This book was twisty and entertaining! The mystery was well done and thought out. Plus who doesn't love an irish castle setting?! Loved this book!

I love this series! The location is fabulous and I want to live on the court. Shamrock Cove is such a unique town and I want to spend tons of time in the bookstore owned by Mercy and Lizzie. Lizzie runs the bookstore while Mercy is a well-known writer of mystery novels. Of course Shamrock Cove has a detective inspector, Kieran, who plays a big role. What cozy mystery doesn't need one of those? If I'm being truthful, this book is four stars for me because I find Mercy to be somewhat irritating at times with her constant wreckless and impulsive actions. Makes her come across a bit immature. And I find a bit of a stretch that the detective keeps including her on his investigations when she consistently does what he tells her not to do. But her character is still very likable. I would like to see her twin sister Lizzie play a larger role. All the neighbors who live on the court and the local pub and other shops in Shamrock Cove make this such a great series and I hope it continues with many more books to come!

Suspense, Secrets, and Surprises: A Thrilling Return to the Mercy McCarthy Series

🔑 Locked-room mystery | ⚡ Intriguing | 🇮🇪 Ireland

Inishmore Castle is hosting a weekend of whiskey tasting and soda bread baking, but things take a dark turn when Mercy McCarthy discovers a dead body in the library. Father Brennen appears to have died from too much whiskey, but Mercy soon learns he wasn’t a priest at all. His mysterious search through old journals hints at something bigger—could the legend of a lost treasure be true? When another guest is found drowned, Mercy believes foul play is at work. With a storm approaching and guests growing more nervous, she begins to suspect everyone, from a strange nun to a nosy birdwatcher. As Mercy uncovers hidden passages in the castle, she’s closer to solving the case—if the killer doesn’t find her first.

Death at Inishmore Castle is the third book in the Mercy McCarthy Mystery series, and while each book can be enjoyed on its own, I highly recommend reading the first two before diving into this one. The background stories of Mercy and her sister Lizzie are revealed much later in this installment, and reading the earlier books will give you a deeper connection to the characters and the overall story arc, enhancing the experience.

What a fantastic series and what an amazing author! It’s so good to be back with the McCarthy sisters. The characters have become so dear to me, and I was eagerly awaiting the next chapter in their adventures. The setting of Inishmore Castle for this book was a brilliant choice, though I must admit I missed the familiar charm of Shamrock Cove. Still, the castle offered an intriguing new atmosphere, full of mystery and suspense.

I love when a book keeps you guessing, making you feel like you're solving the mystery right alongside the characters. Lucy Connelly truly knows how to craft a mystery. But beyond the twists and turns of the plot, she also excels at developing her characters. Mercy and Lizzie are as lovable and compelling as ever, and I was really drawn into their personal dynamics. I also have to mention Mr. Poe—he’s such an endearing part of the story, and I loved every moment he was on the page.

This book has a slightly darker, more atmospheric tone compared to the earlier ones. The action is confined to the castle, which gives it a "locked-room" mystery vibe as the guests are stranded there by a fierce storm, unable to leave until the case is solved. It creates such an intense sense of isolation and urgency, which kept me glued to the pages. The build-up surrounding the two deaths was masterfully done. Connelly does an excellent job of keeping you on edge, never quite letting you settle, and always pulling you deeper into the mystery. There’s also the intriguing rumor of a treasure hidden within the castle, which adds another layer of suspense to the plot.

Lucy Connelly's cozy mysteries are always a treat, but I find the Mercy McCarthy Mystery Books an especially welcome treat. Book 3 in this series, Death at Inishmore Castle, is exactly what I hoped and expected to find. This adventure for twins, Mercy and Lizzy, begins as a long weekend of relaxation during a soft opening for a nearby castle, where whisky tastings, murder games, and bread baking take center stage. Although Inishmore is called a castle, it might also be described as a stately home. Either way, Inishmore is large, with many rooms and hidden passageways to keep guests happy. Naturally, there is a murder to solve and many secrets to discover.

The nice thing about a cozy mystery is how much fun it is just to sit back and let an author transport readers to a new place, with new characters to meet. For returning readers to A Mercy McCarthy Mystery, many of the readers favorite characters are also visiting the castle--Mercy, Lizzie, Lolly, Rob, Scott, and a possible romantic interest, Kieran, the local police detective, always needed to solve a murder or two. In Death at Inishmore Castle, the weather turns out to be an important character. All that Irish green needs a lot of cold, very wet, rain storms, with lots of thunder to create power outages and flooding for isolation. It was the perfect storm.

I did enjoy Death at Inishmore Castle. It is a fast, fun cozy mystery. The mystery includes many details and descriptions about Inishmore, both as location, and as the site of so many great tourist activities. With the addition of murders, what's not to like? This book was fun. Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review. And I am being honest. I very much enjoy all of Lucy Connelly's novels.
5 stars

sisters, twins, cozy-mystery, amateur-sleuth, local-law-enforcement, rural, Ireland, small-business, small-town, bookseller, grieving, grief, mental-health-awareness, murders, investigations, local-gossip, local-history, false-identities, false-information, whiskey, pet-dog, writers, inheritance, expats, unpleasant-victims, unputdownable, secret-passages, witty, banter, closed-circle-mystery, friends, neighbors*****
Mercy and Lizzie McCarthy are fraternal twins and have a beloved pet dog who is unusually adept at finding dead bodies. The local castle is having a soft opening as they prepare it for tourism to help with the impressive costs of upkeep with such a historic building. Most of the time the weather is dark and terribly stormy with bridges out and rare cell service, especially after they need Inspector Kieran and his team to deal with the first dead body and discover that the place is riddled with secret passages.
Backstory: Mercy McCarthy went from Texas to NYC bigtime mystery writer to an inheritance in Ireland from a grandfather they never knew. Her twin sister Lizzie went from Texas to deep depression after sequential tragedies, to Ireland with her sister for the healing of change.
I really enjoy the ongoing characters, and the new ones are always very interesting as well.
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected digital galley from Bookouture via NetGalley. Avail Apr 10, 2025
#DeathAtInishmoreCastle by @lucyconnellybooks #MercyMcCarthyMysteriesBk3 @bookouture
#NetGalley #cozymystery @goodreads @bookbub @librarythingofficial @barnesandnoble ***** Review #booksamillion #bookshop_org #bookshop_org_uk #kobo #Waterstones #bookseller #ireland #series #standalone #secretpassages

I just absolutely love these books! I breezed through the first two and this one was no different. I read it in one sitting, I can never put these books down once I start, I have to know who the killer is! Mercy is such a fun narrator and I love her perspective on things. The whole Agatha Christie vibe of a murder in a castle during a rainstorm was so fun! All of Lucy Connelly’s books are such quick and easy reads and really keep you at the edge of your seat! I love all of the rest of the characters, they all add their own piece to the story. Lizzie and Mr. Poe are the best sidekicks and Kieran just gets better and better each book! I can’t wait to see where their story goes together! Overall what a wonderful read. I can’t wait for the next one!

Mercy and her sister, Lizzie, are on vacation at a beautiful castle with whiskey tasting and other assorted classes when several guests are found murdered. While Mercy doesn’t believe the murdered guests, a priest and nun, are who they said they are, she and Kiernan will work together to figure out what is going on at the castle before someone else is killed. I have really enjoyed this series and I can’t wait for the next one. Lucy Connelly does a great job keeping you turning the pages and peaking your interest into the next book!

Death at Inishmore Castle is the third Mercy McCarthy book by Lucy Connelly. It was another fun entry in this series and Lucy is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Mercy and her sister and neighbors are staying at an old Irish Castle in this book and the setting is lots of fun and full of dark atmosphere and Irish rainstorms. I liked the descriptions of Ireland. Lucy makes this little corner of Ireland sound lovely. I liked how the mystery developed and enjoyed figuring it out as the characters did. Mercy is a smart main character and I like that about her and hope to read more about her and her friends and family. I enjoyed the cliffhanger at the end and I hope it leads to another mystery soon.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to review this book. All opinions are my own.

#DeathatInishmoreCastle #NetGalley is the third book in this new series.
The main characters, Lizzie and Mercy, twin sisters who have had their share of grief, are delightful and easy to like. An invitation to attend a soft opening at Inishmore Castle is just the thing they need to relax and have fun, but unfortunately things don't go as planned.
Someone is causing problems at the castle, and when two odd guests are dead, Mercy can't help but look into things.
Aside from the deaths, it seems that the sisters have someone watching them, which leaves Mercy on edge. As a mystery author, Mercy wonders if it's a fan who may be be stalking her, and when she goes with Kieran to question the possible stalker, his disappearance leaves more unanswered questions.
I really like this series and I'm excited to continue reading more books.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for selecting me to read an advanced copy of this book.

This is the 3rd installment of the Mercy McCarthy mystery series. Mercy and her twin sister Lizzie who have recently moved to Ireland are looking forward to a relaxing weekend at a local castle which is expanding their business. Lizzie and the rest of the Court (the group of cottages the twins inherited several months ago) received the invite to local Inishmore Castle as they are opening their door to guests and Mercy attends to help her with her writers block. They arrive during a storm and it soon appears they are going to be closed off as the bridge is covered by water. Mercy’s mystery author mind goes into overdrive when she meets the other guests for the weekend and the priest and nun who are in attendance seem to be arguing all the time and neither one seems to be what they seem. When Mercy and Lizzie’s dog Mr. Poe finds the priest dead in the study causes major issues as the power and internet goes out with the storm. Detective Inspector Kiernan arrives the next day and the investigation officially begins. This is like a locked room mystery as all the guests are stranded in the castle due to the weather and with the rumors of a treasure makes for a very suspenseful and enjoyable read. I really enjoy the characters of Mercy and her sister Lizzie as well as the developing relationship of Mercy and Kiernan. There was a teaser for the next story at the very end and I can’t wait for the next installment.

3.5 stars

Twins Mercy and Lizzy McCarthy have landed in Ireland, after a surprise inheritance and a year of family sorrow. Lizzie is somewhat fragile emotionally after losing her fiance and his daughter in an accident. Mercy is a successful mystery author and nosy to an astonishing degree, even for a cozy character.

The sisters are on a weekend jaunt to an old castle trying to establish itself as a luxury resort/b&b. Naturally the weather turns awful and all the inhabitants are trapped together for a couple days -- sound familiar? And then - a dead body! And then another ...

Mercy's possible love interest Inspector Kieran is able to make it to the scene and they assume their pattern of him telling her to stay away from the investigation and her ignoring him. The characters stuck in the castle and the staff are the suspects and the group is interesting. Some are the sisters' neighbors but there are several who appear to be hiding their true identities.

Readable and fun. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Mercy and Lizzy are thrilled to be spending the weekend in a castle near their small Irish town - until one of thE other guests is murdered. Mercy's mystery writer brain cannot leave it to the police. Charming!

A 3.5!

Lucy Connelly does a brilliant job setting up Mercy's character as the main protagonist. In addition, it sincerely lives up to the claim of being a cosy mystery. I found myself reading this with my morning cup of tea and relaxing which is something I have not done in YEARS! It's a good and really easy read that I'd recommend to anyone who'd want an experience like that. It - funnily enough - also brought me back to my childhood when I'd be reading a copy of the Famous Five under the covers, so definitely a bonus.

Digging into the characters and plot, I enjoyed it a lot with the exception of a few moments in the book that felt like they came out of nowhere language-wise. At the same time, there's a vividness to the descriptions of the characters, their behaviours and their motives throughout the book. Mr. Poe - of course - was an adorable character I loved reading about. He reminded me of my own dogs as well! I absolutely loved Scott and Rob acting as pseudo-guardians for Mercy's reckless snooping.

Talking about Mercy as well, this was the first book I read in this series and I definitely enjoyed following along as she slowly tried to organise her thoughts on what was actually happening, the why, the how, the what. Mercy and Kieran's banter is super fun to read and balances out a lot of her impulse through the story. In addition to being a story that's genuinely comfortable to read, I also have a handful of new food that I'll be trying out the recipes to!

On a scale of 1-10, I'd give this a 7 and definitely plan on recommending it and buying the other books in the series when I can.

P.S. I will be adding my review to my blog (the second link) at the 8th issue that will be coming out at the end of the month, so if you're interested in checking that out when it comes out, I've put in a link for that as well

Through NetGalley, I received a free copy of DEATH AT INISHMORE CASTLE (Book 3 of the Mercy McCarthy mystery series) by Lucy Connelly in exchange for an honest review. Mercy and Lizzie McCarthy have been asked to join their neighbors for a soft-opening stay at Inishmore Castle. There will be great food, on-site whiskey, garden tours, cooking classes, and murder. Wait. . . murder? With cagey clergy dropping like flies and with a series of storms stranding everyone by flooding all of the roads, everyone is getting a little nervous. Mercy’s curiosity engages and, even after law enforcement finally arrives, she takes advantage of having all of her suspects nearby to figure out all of their sinister little secrets. . .even someone’s not-so-small murderous ones.

I liked this book and enjoy the series. I recommend the book and the series to fans of cozy murder mysteries featuring Ireland, Irish culture, cooking, books, and writing.

#DeathatInishmoreCastle #NetGalley