maggietoussaint55's review
5.0
An enchanting debut, flavored with a decadent dollop of Irish cream. Merritt Chase journeys from California to Maryland to meet her biological father, Liam. Something of a practical dreamer, she makes friends and enemies in her father’s hometown just by showing up.
For decades, Liam the Lion has known fame as a matchmaker. Merritt’s arrival coincides at the festival where Liam matches people. One death and then a second rock this small town, even though they have a the-show-must-go-on mentality.
Alber paints her characters with a sculpted brush of emotion and vulnerability. In this town known for finding love, feelings run deep and dark. Kilmoon was fun to read and kept me up to the wee hours of the morning.
For decades, Liam the Lion has known fame as a matchmaker. Merritt’s arrival coincides at the festival where Liam matches people. One death and then a second rock this small town, even though they have a the-show-must-go-on mentality.
Alber paints her characters with a sculpted brush of emotion and vulnerability. In this town known for finding love, feelings run deep and dark. Kilmoon was fun to read and kept me up to the wee hours of the morning.
petra_reads's review
3.0
Set in the quaint village of Lisfenora during the annual "matchmaking festival", this is the first book of the County Clare mysteries. Following the death of her stepfather, Merrit McCallum travels from California to Ireland, to meet her biological father Liam, who is the village Matchmaker.
What follows is a very complex mystery involving blackmail, murder, deceit, lost loves and numerous suspects. Some of the back-story, events that took place in 1975, is told through journal entries written by Merrit's deceased Mum, Julia, and through Liam's journal.
This is [a:Lisa Alber|3309460|Lisa Alber|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1378014058p2/3309460.jpg]'s debut novel and is written very well. It has a very literary feel to it. It took me a long time to feel anything for these characters, though. Merritt and Liam remained very bland throughout. One of the more interesting characters was Danny, the garda, with his family and job issues, and I actually liked the town drunk, Marcus, most of all.
There was nothing really bad about this, but there was just nothing great either. It just ended up being ok. I have a copy of the second book, [b:Whispers in the Mist|29995505|Whispers in the Mist (A County Clare Mystery)|Lisa Alber|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1461594306s/29995505.jpg|46819266], from NetGalley, so I feel obliged to read it, but I doubt I would otherwise bother.
What follows is a very complex mystery involving blackmail, murder, deceit, lost loves and numerous suspects. Some of the back-story, events that took place in 1975, is told through journal entries written by Merrit's deceased Mum, Julia, and through Liam's journal.
This is [a:Lisa Alber|3309460|Lisa Alber|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1378014058p2/3309460.jpg]'s debut novel and is written very well. It has a very literary feel to it. It took me a long time to feel anything for these characters, though. Merritt and Liam remained very bland throughout. One of the more interesting characters was Danny, the garda, with his family and job issues, and I actually liked the town drunk, Marcus, most of all.
There was nothing really bad about this, but there was just nothing great either. It just ended up being ok. I have a copy of the second book, [b:Whispers in the Mist|29995505|Whispers in the Mist (A County Clare Mystery)|Lisa Alber|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1461594306s/29995505.jpg|46819266], from NetGalley, so I feel obliged to read it, but I doubt I would otherwise bother.
More...