The Dead of Achill Island

March 11, 2019
Draine and Hinden’s moody fourth Nora Barnes and Toby Sandler mystery (after 2016’s Death on a Starry Night) takes the married couple, along with Nora’s parents and sister, to historic Achill Island, Ireland. The vacation turns out to be anything but restful when Nora discovers the body of her con man uncle, Bertram Barnes, in the ruins of Deserted Village, an old town site abandoned during the 19th-century potato famine. Bert was hardly popular around Achille. He and his partner, Frank Hickey, planned to develop Deserted Village into a tourist attraction, but the islanders believe the dead of Achille should be allowed to rest in peace. At the crime scene, Nora also finds an unusual silver button from her mother’s sweater. Nora’s mom hated “Bert the Bastard,” but Nora can’t bring herself to tell the police and implicate her mother in a murder. She and Toby must therefore clear her name. Draine and Hinden give readers a cast of relatable characters and an engrossing mystery, all nicely wrapped in an Irish travelogue.