Customer Reviews

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

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

 

 

Dermot, the husband of the beautiful, enticing and caring Nuala Annie McGrail, adores his fey wife. Her mystic powers have led them into solving mysteries that have saved lives and brought criminals to justice. When Nuala Annie wakes up screaming about spies being around them, Dermot knows that her dream is a vision and they will be plunged into another mystery very soon.

At a party celebrating that Nuala Anne has finally becoming a citizen, an explosion rocks the foundation of the building; Nuala knows that the home of John and Estelle Curran just blew up. Having recently had dinner with the Currans, Nuala and her husband want to help them; they get a chance to do so when the couple, on the advice of a detective (who knows Nuala's history), ask for their assistance. Two more attempts are made on the family and Nuala realizes someone is spying on them. With the information Dermot collects from the various family members she tries to figure out who it is but there is a plethora of suspects.

There is plenty of action and excitement in this exciting who-done-it. Andrew M Greeley's heroine, a mystic, singer, wife, mother and investment counselor accountant is a total charmer with her husband as totally enamored of and bemused by her as is readers. There are enough colorful suspects to keep the reader guessing who the spy is until the author the chooses to reveal that person's identity in this fast paced paranormal thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Andrew Greeley's affluent Irish Catholic families in modern-day Chicago are more fantasy than reality anyway, especially Dermot and Nuala. The trouble is, they are so damn appealing to us remaining hopeless romantics. They are sexy and talented and witty and decent and in every book, in danger. So we root for them to figure out who the bad guys are, and neutralize them. As with the other novels in the series, to accompany the contemporary mystery, there is a bit of Irish history thrown in with a mystery aspect of its own for Nuala to solve. This time, the historical one is a bit less dramatic than its predecessors. Father Greeley, by and large a good writer, paints with a broad brush some of the flaws of federal agents and of the recent administration's attempts to keep us safe from real terrorists. Take the plot for what it is, however, an entertainment device to tell a story with a few gentle lessons in morality, religion and Irish Catholic culture. I agree with an earlier reviewer that a little of character Cindasue Murphy's Appalachian dialect goes a long way, but I don't think it has ruined this book for fans. Greeley, as with most priests I've known (and most writers) has virtues which outweigh his flaws, and pros which count more than his cons.

Don't get me wrong. I love the series and I love the characters. I love the interplay of the Irish history past (a painless way of learning more about Irish historical characters) with the "charming" family life of Nuala and Dermot. I have read the entire series.

However like all series there comes a point where it begins to look like the author has lost a bit of his enthusiasm. I so enjoyed the earlier books watching the romance grow between the two leads-Irish Gold I think was the best. I think that is less focus on that and we are suppose to believe after 3 children Nuala still looks and acts like 19.She and Dermot have inordinate amount of time to ravish each other-the children,of course, wise beyond their years (although the middle child barely gets a mention) and have superhuman amounts of energy not only to solve crimes but to sew Communion dresses.

It is a nice fairy tale world where there is lots of money and everything works out in the end. And I will continue to read -I love the family but for once it would be nice to see Nuala act a bit more like a mother of 3 and be a little frazzled.

This one is as good as all of the other Nuala Anne Stories. Can't wait for the next one.

As usual, Fr. Greeley did not disappoint. Nuala Anne was at her best. Love reading about the family and how it grows. I am always enthralled by the weaving of the modern day and early Irish mysteries.

Amazon is listing the wrong publish date and reader reviews for IRISH CRYSTAL by Andrew Greeley. The reviews here are for IRISH TIGER.
IRISH CRYSTAL is the 9th book in the Nuala & Dermot Michael series, was first published in 2006, and is about modern day couple John & Estelle Curran, who are threatened with a car bombing and the historical saga of Robert Emmet.

In this novel, Andrew Greeley presents a historical and a current mystery for Nuala Anne McGrail to resolve. The basic story concerns the Coyne family, Dermot, Nuala, and their children Nelliecoyne, Michael, and Socra Marie. The Coynes provide a good example of how the struggle between parents and children can be handled with dignity and humor. Dermot and Nuala's marital love is caring and their relationship is becoming one of mutual acceptance of their individual personalities and needs.

The historical story in Irish Crystal I found intriguing. I think historical fiction is an excellent way to learn history. Irish Crystal deals with the "risings" of 1898 and 1903, small unsuccessful Irish revolts against the English rule. These are aspects of Irish history with which I was not familiar. The legendary characters Wolf Tone, Robert Emmet, and Sarah Curran are portrayed with clarity and elegance. The inclusion of Lord Cornwallis, the English administrator for Ireland and the general that George Washington defeated at the battle of Yorktown, was a special treat.

The current mystery tangentially involves the US Patriot Act. Nuala is harassed by government representatives because she is not a citizen of the United States. It seems that "spies", American citizens who object to immigrants, file complaints to the government concerning the activities of any individual, especially successful persons, that they deem suspicious. Her fight to retain her status is impressive.

I enjoyed this novel for the interesting historical story and the implied criticism of the Patriot Act. I especially enjoyed the fun scenes with Dermot, Nuala Anne and their lovely children.

I own every book in the series. I knew I would read them again and again. I love the characters and the unusual way this husband and wife team solve their dual mysteries. I enjoy the characters with the extended family and circle of friends. Suggestion: read the books in sequence.

A fun quick read with a good bit of history, theology and today's RC Church thrown in. Very Nuala Anne; definitely Greeley.

St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland... so could he please drive the dialect out of Cindasue?

Father Andrew Greeley, Supreme Seanchai of Chicago's SouthSide Irish and beyond, weaves what could have been another `brilliant' episode of the fair fey Nuala Anne McGrail Coyne & family & friends. But reader Beware! Big snag! Danger, Will Robinson!! Cindasue, epitome and derogatory confirmation of stereotypical Gawd-Awful, over-the-top, fingernails-on-the-blackboard-of-my-reading mind, Hillbilly backwoods *Deliverance* dialect, is back! And she be speakin' in them theyar tongues! She has periodically re-appeared in the series since her debut in "the Bishop and the Three Kings" (<- wherein the minute she opened her mouth I was so nauseated, the book became like one of Dante's lower circles to labour through, and I gave up. This life is too short!) Since then, when Cindasue has shown up in the interwoven Nuala Anne and Blackie mysteries, she has blissfully _Kept Her Mouth Shut_. Not this time. Not only is she "this hyar"in' and `"we-uns"in' and "us-uns" in' all over Tarnation like a linguistic plague, she has infected a passel of others into demeaning speech that is too cute by half.

I persevered all the way through the now-familiar format of a current day mystery interwoven with Irish history - this time involving spies and over-zealous "Patriots" - while I could hear Carly Simon in the background - accompanying those fingernails on the blackboard to the tune of: o/~ Haven't got time for the Pain o/~" Oh, and speaking of pain, Father Greeley inserts a gratuitous defense of Opus Dei and concomitant condemnation of *The DaVinci Code* telling us'uns dat dey ain't dat thayar bad!
"Shunuff!"

/TundraVision, Amazon Reviewer