Greeley, Andrew in The Books Store

Matters of succession lead to attempted murder in the latest of Greeley’s popular mysteries.

Archbishop Malachi Nolan has designs on the Diocese of Chicago despite the fact the Most Reverend Blackwood Ryan, himself recently appointed an archbishop, is currently in line for the post. Assigned to keep watch on his rival, Blackie travels to the Nolan family estate in Grand Banks, where he soon finds himself immersed in an entirely different dynastic struggle.

Spike Nolan, founder of Aviation Electronics, isn’t even dead yet, but his children, grandchildren, and their respective spouses are already feuding over who will inherit control of the multimillion-dollar company. The only family member who doesn’t have a stake in the quarrel is the clerical Malachi . . . so why is he the one targeted by an unknown killer?

To get to the bottom of the mystery, Blackie will have to sort through the tangled family dynamics of this highly dysfunctional clan, as well as figure how out his fellow archbishop was nearly stung to death by hornets inside a locked room!

Wife, mother, lover, celebrated singer, and problem solver Nuala Anne McGrail has a tender side that she often shows to her devoted friends and family. But when those under her protection are in danger, she becomes a veritable Irish Tiger, akin to the fierce warrior women of ancient Erin. With Dermot, her loyal husband, in tow, there are few mysteries she can’t untangle.

The couple will need all their resources when they come to the aid of two loving senior citizens, whose unexpected romance has been targeted by an unknown enemy. John Patrick Donlan and Maria Angelica Connors were both grandparents when they met, and their passionate connection took them each by surprise. But Donlan’s daughters and in-laws bitterly oppose the match…and someone will stop at nothing to destroy their marriage, their thriving careers, and maybe even their lives.

More than a touch fey, Nuala senses genuine evil at work here, and so do the keen senses of her ever-present Irish wolfhounds. As the attacks grow ever more serious, it may be up to one gifted woman and a pair of retired police dogs to prevent a touching love story from ending in unspeakable tragedy.

The perils of wartime add special urgency to latest mysteries being investigated by Nuala Anne McGrail and her adoring husband, Dermot Coyne. More than a little fey, Nuala has a well-deserved reputation for getting to the bottom of even the most tangled intrigues, even when they may be taking place on the other side of the world.

Desmond Doolin, an idealistic young man from their West Side Chicago neighborhood, has gone missing in Iraq. Having flown off to the Middle East in the name of peace, he hasn’t been heard of since. The U.S. government denies any knowledge of his whereabouts, and his grieving family has all but written him off as dead, but Nuala is convinced that there’s more to the story . . . and herself won’t stop asking questions until she finds out what has really become of Desmond, one way or another.

Meanwhile, a parallel investigation uncovers the story of another young man abroad in dangerous times. Poking around in the past, Dermot and Nuala happen upon the memoirs of Timothy Patrick Clarke, the Irish ambassador to Nazi Germany, who risked his life for the sake of a beautiful German widow . . . and a secret plot to kill Adolf Hitler.

Working together as always, Nuala and her husband find themselves engrossed in the secrets of the past, the present, and two very different wars.

Irish Linen is another captivating installment in a series that Publishers Weekly calls “immensely entertaining.”

“There’s evil people around, Dermot love. . . . I knew about them even before me dream. Really evil people. Won’t we have to fight them!”

This latest tale of Nuala Anne McGrail, the engagingly fey heroine of such irresistible books as Irish Cream and Irish Lace, begins with a foreboding dream of some terrible impending evil. Dermot Michael Coyne, Nuala’s adoring husband and spear-carrier, knows better than to ignore his wife’s second sight, but from whence does this nameless peril originate? From the Homeland Security goons determined to deport the Irish-born Nuala on the basis of nothing more than vague suspicions and accusations? From the spiteful neighbors campaigning against their family’s beloved Irish wolfhounds? Or from the tangled dealings of the Currans, a prosperous clan of Irish-American aristocrats, with whom Nuala and Dermot have recently become acquainted?

The true danger becomes shockingly apparent when a catastrophic car-bombing rocks the Chicago riverfront. Uncovering the twisted minds behind the bombing is not easy; Dermot and Nuala soon find themselves enmeshed in a complicated tapestry of lies and secrets. Nuala’s preternatural instincts also lead her to a forgotten manuscript revealing the treachery and deceit behind a tragic chapter in Irish history: the saga of bold Robert Emmet and the failed uprisings of 1798 and 1803.

Between the past and the present, our heroine and her devoted spouse have more than enough mysteries to contend with, but the two of them are bound to make the truth just as clear as . . . Irish Crystal.