ARC Review: Murder at Greysbridge by Andrea Carter

Murder at Greysbridge
Author: Andrea Carter
Series: Inishowen Mystery (Book 4)
Publication: Oceanview Publishing (November 2, 2021)

Description: Summer has arrived in Inishowen and solicitor Benedicta (Ben) O'Keeffe is greatly tempted by a job offer from a law firm in America. Yet before making any life-changing decisions, there is her assistant Leah's wedding to attend at the newly restored Greysbridge Hotel—with its private beach and beautiful pier.

The perfect location—but the festivities are brutally cut short when a young American, a visitor also staying at the hotel, drowns in full view of the wedding guests. And when a second death is discovered the same evening, Ben finds herself embroiled in a real country-house-murder-mystery, where all the guests are suspects.

Sergeant Tom Molloy’s appearance to investigate throws Ben into turmoil, especially when the pursuit of two runaways leads the pair to an island off the Donegal coast, where a violent storm traps them together, completely cut off from the mainland.

A deadly conspiracy is unfolding on this tiny North Atlantic island—fueled by the ruthless pursuit of money—careening toward disaster for the inhabitants—and for Ben.

My Thoughts: Solicitor Ben O'Keefe is off to her office assistant's wedding at a country home turned into a boutique hotel. Ben did the legal work for the owners. She is planning to meet her new potential boyfriend there too.

When she and her friend Maeve arrive, neither is impressed with the building or the atmosphere. There's a strange bridge linking two parts of the house. There is also a ghost story attached. According to the story, a young woman starved to death and haunts the place. And Ben is given Lady Louisa's room. 

The place is filled with guests for the wedding. Except there are two holdovers; one is a young pre-med student on a solo bike tour of the country; the other is a man who is enthusiastic about the family history and eager to have her movie producer son make a film of the story he has discovered. Also, the groom's family lives on a nearby island and are staying on their boats.

The wedding goes off well, but the reception is marred by the drowning death of the young pre-med student. Ben's significant other is a doctor who manages to pull him from the water but isn't able to get him breathing again.

When the police arrive, they are accompanied by Sergeant Tom Molloy who had a close relationship with Ben until he ghosted her. Now he's back and investigating the death which might fit into the case that he disappeared to investigate. Things escalate when the man intrigued with the family history is also found dead. He apparently died of poison. 

As Ben and Molloy investigate, they learn a lot of family secrets about the former owners of the house and also about the island where the groom's relatives live. There was a lot of action and smaller mysteries surrounding the larger one of the poisoning deaths. This is the fourth book in a series and has quite a few characters I'm assuming were introduced in earlier books. However, it does stand alone well. 

Favorite Quote:

"Are you all right?" I asked. "You look as if you've had a shock."

She closed to door quietly, her voice hushed. "Have you had anything weird happen while you've been here?"

Uh-oh, I thought. Not Maeve too. Sensible, scientific Maeve the vet. "Like what?"

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