Customer Reviews

Irish Cream: A Nuala Anne McGrail Novel (Nuala Anne McGrail Novels)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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

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.

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.

Even if his first 3, Nuala Anne, Irish Gold Books were more than exceptional; This is an engrossing story combining some of the good Father Greely's best characters. And surely isn't his the Irish gift of spinning a wondrous story when given the best cast of characters. After Dermot, his precious 3 childre his arwesome fey bewitching Lady Nuala Anne, who not only is sexy but can sing along with the best Irish Folk Narratives, "Alive/Alive-Oh, and Sweet Molly Malone," there are two well trained Irish Wolf Hounds!

The counterpart Family, a well-known South Chicago Irish brood of John Patrick O'Sullivan starts as the breeding place for the scape-goat son as Damian (Day) Thomas O'Sullivan. The complex story is under-scored by a companion story of the yet-to-become famous of Father Dermot Michael. All-in-all Sullivan's young son Day becomes the surprising hero and budding artist who joyfully specializes in painting dogs and children in solo, duo, & trio!

Cheerfully Retired Rabbi/Chappy Fred W Hood

I've read a couple of Father Greeley's Bishop Blackie mysteries and kind of liked them, so I thought I'd give Nuala McGrail a try.

Nuala Anne McGrail is an Irish songstress who also happens to have "the sight." Her husband Dermot Michael Coyle is a sort of Watson to her Sherlock. The characters are an absolute delight, especially the self-deprecatory Dermot and his youngest daughter, two-year-old Socra Marie. Six-year-old Nelliecoyne and four-year-old Michael "The Mick" round out the family. Nuala is originally from Galway; Dermot is second generation. His brother, a Catholic priest, works for Bishop Blackie. Father Greeley does an excellent job with the Irish dialect; he even explains how to speak it.

IRISH CREAM is really two novels rolled into one. The first involves the O'Sullivan family who are trying to scapegoat their youngest, Damian "Day" O'Sullivan, for the murder of their father's business partner. The Irish Cream in the title has to do with John Patrick O'Sullivan's inordinate pride in his four oldest children. He is also a Notre Dame booster and likes to "tilt the field" in respect to his business enterprises.

The second story revolves around Father Dick Lonigan, whose memoir Dermot is reading. Father Dick was a parish priest in Donegal shortly after the Potato Famine. The Irish peasants are rather like sharecroppers in the American South, and Father Dick mediates when they clash with the English landowners. He is also fighting the paganism that still survives in Donegal. The conflict in this story involves the murder of English landowner Lord Skeffington's caretaker, Tim Allen, and later an attempt on Skeffington's life as well. Father Dick is also pining over his housekeeper Mrs. O'Flynn.

Dermot also has an alter-ego that he likes to talk to, usually about something Nuala has done. Sometimes these discussions intrude on the story; sometimes the alter ego disappears all together. There isn't a whole lot of sleuthing going on in either story. Nuala predicts that something terrible will happen to the O'Sullivan clan and sure enough it does. Nuala "knows" who killed Tim Allen. She writes it down and bets Dermot a new Navigator that she's right. She's always right. Father Greeley really ought to take a page from Sharyn McCrumb, whose ballad mysteries also include a "seer," Nora Bonesteel. Nora is counterbalanced by Sheriff Spencer Arrowood, whose feet are planted firmly on the ground. You can't say that about Dermot Michael Coyle. That said, I will be purchasing another couple Nuala McGrail mysteries, if only for the great characters.

This is indeed the eighth novel in a series, detailing the love affair and marriage of Dermot and Nuala. He is a good-hearted lug who "accidentally" made a couple of million in a Chicago Board of Trade deal, allowing him to quit and devote his time to writing novels and poems. In the first book, he meets Nuala in Dublin. She is a college student, multi-talented but insecure, with walls around her heart. In each book, their love story tangles with a modern crime which needs solving, and also with 18th, 19th, or early 20th century murder mysteries involving folks in Ireland or Chicago. I really like these people, although they require a huge suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader. If you can, start with the first one and read them in order. You can knock off each book in 3 or 4 hours. If that is impossible, grab this one but make plans to get the first seven somehow so you know the back stories of all the continuing characters. They are all a bit sad, a bit funny, and a bit sexy, and the religion/philosophy part of the contents always makes sense, at least to me.

Father Andrew M. Greeley, whose books sometimes land him in a bit of hot water with the Catholic Church's heirarchy, never lets criticism get him down or interfere in his purpose -- to entertain and minister by way of a good novel. In his latest, the eighth installment in the Nuala Anne novels, Irish psychic crime solver and star singer Nuala Anne identifies a young man whose family have framed him for a crime. When she intervenes to help him launch a new career, she brings the wrath of the O'Sullivan clan down upon her -- not that she isn't fully capable, with two Irish wolf hounds by her side and a cudgel in hand, of facing them down. Meantime, Nuala's husband Dermot is absorbed in a century-old diary of an Irish priest who struggles in rural Ireland to restrain the locals from violence, coax them from their ancient pagan ways, and deal with the political fallout of a shooting. The two mysteries converge, though in a way that is weaker than in previous Nuala Anne books. Still, this is a great treat for Greeley's fans, and even if casual fans like myself aren't completely won over and are even a little turned off by the sometimes sickly-sweet family stuff, the good Father's understanding that marital relations are sacramental is a welcome whiff of understanding and provides a lot of the book's humor and aura of compassion and kindness.

I have followed the "Irish ________" series written by Andrew Greeley and enjoy them. This was a good one and I will continue to follow the new realeases.

I've been very please with all of the Nuala Ann McGrail books. Greeley is a good author. Can't wait to start the Bishop series.

Quick read and formulaic for the series. Characters are so enjoyable, especially Nuala, that the formulas doesn't invade.