Irish Love (Nuala Anne McGrail Novels) [Hardcover]

Andrew M. Greeley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2001 | Series: Nuala Anne McGrail Novels

Continuing the enchanting chronicles of the fabulous Nuala Anne McGrail and her spear-carrying husband Dermot, bestselling author Andrew M. Greeley takes them once again to Ireland for another thrill-packed adventure. Avoiding whizzing bullets and exploding cars and houses, the couple quickly decides that someone is out to get them.

Because she is fey and has visions of both the future and the past, Nuala proves too much for the forces of evil unleashed by the prospect of gold in the hills of western Ireland.

Andrew M. Greeley understands both the Irish and Irish-Americans, and gives us a picture of modern day, prosperous Ireland, and the engaging and, of course, sometimes villainous people who live there.

Irish Love is the most gripping and at the same time most delightful novel in this compelling and unique series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Irish Love follows the story of winsome couple Dermot Michael Coyne and Nuala Anne McGrail as they vacation on the western coast of Ireland. Though Nuala is recovering from the stress of her demanding musical career and the birth of their second child, she still has the wherewithal to sense the evil intentions of past and present criminals.

Over 100 years after a mass murder occurred, Nuala and Dermot discover an old diary that chronicles the investigation of that murder and the trial and conviction of an innocent man. As they read about the young journalist Edward Fitzpatrick, they begin to uncover a story that still angers the local inhabitants. As a series of modern crimes occurs, Dermot and Nuala wonder if there is a connection between the past and the present.

That author Andrew M. Greeley has done his homework is evident in his careful reconstruction of a historical time period and a fact-based crime. The story line of Fitzpatrick and the past murders is by far the more interesting one, and readers may happily skip to these italicized sections without missing much about Dermot and Nuala. Good fiction has great conflicts, and the Fitzpatrick story line has enough to keep your interest. --Nancy R.E. O'Brien

From Publishers Weekly

Father Greeley's deep and obvious love for the history and culture of Ireland shines through in his latest contemporary mystery (following Irish Eyes) involving singer/psychic Nuala Anne McGrail and her American writer husband, Dermot Michael Coyne--who finally seems to have come to terms with playing Watson to Nuala's Holmes. So strong is Greeley's affection that it more than makes up for his occasional doses of lame humor (such as the "you should excuse the expression" asides from Dermot and his dialogues with the Adversary, a voice in his head that comments on his follies). Suffering from the strains of motherhood and her psychic crime-solving, Nuala has abandoned her musical career, reluctantly agreed to try Prozac and retreated to the country home in Renvyle, a "bare headland" on the far coast of Connemara in the West of Ireland. There's no escape from crime for Nuala and her daughter, Nelliecoyne, however. Both possess what Dermot calls "fey" psychic powers, and they smell blood in the foggy air while exploring the ruined hovels and caves in the area. Indeed, the site turns out to have been the scene of a brutal massacre in the 1880s. Deftly linking the old crime to current events, which include two explosions and an apparent sniper attack on a water-skiing Nuala, Greeley skillfully depicts an Ireland flushed with economic success but still carrying the scars of historic poverty. (Feb. 14)Forecast: Previous novels in this series have appealed to both the mystery and romance markets, and Irish Love will do the same, with print advertising in Romantic Times and TV advertising on Lifetime, plus author publicity by the effervescent Greeley and an excerpt in the mass market edition of Irish Eyes, due out Mar. 1.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Forge; 1st edition (February 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312871872
• ISBN-13: 978-0312871871
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,715,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nuala and Dermot Michael go back to Ireland, November 12, 2001

By 

Moe811 (New York USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Irish Love (Nuala Anne McGrail Novels) (Hardcover)

Nuala Anne is suffering from post natal depression and in keeping with her character she has a pretty severe case. She gives up singing and doubts herself in everything. Her doctor prescribes Prozac and a trip home. Of course, they can't have a quiet trip. Fiona the wolfhound is pregnant, and the TD next doot has his house blown up. More disturbing, while on a walk through some ruins nearby, both Nuala Anne and Nelliecoyne see a scene of murder from the distant past. Apparently, a man was wrongfully accused of the murders and hanged for the crime. The local priest, Jack Lane, finds part of a journal, written by an American reporter who was there at the time, that tells the whole story as it happened. Nuala, Jack Lane, and Dermot have to find the rest of the journal and the fate of the murdered man's family.

This is pretty typical of the series. Nuala has a crisis of some kind, she finds a mystery in the past, she solves the mystery and her problems at the same time. Each one of the mysteries, however is very well done, with just a little bit of Irish history thrown in.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enchanting variations on a theme, April 26, 2001

By 

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

This review is from: Irish Love (Nuala Anne McGrail Novels) (Hardcover)

Dermott Michael, Nuala Anne, and the growing Coyne family have returned from Chicago to the West of Ireland. Our author, Father Greeley, gently reminds those with faint understanding of "The Troubles" in Ireland that there is more involved than religion - a history of British occupational forces and their progeny. Time to sing along with Johnny Horton? o/~ "In 1814, we took a little trip, along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Missipp. We took a little bacon & we took a little beans and we fought the Bloody British in the town of New Orleans." o/~ But, of course, that Colonel Jackson went on to become President Andrew Jackson and besmirch himself and our fledgling Nation during the course of his forced march of Native Americans on the "Trail of Tears."

In "Irish Love," Father Greeley has again interwoven a compelling and interesting historical tale with the equally interesting modern day Coynes, this time adeptly comparing the trials and tribulations of the Indigenous Irish to those of Native Americans:

"We're not talking about justice out here, son. We're talking about controlling an uncivilized people and placating Dublin Castle and Westminister. Bolton is not a nice fellow, but London needs someone like him out here." [page 105] "he was in much the same position as a Sioux or an Apache who did not know a word of English in an American courtroom without an interpreter." [page 173]

One more song to conclude this review: o/~ "Oh Lord, take me back. I want to ride in Geronimo's Cadillac." o/~

`Tis a brilliant book altogether!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wearing Thin, September 22, 2001

By 

Book Girl (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Irish Love (Nuala Anne McGrail Novels) (Hardcover)

I have loved every other Nuala Anne McGrail novel that Andrew M. Greeley has written, so it was somewhat of a disappointment to me that I did not love this book as much. Although I enjoyed it to a degree, I felt myself predicting future events and had nearly figured out the entire plot by halfway through. After I read the author's note at the end where he explains his formula, I realized the problem. The Nuala Anne McGrail books have become too obviously formulaic, and it's making otherwise delightful characters go just a little bit stale. Nevertheless, if you're looking for a quick read, you might want to try this one. Just don't expect anything terribly different from the others.