No Strangers Here: A Riveting Irish Thriller (A County Kerry Novel Book 1)

4.3 | 2,652 ratings

Price: 9.99

Last update: 08-18-2024

About this item

Readers of Tana French, Lucy Foley, and Dervla McTiernan will be spellbound by the USA Today bestselling author’s unsettling, atmospheric suspense novel set in Ireland’s rugged countryside. Combining an eerie and atmospheric backdrop with compulsively taut plotting, a twisty mystery unfolds as an Irish veterinarian contends with life, death, and the fatal secrets at the heart of her small oceanside community...

BookBub Best Mysteries and Thrillers of Fall

On a rocky beach in the southwest of Ireland, the body of a wealthy racehorse owner Johnny O’Reilly has been discovered. In a town like Dingle, everyone knows a little something about everyone else. But dig a bit deeper, and there’s always much more to find. And when Detective Inspector Cormac O'Brien is dispatched out of Killarney to lead the murder inquiry, he's determined to unearth every last buried secret.

Dimpna Wilde hasn’t been home in years. But faced with a triple bombshell—her mother is rumored to have been in a relationship with Johnny, her father’s dementia is escalating, and her brother is avoiding her calls—Dimpna moves back to Dingle to clear her family of suspicion. And as she takes over the family practice, she finds herself in a race with the detective inspector to uncover the dark, twisting truth behind murder, no matter how close to home it strikes...

“Compelling... this is the best of O’Connor’s Irish mysteries to date.”—Kirkus STARRED REVIEW

FICTION, MYSTERY & DETECTIVE, INTERNATIONAL MYSTERY & CRIME

Top reviews from the United States

Laurie A. Isenberg

compelling read

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2024

The twists and turns never stop and it’s a book you can’t put down. An excellent mystery that takes place in beautiful Ireland.

M. Bennett

Great story

Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2023

Dr. Dimpna Wilde, veterinarian, left her hometown, Dingle, ages ago to raise her son and didn’t have plans to return. Then she receives a phone call about a possible murder and that her parents are the suspects. On top of that, she finds out her father has dementia. With her son grown and off on vacation and still mourning her husband’s suicide, Dimpna heads back to Dingle to clear her family’s name. Though that may be harder than she thought.
The story has a vast array of characters and at first it was hard to keep them all separate but it didn’t take long to settle down and become acquainted with each one. This is definitely a strong suit in the book. You come to love or despise them. Also, there are the secrets that are shed throughout the story. In a small town where everyone knew everybody, very little knew of the secrets each one held. Before you know it, things come to a head and the whole mess boils over.
I enjoyed the tale a lot and was entertained until the end. I was quite excited to see a mystery/thriller surrounded by the veterinary field. This just happens to be the profession I always wanted but never made it in to. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t more happening with working with the animals. There was an occasion here and there but it was mostly about the medication in the vet field. Still, there’s hope that the next book will add more of that into it.

Avonna

Highly Recommend!

Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2023

NO STRANGERS HERE (County Kerry Mystery Book #1) by Carlene O’Connor is an intricately plotted and captivating murder mystery/police procedural set in County Kerry, Ireland. This is the first book in a new series from a new-to-me author that kept me completely immersed in the story.

Detective Inspector Cormac O’Brien is dispatched from Killarney to head the murder investigation of a prominent and wealthy landowner, Jimmy O’Reilly. In Dingle, everyone knows something about everyone and there are secrets that have been kept for decades. DI O’Brien is determined to unearth all of them to catch a murderer.

Veterinarian Dimpna Wilde has lost everything she built in Dublin through no fault of her own. Even though she has not been home to Dingle in decades, she returns home to decide what she will do with her life now. She is shocked when she returns to find her family are the prime suspects in the O’Reilly murder. Dimpna is determined to clear her family members, but her return is digging up secrets from her own past and the terrible secrets that made her leave Dingle. Besides dealing with old friends and enemies, she has a very astute DI uncovering dark secrets right along with her.

This is a fantastic murder mystery story with realistic characters, a twisted plot with not only a murder, but also decades of secrets filled with lies, theft, extortion, greed and sexual assault all set in the scenic and beautiful coastal tourist town of Dingle in Ireland. Ms. O’Connor brought it all to life for me while I was also trying to uncover the clues to a murderer. The plot weaves effortlessly between the present and Dimpna’s revelations throughout the story of her past and her present with plenty of plot twists and red herrings that continually had me guessing. I am anxiously looking forward to the next book in this series to see how all the characters land and go forward since the resolution of this murder case.

I highly recommend this exceptional murder mystery/police procedural set in Ireland and I am very glad it is going to be a series!

Mimi

Wowza!

Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2024

Excellent writing and keeps you guessing until the end! Enjoyed having a little background of several characters, not just the main ones.
4 stars but too many f-bombs.

Mtlnative

Surprisingly good!

Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2023

I’ve read so many cozies that were poorly written with what used to be called “purple prose”: too many adjectives, characters that are too “cute”…. If you’ve ever been turned off by a cozy, you’ll understand what I mean. So I wondered if this would be like it.
Happily, it isn’t. This is a great story, true to what I encountered in Ireland, the quirkiness, the darkness, the uniqueness of their small towns, the sea and the mountains. Although this story, about a man whose body is found on a beach, the name of a long-dead racehorse etched beside him, whose death brings a haunted vet back from her refuge in Dublin to her hometown of Dingle, this story is very, very good. It’s a thriller, has a bit of romance, and it’s also a story that will give you a taste of Ireland and perhaps make you want to take a trip over, to see the Valley of the Mad (it’s real, you can see photos of it if you Google) and to listen to trad music.

Wichita Falls Gal

keep guessing

Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2024

The twists and turns kept me guessing throughout the unfolding drama. Great murder mystery and the characters are quite interesting.

Mich

Good read

Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2024

Excellent well written story

Colorado Cowgirl

Mixed feelings

Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2024

I have enjoyed the Constable Siobhan series of cozy mysteries by Carlene, even though I don't prefer cozies. The new series of more intense and serious mysteries is very different. I have mixed feelings about this book and it is a bit of a mess. It starts with a murder but the first half of the book puts the murder on the back burner and focuses on the veterinarians and their family and friends, who have tangled relationships. These characters are good and well fleshed-out but I found myself wanting to get on with the murder investigation which was rather weak. The character of DI Cormac was not very well developed and he remains a mystery. There were lots of suspects and many links to past events here. There was a rich family that you will love to hate. I am not sure whether I will continue with this series

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