Irish Cream: A Nuala Anne McGrail Novel [Hardcover]

Andrew M. Greeley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 27, 2005

Countless readers have been delighted by Father Andrew M. Greeley's bestselling tales of Nuala Anne McGrail, a fey, Irish-speaking woman from Galway blessed with the gift of second sight and a knack for unraveling mysteries, and her hapless husband and accomplice, Dermot Michael Coyne. From Irish Gold through Irish Stew! this spirited couple has untangled many a knotty mystery, both at home in Chicago and back in Erin. Now they return in another captivating blend of romance, humor, and intrigue

Damian "Day" O'Sullivan is a troubled young man who blames himself for a tragic vehicular homicide he may not have committed. Trouble is, Day's entire family seems to be conspiring to pin the crime on the poor lad, which only leads Nuala and Dermot to wonder who really ran over (three times!) Rodney Keefe in the parking lot of a ritzy Chicago country club.

The O'Sullivans are a ruthlessly ambitious clan of South Side Irish, who consider themselves the cream of the Irish-American community. The sensitive Day has always been something of a black sheep in the family---and perhaps a scapegoat as well.

But the twisted saga of the O'Sullivans isn't the only mystery to be unraveled. Having stumbled onto the diary of Father Richard Lonigan, a nineteenth-century parish priest assigned to a remote village in old Donegal, Dermot and Nuala find themselves caught up in the closely guarded secrets and scandals of that desolate time and place, where simmering resentment against the ruling English sometimes erupted into violence and murder....

Irish Cream is another rich and satisfying concoction by one of America's most popular storytellers.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the eighth installment in Greeley's immensely entertaining Irish series (after 2002's Irish Stew!), Nuala Anne and her husband, Dermot Coyne, once again look into mysteries past and present: the first chronicled in the diaries of Father Richard Lonigan, a 19th-century parish priest in Donegal, Ireland, the second involving poor Damian "Day" O'Sullivan, whom the couple hire to take care of their two Irish wolfhounds. Amid the troubled political and religious environment in Donegal, where mostly poor Catholic villagers are overseen by Protestant Lord Skeffington, Father Lonigan investigates two shootings while striving to prevent further violence. In present-day Chicago, Nuala and Dermot face opposition to hiring Day O'Sullivan from the lad's father, since Day is not only a profound disappointment to the O'Sullivan family but also a convicted felon. The "fey" or psychic Nuala Anne believes the young man has been framed by his family and is determined to find out why Day inspires such loathing and disgust in his own kin. As with previous titles in the series, the sexual antics of Nuala and Dermot lend spice.
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From Booklist

Greeley continues to churn out his own brand of irresistibly predictable mysteries at an amazingly rapid pace. Although the plot and the characters are somewhat cliched, they provide a cozy level of comfort for fans eager to delve into another caper involving devoted spouses and dueling detectives Nuala Anne McGrail and Dermot Michael Coyne. As usual, it is a simple case of good Irish-American Catholics versus evil Irish-American Catholics. Gentle, artistic Damian "Day" O'Sullivan has been made the scapegoat for all his family's shortcomings. When a friend of his father is run over and killed, an inebriated Day is eagerly offered to the police as a sacrificial lamb by his parents and siblings. After Day becomes an honorary member of the Coyne clan, Nuala and Dermot are determined to prove his innocence by using their stock-in-trade: an unbeatable combination of Dermot's cold, hard logic and Nuala's mystical second sight. Interwoven into the contemporary story is an intriguing historical whodunit that adds a little more substance. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; First Edition edition (January 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765303353
• ISBN-13: 978-0765303356
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,107,114 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Supreme SouthSide of Chicago Senaearche, February 15, 2005

By 

TundraVision (o/~ from the Land of Sky Blue Waters o/~) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Irish Cream: A Nuala Anne McGrail Novel (Hardcover)

Father Andrew Greeley, Supreme Seanchai of Chicago's SouthSide Irish and beyond, delights the reader with another brilliant episode of the fair fey Nuala Anne McGrail Coyne & friends & family. Sure, but shouldn't you best begin at the beginning? It begins with *Irish Gold.*

In *Irish Cream,* Fr Greeley has again interwoven a compelling historical tale with the modern day trials and tribulations of the Coynes. But this time the historical tie-in is clumsy and the flips and flops back and forth are disconcerting - one would think especially for the reader unfamiliar with Fr. Greeley's conventions. And by now in the Greeley oeuvre, what with everyone making cameos in everyone else's serials, you best be reading Bishop Blackwood ("Blackie") Ryan in the *Happy are ...* books and "the crazy O'Malleys" of *A Midwinter's Tale* etc.

So, what are ya doin' still sittin' there staring at your computer screen? Get reading!

P.S.: Yo! Old White Men in Rome! Elect Father Greeley for Pope! You'd be amazed at the return of the abused, disenchanted & disenfranchised back to the pews and our tithes back to the collection basket!

/TundraVision

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Renewing Love, May 25, 2008

By 

W. Easley "Opa" (Colorado Rocky Mountains) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Irish Cream: A Nuala Anne McGrail Novel (Nuala Anne McGrail Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

Irish Cream, the continuing story of Nuala Anne McGrail and her family, is set in Chicago and Grand Beach, Michigan. As is common in this series, Nuala Anne must investigate two situations: one current and one historical.

The current situation concerns a young man Damian O-Sullivan, nicknamed Day, who has become the black sheep of his family. Nuala senses that his image is wrong and is determined to rectify it.

The historical situation is told through the diary of Father Richard Lonigan, parish priest in Donegal Ireland. Father Richard, a cultured man with a doctorate, struggles to understand and minister to the poor rural Irish of his parish. His efforts pit him against the "ribbon men", the Protestant Vicar, the English lord, and many of his parishioners. His attitude is "if they don't like me it is their problem."

There are two features that I especially like about this novel: the caring affinity among the characters, and the bits of wisdom Andrew Greeley puts into the dialogue.

The Coynes, Nuala Anne, Dermot, Nelliecoyne, Matthew, and Socra Marie are a delightful family. Nuala and Dermot are still in love after three children and several years of marriage. Nelliecoyne is a very bright young girl who is "fey" like her mother. Matt is all boy and quietly ignores his sisters. Socra Marie is a fun two year old who loves the doggies and most people. The loving relationship of this family makes the book.

Andrew Greeley provides some nice wisdom in this story. Bishop Blackie on Memorial Day asks whether "the tombstones or flowers are more ultimate"? Later Blackie is quoted as saying that "One does not waste one's time trying to figure out the plans of the Lord God". Father Lonigan says to one of his Irish parishioners that, I just follow the Instructions of the sainted Cure de Ars, Jean Vianney, and "never trouble the consciences of the laity." Nelliecoyne questions her teacher "You mean you can't live happily ever after unless you forgive?"

I recommend Irish Cream to those of you who like to celebrate successful happy marriages. I propose this story to those who might like to pick up some great Irish Catholic wisdom.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth a READ - My Review is a different slant from the other reviews, October 24, 2006

By 

Andrew J. DiLiddo Jr. "Big_Man_BigHeart_Fine_... (Maryland USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Irish Cream: A Nuala Anne McGrail Novel (Hardcover)

I agree with most of the other reviews, good, bad or otherwise. You have to take this book for what it is, light hearted fare and entertainment without a lot of heavy lifting. SEXUAL ANTICS! Yes, lots of that, surprising that a priest can write all of this stuff. Must hear it in the confessional???????? Anyway, NOT BEING IRISH MYSELF gives me a different slant. Maybe if YOU ARE genuinely IRISH, this will be too much a caricature of Irish folk for you. However, for me, it was delightful, bringing to life the IRISH of the South Side of Chicago. Also, there is a portion of the novel that takes place in IRELAND too so there is a connection between the characters of their home in Chicago and their other former home in IRELAND. This thematic connective device is actually quite creative from a writing perspective I believe and quite ingenius as it helps flesh out the characters. There is one character though that is not well developed and that is the "Mick", the son of Nuala and Dermot. There are off handed references to the boy but you wont get the sense that you know him as a character as you do with the much better developed daughter characters. That is a minor complaint though.