Greetings! Thank you for visiting today. I am featuring Maggie McConnon's latest A Belfast McGrath Mystery (I am part of the blog tour). The first book in this series is Wedding Bel Blues. Ms. McConnon also has a story in Cozy Case Files.
Bel of the Brawl by Maggie
McConnon is the second book in A Belfast McGrath Mystery series. Bel McGrath lives in Foster’s Landing and is
the chef for Shamrock Manor. Shamrock
Manor is run by her parents and is the go to venue for wedding receptions in
their area. Every member of the family
helps out in some way (her brothers are in the band). Their current client is Pegeen Casey and her fiancé,
Gerry Mason. Bel is intrigued with she
finds out that Gerry is a private investigator.
She wants to discuss hiring him to investigate the long-ago disappearance
of her friend, Amy Mitchell when he returns from his honeymoon. Unfortunately, Gerry is not going to be
available to help her. Bel finds Gerry
dead in a lady’s room stall (her stall was out of toilet paper). After everyone has left, the McGrath’s
discover that one employee is missing as well as the $10,000 tip they received
from Pegeen Casey’s father. When Pauline
fails to show up the next day or arrive at home, Bel becomes concerned. Bel starts looking into Pauline’s
disappearance and why her friends are so reluctant to report her missing. It seems that there is quite a bit that the
family did not know about Pauline. It
appears that Pauline has been a very busy girl when she is not working. There is another issue taking up Bel’s
thoughts. The police have found Amy’s
belonging (after all these years) in the local river along with a set of
remains. Have they finally found Amy
after all this time? In between cooking
for weddings, looking for Pauline, and worrying what happened to Amy, Bel has
little free time (though she does sneak in a little time with her boyfriend,
Brendan Joyce). Sometimes Bel is not
sure she made the right decision returning home to her unruly family. Will Bel discover Pauline’s whereabouts and
the location of the missing money? To
see if Bel makes it through another week at Shamrock Manor, read Bel of the Brawl.
Bel of the Brawl is easy to read
and is full of action. While Bel of the Brawl is the second book in the series, it can be read alone. The author updates the readers on what occurred
in Wedding Bel Blues. I found that this
book was more cozy than mystery. The
death of Gerry Mason was easily solved.
I wish it had been a little more perplexing. The case of the missing best friend (Amy
Mitchell) continued from Wedding Bel Blues into this book. It still remained a mystery at the end of the
novel. I am curious how long the
belongings would have stayed in the bottom of that river. Most items would deteriorate and float away
after a number of years (maybe they are made of rubber). It seems to have become common place for
authors to provide a secondary mystery in their books that play out in the
background over the course of several books (unfortunately). I give Bel of the Brawl 3 out of 5
stars. I had a few issues with this
story. It is a little unrealistic. I am puzzled how Bel can provide a
multi-course wedding dinner for a hundred plus guests with only a sous
chef. It seems impossible. I am curious as to why anyone with money
would want to hold their wedding at Shamrock Manor. It sounds like a rinky dink outfit more
suited to budget brides. Considering the
number of discounts that Mr. McGrath hands out, I am surprised that Shamrock
Manor is still in business. Personally,
I am not a fan of Bel. The same goes
true for the rest of the McGrath family (just too over-the-top ridiculous). Bel of the Brawl is more suited to readers
who like humorous (wacky) cozy mysteries full of madcap antics. While Bel of the Brawl is not for me, I
believe other readers will enjoy the zaniness of the McGrath family. Bel, Book and Scandal is the next book in the series. It will be out on December 5, 2017.
I hope you found my book evaluation helpful. I am currently reading Written in Love by Kathleen Fuller. I am off to pick up more leaves. Mother Nature dumped more of them in my yard this weekend (it looks like fall in my backyard). I hope all of you have a very enjoyable and lovely Spring day! Take care and Happy Reading!
Kris
The Avid Reader
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