Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Mystery at an Irish Wedding: Half Moon Bay Mysteries by L.C. Winters! Today we are featuring a review of the first book in this cozy mystery series – perfect for fans of small-town mysteries, vibrant characters, clever clues, and a touch of romance, Murder at an Irish Wedding will keep you guessing until the final page. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews, and more! There is also a Rafflecopter Giveaway for a $10.00 Amazon gift card. ENTER HERE! ⬅️

Mystery at an Irish Wedding: Half Moon Bay Mysteries

Cozy Mystery

1st in Series

Setting – Ireland

Independently Published (January 13, 2025)

Print length ‏ : ‎ 378 pages

Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DT1CVWLM

About the Book:

“Wedding dresses, ex-fiancés, and a whole lot of murder—just another day in Half Moon Bay”

Therapist Clementine Moriarty thought her return to the whimsical seaside town of Half Moon Bay, nestled in cozy Donegal – would be a chance to reconnect with her roots, spend time at her parents’ charming little seaside art gallery and heal from heartbreak. But her homecoming is anything but peaceful when she stumbles upon an unwelcome surprise—her ex-fiancé, Greg, is getting married to her best friend, Charlotte, on the very beach where Clementine was supposed to say “I do.”

Through a series of unexpected twists and turns, what starts as a personal nightmare soon spirals into an intriguing mystery. An anonymous email had lured Clementine back home, but who sent it and why? As the wedding unfolds, tensions simmer, secrets surface, and Half Moon Bay’s picturesque façade begins to crack. When someone turns up dead with a series of baffling clues and puzzles, Clementine finds herself the role of unlikely detective as she becomes the prime suspect.

With the help of a heartwarming, blue-haired artist and her sharp intuition, Clementine must navigate a maze of jealous exes, local gossip, and buried betrayals to uncover the truth amid the charming and whimsical backdrop of Donegal. But in a village where everyone has something to hide, will this quirky crime-solving team be able to unmask the killer before it’s too late?

My Review:

This is a clever start to a new mystery series (see the series page here). I enjoyed the small Irish village setting – it fed my summer quest to travel via my armchair! To go along with the Irish village, there was a lovely set of unique (and sometimes quirky) characters. I love the premise of an email luring Clementine home – the mystery did not waste any time getting started. There were numerous clues and plenty of red herrings that kept me wondering as I read. My only quibble is that the editing could have been a bit stronger – there are point of view changes within a page and a few repeated passages that would pull out of the story and give me pause. I’d certainly return to Half Moon Bay to see what the future holds. 

About the Author:

L.C. Winters is the pen name for Laura Cavanagh & Colin Vaughan. We are from Ireland, and we aim to bring our culture, cozy Irish atmosphere, legends and history into our stories. We write cozy mystery romance novels. Our focus is on creating a set of clever clues with twists and turns to keep you guessing until the very end. Our first series is called ‘Half Moon Bay Mysteries and it is set in a small, seaside village in Ireland. Our stories promote a romanticised view of small-town life with a host of eccentric, lovable characters.

As avid mystery fans (we love the classics like Agatha Christie as well as modern cozy authors like Richard Osman), we love deciphering clues and trying to beat the detective to figure out who committed the crime. So we decided to create mysteries with a complex set of interrelated clues which are delivered in an easy to follow story. We hope that the ending of each of our mysteries is both a surprise and, at the same time, feels inevitable and ‘right’.

Laura has a degree in Psychology and this is reflected in our protagonist Clementine who uses her Psychology know-how to figure out the motives, secrets and inconsistencies in each suspect.

With our cozy fiction, we aim to create heartwarming stories with lovable, quirky characters in a nice, soothing environment. Wherever you are when you are reading our stories, we hope to whisk you away to beautiful, picturesque Ireland to the seaside county of Donegal!

Author Links:

Webpage –  Blog  – Facebook –  Twitter/X – Instagram – BlueSky – GoodReads – 

Purchase Link: Amazon

TOUR PARTICIPANTS:

• June 12 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
• June 12 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
• June 13 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR GUEST POST
• June 14 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
• June 15 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
• June 15 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – REVIEW
• June 16 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
• June 17 – Jane Reads – CHARACTER GUEST POST
• June 18 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
• June 19 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
• June 19 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
• June 20 – Book Club Librarian – REVIEW
• June 20 – Cozy Up WIth Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
• June 21 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
• June 21 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR GUEST POST
• June 22 – Frugal Freelancer – AUTHOR GUEST POST
• June 23 – Novels Alive – REVIEW
• June 24 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT
• June 25 – Sarah Can’t Stop Reading Books – REVIEW
• June 25 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER GUEST POST

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