The Irish Cottage Murder: A Torrey Tunet Mystery (Torrey Tunet Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Dicey Deere (Author)

Book Description

Series: Torrey Tunet Mysteries | Publication Date: March 15, 1999

Meet Torrey Tunet. Great career. Big dreams. One terrible mistake.

Accept an invitation from a stranger who spills soup on her at a restaurant to stay at his Irish castle? What is pretty translator Torrey Tunet thinking? That's easy. She's thinking that luxurious rooms and gourmet meals beat the seedy Dublin hotel her agency booked for her. Fluent in numerous languages, Torrey intends to say non, nicht, nyet, and no way to any passes her host makes. But even Torrey is left speechless by what he actually suggests...and by stumbling upon a murdered man near a forest cottage. And when a priceless heirloom disappears and an old secret from her past surfaces, all fingers point to Torrey. Now she faces ruin-and gaol (jail)-unless she uncovers a truth darker than Irish nights about twisted minds, sinister passions and red-hot revenge...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Welcome to the Irish village of Ballynagh, where murder is soon to be a frequent visitor. American Torrey Tunet, 28, has been invited by compatriot Desmond Moore to stay at his castle in Ballynagh while she works as an interpreter at a conference in nearby Dublin. But despite the comfortable lodgings, Torrey is desperate. She has only three weeks to come up with $40,000 to set aright a tragedy she provoked many years earlier, before she escaped a life of crime. Unfortunately, one of Torrey's fellow guests at the castle is Luke Willinger, a landscape architect who knows her secret history only too well. Then the corpse of a stranger is discovered in a nearby bog, and Moore is murdered shortly after lending Torrey an heirloom necklace. When she is caught by the police while having the necklace appraised, Torrey becomes the chief suspect in both murders. Determined not to be scapegoated, she turns sleuth. This promising debut is the first in a projected series about Torrey's escapades in Ballynagh. Deere offers plot twists aplenty and an appealing heroine, whose mastery of several languages peppers the story with foreign words and their definitions. The author's dependence on flashbacks to heighten suspense becomes irritating, but her skill at deploying red herrings and her penchant for romantic subplots assures that readers will be eager for more tales of murder in Ballynagh.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

American Torrey Tunet, a 28-year-old translator who lives near Boston, accidentally spills a bowl of soup on Desmond Moore, a rich Irishman. When Moore learns that Torrey will be translating at a Dublin conference, he invites her to his castle in the village of Ballynagh, but shortly after arriving in Ireland, she finds herself accused of murder and theft. Torrey must learn all she can in a hurry about Moore and Irish history if she hopes to find the real murderer. This first novel is capably written with interesting characters, vivid descriptions of Irish countryside and villages, and a tricky plot with numerous twists and turns. Despite its quaint village setting, Deere's tale is grittier than most British cozies and, thus, will appeal to fans of Bartholomew Gill's Irish procedurals. John Rowen

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (March 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031220552X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312205522
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,057,722 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great beginning to a new series, August 29, 2000

By A Customer

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This review is from: The Irish Cottage Murder: A Torrey Tunet Mystery (Torrey Tunet Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a book that will capture the reader's attention from the beginning. The plot is interesting and the characters are enjoyable. The many twists and turns keep the story moving and the reader involved. The heroine has a unique occupation which keeps the story fresh. All of the elements that make a good mystery are here, but they are used in new and refreshing ways. This is hopefully the start to a long series.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Minus Mystery, April 3, 2002

By 

Kathleen C. Griffin (Bronx NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Irish Cottage Murder: A Torrey Tunet Mystery (Torrey Tunet Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

The author needs a decent proofreader first: names change (Emmet becomes Danny); there is no notion of currency (TRY to buy a custom-made copy of an antique necklace for five pounds! the rhinestones alone would cost twenty!); and the knowledge of Irish culture is based on too much green beer in Long Island! Then the characters are thinner than tissue paper.

However, the reader endures an awful lot in bad mysteries. A decent plot often gets the sufferer through amateur novels. This plot has more unbelievable coincidences than silly errors! An internationally traveling translator has soup upset on her in a Boston restaurant; the man who does it has just hired the translator's old flame from a tiny town to design his gardens in Ireland. He invites her and the designer to stay at his castle near Dublin. It gets worse. The evil victim bribes young girls aged 8 to 17 into perverted sexual acts, but also has a long-standing homosexual relationship with the 32 year old man who runs his stables? And now he's trying to get the 28 year old female translator into bed?

Help!

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Cozy Wannabe, May 8, 2000

By 

Mamalinde "mamalinde" (Dallas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Irish Cottage Murder: A Torrey Tunet Mystery (Torrey Tunet Mysteries) (Hardcover)

The cover art is the best thing about this far-fetched story. The characters are one dimensional, the plot a real stretch - with all the murderous and bloody activity and bizarre leaps this novel still comes out as dull and lacking. While the beautiful Irish setting and the charm of the Irish people should provide a rich backdrop, the scenes change too quickly to be savored. Even translator Torrey Tunet's fascination with language seemed trite and contrived; she was stiff and not particularly unlikeable. The police were insultingly inept; the debauchery of the villain was so vile that it didn't even make good reading. A "cozy" wannabe that simply does not make it.