Buried in a Bog

Author: Sheila Connolly
Type: e-audiobook
Source: Local Public Library
Series: #1 in the County Cork mystery series
Publisher: Tantor Audio
First Published: January 31, 2014
First Line: "She tried to smile politely in return, but she was exhausted."

Book Description from GoodReads:  Honoring the wish of her late grandmother, Maura Donovan visits the small Irish village where her Gran was born—though she never expected to get bogged down in a murder mystery. Nor had she planned to take a job in one of the local pubs, but she finds herself excited to get to know the people who knew her Gran.

In the pub, she's swamped with drink orders as everyone in town gathers to talk about the recent discovery of a nearly one-hundred-year-old body in a nearby bog. When Maura realizes she may know something about the dead man—and that the body's connected to another, more recent, death—she fears she's about to become mired in a homicide investigation. After she discovers the death is connected to another from almost a century earlier, Maura has a sinking feeling she may really be getting in over her head ...

My Review:  E-audiobooks have become a favourite of mine lately.  See, I hate feeling like I'm wasting time.  So, in order to feel productive even while I'm driving to and from work I like to downloaded e-audiobooks from the library onto my iPhone and listen to them in the car.

I was in the mood for a cozy mystery and after reading Gracelin O'Malley I was still in an Irish frame of mind so thought that this book would fit the bill.  While both books are set in Ireland they were very different in their execution and in my enjoyment.

I will say that the highlight of this e-audiobook was the narrator.  She did a tremendous job jumping back and forth from an Irish brogue to the very distinct sound of a Boston accent.  It was her voice that really kept me going (I have a soft spot for Irish and Scottish accents -- swoon!).  Unfortunately a nice brogue isn't enough for me to love a book. 

For a book that is touted a mystery there was hardly any attention given to creating the slightest bit of suspense.  In fact, this book, if I were to describe it would be "Young American Woman Moves to Ireland and Tries to Understand Irish Culture".  I was over 45% into the book when there had only been brief mention of this body found in the bog and another murder.  It was frustrating as we spent more time seeing Maura visit an old friend of her Gran's, learning to drive on the left-side of the road and deciding on whether to work at the local pub.  All I could think was .... when does the mystery start?!  I guess I'll never find out because I gave up at about 60%.  If you can't get me invested in the story by then I have to move on.

Add to the fact that the dialogue between the characters was boring and didn't propel the story line and this was a painfully dull read/listen.  I'm surprised there are other books in the series, quite frankly.  The feel of this book and the author's name niggled at the back of my mind so I looked back at my reading spreadsheet and I realized that I had read another book by her back in January 2013 in her Orchard Mystery Series.   Unfortunately I had similar views of both books.  Connolly seems to take too much time getting her mystery started and with the weak, almost non-existent suspense and dull characters I won't be reading more books by this author.

My Rating: 0 (DNF - Did Not Finish)