Matt and Kara. I did wonder though why Catherine, the profiler, became the team leader after Matt's disappearance rather than Michael who had the law enforcement background.

I bought this one June 14. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: You Can Tell Me by Melinda Leigh

You Can Tell Me
Author: Melinda Leigh

Narrator: Mandy Figueroa
Series: Olivia Cruz (Book 1)
Publication: Brilliance Audio (May 12, 2026)
Length: 10 hours and 52 minutes

Description: Crime writer Olivia Cruz is drawn into the dark secrets of a missing friend in a terrifying novel of suspense by #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.

On the three-year anniversary of true crime writer Olivia Cruz’s horrific kidnapping, she’s scheduled to walk her podcaster friend Zoe March through the crime scene, but Zoe fails to show. Olivia knows Zoe would never stand her up—not today.

Zoe’s husband, who claims she never came home the night before, has reported her missing. But marital conflicts make the police suspect she has left him. Olivia thinks otherwise. The police aren’t looking for Zoe, so Olivia begins her own investigation. Retracing her friend’s last steps, she finds Zoe’s phone and a text with one chilling word: Run.

It soon becomes apparent that Zoe has been keeping secrets, and with her true crime podcast, there’s no telling what she has unearthed. To find her, Olivia must dig into her friend’s past. Did Zoe vanish to escape a killer, and is Olivia walking into a deadly trap?

My Thoughts: Olivia Cruz is finally ready to talk about the horrific kidnapping that changed her life three years earlier. She is scheduled to meet with her friend and podcaster Zoe to walk her through what happened. However, when she arrives at the site, Zoe is not there. 

Olivia meets with Zoe's husband who is very concerned and she meets with Zoe's podcast producer who is not. With the police not considering Zoe missing since a woman has a right to leave her husband and life, Olivia with her boyfriend Lincoln Sharpe and her niece Nikki begin their own investigation. 

It soon becomes apparent to Olivia that she really doesn't know very much about her friend's past or her secrets. Her husband Dylan Sanders is also keeping secrets including that his marriage with Zoe is having major problems. 

Each secret they uncover puts them all in more danger in this exciting thriller. I really enjoyed the tension in this one. I liked learning more about characters who have appeared as side characters in earlier books by the author. Knowing about those characters isn't necessary. The book stands alone perfectly well. 

I bought this one May 20. You can buy your copy here.