BOOK OF THE WEEK

The Bride Collector by Siobhan MacDonald, Constable, £8.99

Ellie Gillespie is a taxi driver in a small Irish town – Kylebeggan in County Kerry in Ireland. She is single, and lives alone in a small rented house with a creepy neighbour.

She has recently come down in the world, and misses her former lifestyle.

Two recent murders of local women who were found laid out on their beds in their wedding dresses have caused increased caution in the residents, and incidentally increased Ellie’s business. Cormac Scully is a reporter on the local newspaper. The murders have resulted in his appointment as the paper’s first ever crime reporter, and he starts to investigate in parallel with, and despite, the Gardaí. The town of Kylebeggan’s reliance on tourism means that politics plays a part in the Gardaí’s activities. When one of Ellie’s hen-do fares becomes the third murder victim, and Ellie therefore a witness in the case, Cormac seeks her out and they agree to pool resources and work together.

Ellie’s gathering of gossip from taxi fares and Scully’s information from an inside source soon result in a number of possible theories. Their investigative activities soon attract the murderer’s attention, and the case becomes increasingly personal for both of them. Is Ellie’s neighbour as harmless as the Gardaí believe? Are the strange noises in her attic related?

What is the significance of the old rhyme: Something old, Something new, Something borrowed,

Something blue...? All is subsequently revealed with, as in all good mystery stories, an unexpected twist in the tail.

Siobhán MacDonald has done well to pull together the closeness of a small town; the natural inclination of travellers to gossip in taxis and the insular nature of local police forces to provide a believable environment allowing amateur detectives to succeed where law enforcement can’t.

The principal characters are well drawn, with both Ellie’s history and Scully’s home life being gradually revealed throughout the narrative. There is a deal

of obfuscation throughout, some of which is a little thin. The information required to start guessing at the main solution is introduced very late in the story. However, the final revelation is one that I had certainly not contemplated. Altogether, this is a very readable and enjoyable mystery novel.

I wonder if Ms MacDonald is intending Ellie and Scully to do any more sleuthing.