Irish Stew! [Hardcover]

Andrew M. Greeley (Author)

Book Description

Series: Nuala Anne McGrail Novels | Publication Date: March 6, 2002

And what a stew it is. Here are some of the ingredients: Our heroine, Nuala Anne McGrail, in her guise as international singing star, accompanied by her spear-carrying husband, Dermot Coyne, is off to a major music festival in Milan, where they meet Seamus Costelloe, a Chicago Irish macher, and his family. Seamus is no better than he should be, and in fact the suspicion is that he's very bad indeed, but softhearted Nuala sees the sign of death on him-she hasn't lost her ability to see into the future-and decides to do something about it. She also sees something good in him. Which leads to a few hair-raising conflicts with some of Chicago's more desperate characters.

Nuala and Dermot's new baby is premature, and dark clouds hover over their sublimely happy marriage. Meanwhile, Dermot is trying to solve the mystery of Chicago's Haymarket riot, which isn't easy since it happened over a hundred years ago.

Only bestselling author Andrew M. Greeley, with his knowledge of Ireland and Chicago's unsavory politics, plus his uncanny ability to combine two stories-one in the present and one in the past-and his talent for building mystery and suspense to an almost unbearable degree, could have written this truly tantalizing novel.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The prolific cleric plops his psychic singer heroine and her family into a delicious stew of trouble in his latest crowd pleaser. The "fey" Nuala (last seen in 2001's Irish Love) senses that self-made Chicago lawyer and tough guy Seamus Costelloe is doomed after meeting him at a Milan music festival. Nuala persuades her beloved husband, Dermot, that they must find out why in time to prevent tragedy. Back in the Windy City, Dermot pursues the true cause of the century-old Haymarket Riot, while Nuala gives premature birth to their latest angel, Socra Marie, who has to spend several weeks in the neonatal ICU. Dermot does much of the legwork as Nuala recuperates and focuses on the baby, though her maternal duties don't stop her from running the show. The immigrant condition is very much on their minds, in both past and present investigations, and even life at home is affected by the hardships and prejudices encountered by new arrivals, especially in ethnically complex Chicago. There's a lot to keep straight in this one. When he isn't trying to help Nuala save Costelloe, Dermot is reading transcripts of the Haymarket trial and period newspaper articles, especially those penned by journalist Ned Fitzpatrick, who reported on the riot and its aftermath. Portions of Ned's diary, set in italic, can be slow going. Greeley lays the Irish on a bit thick for some tastes, but the double plot is rich with detail, while the couple's earnestness and good intentions are never in question. (Mar. 14)Forecast: National TV advertising on Lifetime, as well as national advertising and targeting to Irish publications, will ensure a strong start circa St. Patrick's Day.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Greeley's fans, and there are many, will appreciate and enjoy this new addition to his popular Nuala Anne McGrail mystery series. Nuala and her devoted husband, Dermot, are amateur crime solvers, often finding themselves in sticky situations and surviving by use of their innate cleverness (with a little help from Nuala's powers of extrasensory perception). In this book, set at an international music festival in Milan, the McGrails really have their hands full. Not only are there demands on Nuala professionally (in addition to sleuthing, she is an international singing star), they must also solve the mystery surrounding one Seamus Costelloe, whose sinister personage is doomed according to Nuala's ESP. As usual with Greeley's fiction, there is a Chicago connection; in addition to everything else going on, Dermot tries to solve the 100-year-old mystery of who started the Haymarket riot. A light, entertaining read sure to delight Greeley's fans. Kathleen Hughes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; First Edition edition (March 6, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312871880
• ISBN-13: 978-0312871888
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,700,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fun to read paranormal historical mystery, March 1, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Irish Stew! (Hardcover)

Dermot Michael Coyne accompanies his wife Nuala Anne McGrail as she performs at the Celtic international music festival in Milan. While in Italy, Dermot and Nuala Anne meet fellow Chicago resident Seamus Costelloe and his family. After unceremoniously dumping Seamus into the pool for insulting his wife, Dermot and Nuala Anne agree to joining the Costelloe brood for dinner. Nuala Anne noticed the mark of death on Seamus, a blowhard with many enemies not all in organized crime.

Meanwhile the couples' daughter hears the explosion associated with the Windy City's Haymarket Riot. The only problem is that the incident occurred over a century ago. To provide solace to his daughter who believes that someone is crying for fairness through her, Dermot tries to uncover the truth over who really started the riot. Meanwhile Nuala Anne, perhaps being the only person to see any good in Seamus, tries to keep him alive as she believes that is why her Irish fey powers gave her the sign.

The latest Nuala Anne tale is a fun to read story because the two lead characters are a delight to watch in action even if she is a too perfect Irish goddess. The dual story lines require leaps of faith as the audience will struggle with why Nuala Anne feels obligated to protect Seamus and why Dermot believes he must solve the Haymarket Riot mystery. Still fans of Andrew M. Greeley's "Irish" series and those paranormal cozy readers who can forgive the chasm between the first and second dominos of the plot will dine on IRISH STEW.

Harriet Klausner

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not ashamed to admit I love this series..., August 21, 2002

By 

William E. Adams (Midland, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Irish Stew! (Hardcover)

If you are going to read any of the "Nuala and Dermot" books, start with the first one and do them in order. If you hate the first, it's OK to quit. I like them all, but then I like nearly 90 percent of Fr. Greeley's output, and over the decades I've probably read about 90 percent of his total. I am only an eighth Irish, have only been to the airport in Chicago, and no longer consider myself Catholic, but I still am hooked. This group of novels are just plain fun. There are two mysteries, one from the past, one in the present, to solve, plus a progressive love story and cameo appearances by many of Greeley's stock characters in the Ryan-Kane-Murphy-Casey extended families. To enjoy these books, one has to suspend a lot of disbelief...Nuala Anne McGrail Coyne, our sexy, feisty, low self-esteem Irish peasant heroine, achieves a world class singing career rather too easily, for instance, and her husband, Dermot, may be too rich too easily, and too multi-talented to be credible. However, both are so darn likeable you won't give a flip about the unreality. If you like any of Greeley, I cannot imagine not liking this series. Each book has sex, humor, suspense, a bit of danger, a lot of history, an explication of how modern-day yuppies can still be practicing and sincere Catholics. the "Irish" series may not earn respect from the academic literati, but the plots are not dull, and the feeling when you are done is that all can be (mostly) right with the world if you do your part to play by the rules. For a celibate priest, Andy Greeley sure knows how to write about the healthy parts of lust and love and desire and the mysterious compulsion that brings men and women together despite their being different creatures altogether.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sweet Home Chicago, March 14, 2002

By 

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

This review is from: Irish Stew! (Hardcover)

In "Irish Stew," Father Andrew Greeley has again interwoven a compelling and interesting historical tale with the equally interesting modern day Coynes. This time the historical sleuthing involves Chicago's Haymarket Riot and the subsequent trial - which to this reader has many correlations to the later Police Riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention and the subsequent trial of the "Chicago 7."

I suppose one could start with this novel - but why miss all the fun? Start with Irish Gold and follow the family's growth and adventures. Friends from other Greeley series also make cameo appearances, including "the little bishop" (Blackwood "Blackie" Ryan.) As herself would say: "`Tis a brilliant series altogether!" I do, though, have one wee complaint - the fonts on this edition - while very pretty - are hard to read, especially when switching to almost illegible italics to tell Ned's Haymarket tale. Go on with ya, Forge/ Tom Doherty Associates printers! Father Greeley and his readers deserve better!