Description: Dermot Michael Coyne isn't sure what he's gotten himself into. Nuala Anne McGrail, that beautiful and vivacious "Celtic witch" has finally agreed to marry him. But they've barely tied the knot when Nuala's psychic "spells" begin again. Visions of a burning castle, the captain of the infamous "Black and Tan" police force, a wild woman from Chicago, and bloodshed--all somehow connected--lead the two to the remnants of a mystery long buried in the mist of Ireland's turbulent and violent past. How did Kevin O'Higgins, the murdered leader of the movement to free Ireland, die? And who among the living will do whatever it takes to keep Nuala and Dermot from finding out?
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Review Summary: What the... |
Date: 2005-12-20 |
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Details: A psychic pop star and her poet husband go on an adventure to solve a decades-old Irish mystery!! Huh? I thought this book might be fun to read in a silly way, like bad dime novels and trashy romance books. The book was certainly silly, but not at all fun. The writing takes long and boring forays into dry retellings of Irish history. One of the sub-plots involves the central character's inability to have an orgasm, and her husband's inner struggle (complete with imagined conversations with voices in his head) about whether this makes him a bad husband. There is quite a bit of talk about sex, and lots of cursing as well, neither of which bother me in and of themselves, but the cursing seems forced and the sex talk sounds creepy. I later discovered that this book was written by a Catholic priest. Creepy, indeed. Luckily, I didn't spend any money on this book. I highly recommend that you don't, either. |
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Review Summary: Series losing focus. |
Date: 2001-06-25 |
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Details: Irish Mist, The fourth book in Andrew Greely's series of Nuala McGrail mysteries gives us another look at an unsolved mystery from the past; who killed Kevin O'Higgins. O'Higgins, who was Michael Collins successor in the effort to have an independent Ireland, is the catalyst for the latest of Nuala's "fey" episodes and her husband Dermot once again does the footwork.(Although this time his physical attributes are often brought into play) Mixed with an almost farcical attempt to kidnap Nuala, a charity concert in Ireland, and a commentary on the nature of lovemaking and its importance to a successful marriage, Greely bites off a bit more than he needs to. Sometimes the central mystery gets lost when there is too much extraneous material floating around, and this seems to be the problem here as it was with the last book in the series, Irish Whiskey. Greely tries to make each book a history lesson and maybe a tale that is completely fictional without the baggage of historical documentation is needed to liven the series up a bit. As it is, the books are getting bogged down in subplots, most of which are not worth the reader's time. The strength of the novels is still the relationship of Nuala and Dermot. Maybe that needs to be the focus. |
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Review Summary: Series losing focus. |
Date: 2001-06-25 |
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Details: Irish Mist, The fourth book in Andrew Greely's series of Nuala McGrail mysteries gives us another look at an unsolved mystery from the past; who killed Kevin O'Higgins. O'Higgins, who was Michael Collins successor in the effort to have an independent Ireland, is the catalyst for the latest of Nuala's "fey" episodes and her husband Dermot once again does the footwork.(Although this time his physical attributes are often brought into play) Mixed with an almost farcical attempt to kidnap Nuala, a charity concert in Ireland, and a commentary on the nature of lovemaking and its importance to a successful marriage, Greely bites off a bit more than he needs to. Sometimes the central mystery gets lost when there is too much extraneous material floating around, and this seems to be the problem here as it was with the last book in the series, Irish Whiskey. Greely tries to make each book a history lesson and maybe a tale that is completely fictional without the baggage of historical documentation is needed to liven the series up a bit. As it is, the books are getting bogged down in subplots, most of which are not worth the reader's time. The strength of the novels is still the relationship of Nuala and Dermot. Maybe that needs to be the focus. |
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Review Summary: my review |
Date: 2001-03-07 |
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Details: This is the first book I read from this author of this "Irish" theme and I was not impressed. I liked the characters and the writing is very funny and brings to the reader the 'irish accent', but all in all, the book did nothing for me. I have read previous books by the author and I prefer them to this kind of "mystery a la Irish". |
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Review Summary: Not a good book! |
Date: 2000-06-05 |
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Details: I have a number of Greeley's books and have usually enjoyed them as a window to the world of Irish-Americans and Catholics (I am neither). However, I really hated Irish Mist. I thought the plot was a big yawn, both the historical mystery and the present-day suspense story. Greeley attempted to make his two main characters believable, but he spent too much time dwelling on how talented, good-looking, rich and smart they were to make me warm to them and care whether they worked their marital problems out. The worst thing about the book, however, was the unbelievable amount of swearing (totally unnecessary to the plot or character development) and gratuitous violence. I'm honestly not a prude, but I do object to people who can't open their mouths without swearing (in books or in real life) and it's especially annoying when I know the author is a CATHOLIC PRIEST! This book was a waste of my time and money. |
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out of 16 Reviews
