Maggie McConnon

Bel, Book, and Scandal by Maggie McConnon is an entertaining cozy mystery with a fantastic cast of delightful characters and a perplexing missing person's case to solve. This third installment in the Belfast McGrath Mystery series can be read as a standalone.

A photo in a newspaper gives Bel McGrath a starting place in her search to find her long missing best friend, Amy Mitchell. Amy went missing right after their graduation and the case has cast a long shadow over Bel since many of the townspeople believe she was involved in her friend's disappearance. Without thinking, Bel impetuously rushes to the small town where she hopes to learn more about the now defunct commune that might have been a haven for Amy. Coffee shop owner Tweed Blazer quickly shuts down when Bel begins asking questions but she remains undeterred as she follows every lead she uncovers. Will Bel finally uncover the truth about Amy's disappearance?

Bel is still trying to make peace with the unexpected detour her life has taken in the past few years. Never expecting to return home, she is making the best of her position as the chef at her parents' special events and wedding business. She is also still smarting over the painful breakup with her ex-boyfriend, Brendan Joyce, and her former high school boyfriend Kevin's recent marriage to the police chief's (in Bel's eyes) perfect daughter Mary Ann.

Undeterred when her investigation into Amy's disappearance hits a snag, Bel, along with her new friend, Alison Bergeron, doggedly continue following the scant clues they manage to unearth. She stumbles onto more proof that Amy might still be alive, but she is frustrated when she quickly hits a dead end. Bel is certain Tweed knows more than he is telling but before he can tell her everything he knows, someone tries to make sure his long buried information remains hidden.

Bel, Book, and Scandal is an intriguing cozy mystery that is quite humorous due to Bel's snarky sense of humor and hilarious one-liners. Bel’s attempts to uncover new evidence about Amy's whereabouts end in disappointment but she remains hopeful she will find her long missing friend. Maggie McConnon brings this third installment in the Belfast McGrath Mystery series to a twist-filled and action packed conclusion.
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**MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD**

I thought this would have a decent plot from the blurb, but it was pretty weak and nonsensical. Bel has returned home after being fired in disgrace for something that wasn't even her fault. Now she's had to move home with her tail between her legs, and is taking part in her cousin's wedding. While there, she meets a handsome man who winds up being thrown to his death from the balcony of her family's manor house, and she wants to find the murderer so that one of her family members won't be found guilty. To complicate matters, an old boyfriend is now a police detective, which makes it slightly awkward for her. But finding a killer won't be easy, especially if she's looking in all the wrong places...

This could have been so much better, but it wasn't. Her family owns a crumbling manor house that they rent out for weddings, and Bel's brothers all play in an Irish band for these weddings. So are they only renting to people who are Irish? Because I can't imagine that most people would hire an Irish band unless they were. There must be an awful lot of big Irish families around there to keep the manor running. I was wondering why they just didn't sell the place and live somewhere else. I wouldn't live in a money pit.

Honestly, the book would have been more interesting if there were a ghost running around haunting the place; I couldn't see a single reason why they kept it - except for the fact that it was a plot device to give Bel a job in the long run. Speaking of which, I didn't understand why she was fired when everyone knows that fresh fish might very well have bones in it. That's why you don't just shove the entire thing in your mouth and instead pick it apart to eat it.

Plus, the blurb states as how she runs into Detective Kevin Hanson, her "long-ago love," so you're naturally thinking that they'll probably rekindle something, right? Wrong. Why was he even given the role of being an ex-boyfriend? That didn't make any sense since it really added nothing to the story and he'd moved on long ago.

And the ending? Well, let's just say that it sucked. Big time. Personal opinion and all that. Because of it, I won't be reading any more books by this author.… (más)

When I started to read this book, I was prepared for a simple cozy mystery. I was looking for a light read. What I got was a lot more than that. Yes it is a cozy, but there was a lot of suspense, some romance, a lot of family drama and even some humour. The story was very well developed and kept me turning the pages to see what would happen next. There was a lot that drew me in, and this bodes well for the series.

Belfast (Bel) McGrath has returned home to Foster's Landing after suffering a major incident both personal and career ending. Bel is an award winning chef, but does she want to cook for her parent's wedding banquet business. When Bel left town years before, her best friend had disappeared after a fight and she and her boyfriend had a falling out. She was not sure what she was coming back to, but she was going home. Two months after her return, she is the maid of honor in her cousin's wedding and a young man is killed, in fact, he is thrown over a bannister from the second floor and lands on a bust of FDR. The mystery begins. This is not the only mystery in the book. There is the mysterious Uncle, but who is he really and why is he there? There is the slow-witted brother that everyone seems to be protecting, but does he need the protection? And, the mystery of why Bel was so quick to leave her hometown of Foster's Landing after Amy disappears, and where is she?

Then there is the romance. Bel meets and starts to fall for Brandon, a boy she went to school with and thinks she might just be able to trust. But when Kevin, the old boyfriend, and her kiss, she is not sure where this is going? We find that there is love and loyalty within this loud Irish family that lives and runs the manor house after immigrating from Ireland. There are also many secrets that cause more problems than they solve. I really enjoyed the character of Bel. She was smart, loyal and did not give up. She wanted to find out what was going on no matter what, but she can keep a secret as well when she needs to. Her cousin, Caleigh, I didn't like so much. She was selfish and self-centered. I hope to see more of Brandon in the next book and that things progress between him and Bel, they both deserve some good luck in relationships.

I definitely recommend this book not only to cozy mystery lovers, but to anyone who likes a mystery without a lot of blood, guts and gore as well as someone who likes the family drama of a large immigrant family.… (más)

This is the second book in the Belfast McGrath Mysteries. I have enjoyed both of them, although you do not have to have read the first to enjoy this one.

Belfast (Bel) is the chef at her family's banquet/wedding venue as well as their home, Shamrock Manor. The Manor is just beginning to get back in the black following a murder in the last book. The wedding that opens the story is Pegeen Casey, whose family is involved in import/export and quite well off to Gerrard, a retired police detective and now private investigator. At the end of the wedding, Gerry is found dead in the women's washroom by Bel. This death is ruled a heart attack. Shortly after this, one of the Manor's servers, Pauline, is missing. Has she been kidnapped by her abusive husband, detained by ICE as she is an illegal or just run off with the $10,000.00 tip. Bel and her brother Cargan, set out to find her for very different reasons. While this is all going on, the mystery of what happened to Bel's BFF from her youth is also playing out.

Bel is either fearless or just does not think, as she puts herself in some precarious situations. She is still trying to sort out her emotions about men after having a nasty split from her previous fiancee. She is not sure where her new beau fits in to her life and still seems to have some buried feelings about Kevin, her highschool sweetheart who is also the police officer investigating the death at the manor as well as the disappearance from years earlier. The McGrath family are a hoot. They are a large Irish family that all work at the Manor so are always in each other's lives. Bel's mother is the typical interfering mom who wants the best for her daughter as well as for her to get married and have kids. They have Sunday dinners together and the sibling teasing is another light part of the book. A quick story with a plot that moves forward with short chapters to keep you reading, just one more. I enjoyed this story with just one exception, the ending regarding the missing server was not what I expected or liked, otherwise, a good read. I would recommend this book to cozy mystery lovers who enjoy plot twists and a good mystery. The publisher provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.… (más)