Narrated by Emily O'Mahony ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Such a beautiful soothing voice

Story by Carlene O'Connor ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Yes! YES!! YES!!!
I loved the narrator, I loved the story, I loved the characters and the pace at which this unfolded!!

First time trying or hearing of this author but I would gladly spend my wage buying her books from this point forward.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance audiobook copy.

I enjoyed this book and the narration was great. I am looking forward to continuing with the series.

No Strangers Here by Carlene O’Connor

From the very beginning you are standing at a scene of a mysterious death of a prominent town figure. Add that attention grabbing opening to a scenic coastal town with interesting characters and a terrific narrator and you understand why I so enjoyed this book!

I was interested in this book as I’ve read & listened to all the Irish Village Mystery series by Carlene O’Connor, a very enjoyable cozy mystery series set in Kilbane, Ireland. This book is a bit darker, but I prefer my mysteries darker. The characters have believable backstories and the more you learn about each of them twists and turn the story in a very satisfying way. I was kept guessing until the end.

The narrator, Emily O’Mahony, had a lovely, melodious Irish accent that enhanced the story, kept me engaged and entertained throughout the book.

I recommend this book and look forward to more Irish Vet mysteries.

This is a new series (A County Kerry Novel Book 1) featuring a veterinarian, Dimpna Wilde, who has been away from home for 27 years. When Johnny O'Reilly's body is discovered on a rocky beach, Dimpna returns home to clear her parents of suspicion in O'Reilly's death. Detective Inspector Cormac O'Brien is assigned to handle the case, and Dimpna assists in subtle ways as she tries to clear her parents.
It ends with an explosive reveal. I look forward to reading more in the series.

This landed in the okay region for me. Not great but not horrible, overall fairly forgettable after finishing listening to the audiobook. As the beginning to a new series, maybe they will get better as the main character develops more.

Thanks to RB Media Recorded Books and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was good, but I listened to it and couldn't get past the narrator's monotone voice. Her Irish accent was good and helped with authenticity since the setting is Ireland, but the voice was drone-like and sleepy. The story itself was interesting, especially if you're a fan of Ireland dramas. Setting descriptions were good, and made me feel like I could see the places in my mind's eye. The characters too were well developed, but again the narration took away from that. 3 stars

This was really unique for me in regards of it being about a veterinarian mostly. Not many books I read have animals as part of the story. I love the setting and the characters are really well developed as the story progressed. If you can follow along easily with the voice of this then it will be a great story. It’s not my absolute favourite because I love to be at the edge of my seat but it still was a good listen for me and it had great atmosphere, it also took me a while to differentiate from all the characters. Overall 3.5 stars.

This novel is full of so many unexpected twists. I loved it! I did have a bit of trouble getting all the characters right in the beginning, which would pull me out of the story at first as I went back to verify names. But once I got them straight I couldn't put it down. So many secrets held by everyone. Each holding a puzzle piece and motive to have killed the rich elder. I loved the distrust Cormac and Dimpna had toward each other despite the attraction. The audio was great, but the narrator didn't really use an Irish accent which was disappointing because that's one of the reason I listen to Irish books rather than read them, lol. But story was amazing! I can't wait for the next one in the series! I rate it 4.5

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
This took me a bit to get into because I wasn’t a fan of the narrators voice but the book itself was good.
You just have to get past the narrator and then it’s worth it.

Dimpna Wilde is a vet whose life is unraveling. She’s lost her husband, her veterinarian practice and her son is drifting away from her. This all leads her back to her hometown in Ireland, which she has avoided for the last 27 years. Her last memories there still haunt her and her arrival home brings on even more disturbing events. Her father’s memory is slipping and she feels her parents are being framed for a murder. There are so many interesting stories within this book. I also found the characters to be very compelling. Excellent writing and storytelling. I loved this book and would highly recommend!
***huge thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review

This is my first book by Carlene O'Connor and I am sure it won't stay like that.
No Strangers here features Dr Dimpa Wilde who returns to her hometown of Dingle after a long long time. I really fell in love with her since she is one kind of a strong woman.

The story starts off with Johnny O'Reilly being found dead on the beach. He is kind of a VIP in Dingle and there are a few things that suggest, that this was a brutal murder.

As a result of this DI Cormac O'Brien starts investigating. No easy task considering who the victim was and his influene in this town.

What follows in my humble opinion is a very tense story with lots of atmosphere that pulled me in and didn't let me go until the very end!

I was happy to listen to the audio version of this first book in a series to come narrated by Emily O'Mahony who did a perfect performance!

Thanks #NetGalley #RB Media, Recorded Books for this advanced listening copy

I'm going to be interested in more book of this series.

Murder! Small town gossip! And animals! Oh my!

After losing her husband and veterinary practice, avoiding her home town is no longer an option for Dr Dimpna Wilde. She has to immediately return to Dingle following a murder because fingers are pointed at her family as prime suspects.

Wealthy horse man Johnny O'Reilly shows up dead on a beach. A remote area. And the whole thing seems staged. A killer leaving a message.

Unfortunately evidence left at the crime scene points to Dimpna's father, the town veterinarian. Her father is keeping secrets. Her mother know things too. And Dimpna is racing the clock to save her family, her family business and more than one animal along the way.

No Strangers Here was the first book that I have read by Carlene O’Connor. It was suspenseful as well as riveting. The characters were all vividly portrayed, well developed and believable. It was well plotted and held my attention throughout. There were some twists and turns that kept me guessing as I tried to figure out the mystery in this compelling crime fiction novel set in Ireland. I listened to the audiobook that was very well performed by Emily O’Mahony.

Dimpna Wilde had moved away from her quaint Irish village of Dingle as soon as she could. Personal circumstances made her leave her family and everything and everyone she cared about behind. Dimpna pursued her higher education and became a veterinarian just like her beloved father. She had set up a veterinary practice in Dublin but just as circumstances had led Dimpna away from Dingle, a new set of circumstances led her back.

A very wealthy owner of race horses, Jimmy O’Reilly, had been found dead on a beach in southwest Ireland. Jimmy O’Reilly’s body was found sitting up and leaning against a big boulder. He was dressed in an expensive black suit with a green tie around his neck and wearing his black dancing shoes. Jimmy O’Reilly was a very good dancer and was even nicknamed “The Dancing Man”. Surrounding his body were sixty-nine black painted stones and a very suspicious syringe that contained an extremely toxic and deadly medicine that was accessible to veterinarians almost exclusively.

Dimpna’s father had served as the primary veterinarian for the O’Reilly race horses for as long as Dimpna could remember. Her father had always kept a vile of the toxic medicine that was discovered beside Jimmy O’Reilly’s body at his clinic. Dimpna’s father had warned her early on never to touch the purple vile. One drop of that toxic medicine in the purple vile could kill a person. Dimpna knew her father was overly cautious with that toxin and kept it locked in a case that only he and one other person had the key to. The only thing that concerned Dimpna was that her father had recently began to show signs of dementia. Could her father have had something to do with Jimmy O’Reilly’s death? There were also rumors being spread that Dimpna’s mother was having an affair with Jimmy O’Reilly. Was someone trying to make it look like her family was involved or had something to do with the death of Jimmy O’Reilly? Dimpna was determined to prove that someone was trying to set her family up. Even Dimpna’s brother was under suspicion. With the help of Detective Inspector Cormac O’Brien, who had been sent from Killarney to work on this case, Dimpna and he refused to leave a rock unturned until they discovered the truth about who murdered Jimmy O’Reilly. During Dimpna’s search to reveal the truth about the murder, pieces of her past were slowly revealed. The circumstances that led her to flee from were Dingle were brought to light as her past was presented.

No Strangers Here by Carlene O’Connor was a well written crime fiction novel. I look forward to reading more books in this new series. The characters of Dimpna and Detective Inspector Cormac O’Brien were my favorites but all the characters were well developed. No Strangers Here was about family, love, loss, pain, illness, cruelty, danger and death. Throughout the book lots of well kept and old secrets were revealed. I loved how Dimpna took care of the animals under her watch. Being a veterinarian was no easy feat. Dimpna, as well as her father before he showed signs of dementia, were both committed, skilled, selfless and kind. They were just the kind of veterinarians one would have wanted to take care of their animals. I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook of No Strangers Here by Carlene O’Connor and highly recommend it.

Thank you to Recorded Books for allowing me to listen to the audiobook of No Strangers Here by Carlene O’Connor through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars rounded down

1.5 stars were lost due to the narrator who is taking away a lot from the book. She seems to be falling asleep most of the time and makes the book sound boring.

Also the subject of the book is dragged and it takes far too long to get to the point.

This book didn't really work out for me.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for allowing me to read this book!

EXCERPT: The dead man wore a designer suit to the beach. He was found along Slea Head Drive, at the base of a small cliff, on Clogher Strand. There he was, early on a Sunday morning in June, reposed against a craggy boulder in his fancy navy suit, starched white shirt and vibrant green tie. Next to his body, two words had been formed using sixty-nine gleaming black stones: LAST DANCE. The stones popped against the pale sand. It wasn't a whisper, it was a shout. His legs were straight out in front of him, his hands rested palms up on his thighs, and his sky-blue eyes were open, forever staring out to sea. The only visible sign of distress was the white foam pooling at the corners of his gaped mouth. The lines fanning out across his face, and wisps of silver hair clinging to a mostly bald head betrayed his advanced age. A card with a black background peeked out of the dead man's suit pocket. Detective Inspector Cormac O'Brien maneuvered around the cordon they'd placed around the body to get a closer look.

ABOUT 'NO STRANGERS HERE': On a rocky beach in the southwest of Ireland, the body of Jimmy O’Reilly, sixty-nine years old and dressed in a suit and his dancing shoes, is propped on a boulder, staring sightlessly out to sea. A cryptic message is spelled out next to the body with sixty-nine polished black stones and a discarded vial of deadly veterinarian medication lies nearby. Jimmy was a wealthy racehorse owner, known far and wide as The Dancing Man. In a town like Dingle, everyone knows a little something about everyone else. But dig a bit deeper, and there’s always much more to find. And when Detective Inspector Cormac O'Brien is dispatched out of Killarney to lead the murder inquiry, he's determined to unearth every last buried secret.

Dimpna Wilde hasn’t been home in years. As picturesque as Dingle may be for tourists in search of their roots and the perfect jumper, to her it means family drama and personal complications. In fairness, Dublin hasn’t worked out quite as she hoped either. Faced with a triple bombshell—her mother rumored to be in a relationship with Jimmy, her father’s dementia is escalating, and her brother is avoiding her calls—Dimpna moves back to clear her family of suspicion.

Despite plenty of other suspects, the guards are crawling over the Wildes. But the horse business can be a brutal one, and as Dimpna becomes more involved with her old acquaintances and haunts, the depth of lingering grudges becomes clear. Theft, extortion, jealousy and greed. As Dimpna takes over the family practice, she's in a race with the detective inspector to uncover the dark, twisting truth, no matter how close to home it strikes . . .

MY THOUGHTS: No Strangers Here is a mystery thick with both atmosphere and compelling characters. O'Connor sets the scene in the very first chapter, leaving the reader in doubt where they are: a colorful and historic town right on the coast of southwest Ireland relying on tourism and fishing for its livelihood. The scenery is gorgeous and moody, the characters complex and all hiding something.

O'Brien has been brought in as an outsider to solve the murder of a wealthy and well-known local man. As an outsider it is expected that he have no history with anyone involved, no personal agenda. But is that going to be enough to combat the far-reaching powers of the wealthy O'Reilly family who have already made up their minds who is responsible for this murder and are calling for a speedy arrest. Dimpna, a petite veterinarian whose own life has imploded, now finds herself battling not only the O'Reilly's but the police in an effort to clear her parents from suspicion. Dimpna has battled the O'Reilly's before - there's no love lost there. What she discovers is a tangled web of secrets and lies, some going back as far as her childhood.

I have read some of Carlene O'Connors Village Mystery books previously, but here her writing has reached a whole new level. Somewhat darker than a traditional cosy-mystery, and with plot-twists I never saw coming, O'Connor kept me intrigued throughout. County Kerry Mysteries is a new series that I am excited about.

I listened to the audiobook of No Strangers Here, superbly narrated by Emily O'Mahony

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5


#NoStrangersHere #NetGalley

I: @writergirlchi @recordedbooks

T: #CarleneOConnor @RBMediaCo

#cosymystery #contemporaryfiction #crime #detectivefiction #family drama #irishfiction #murdermystery #smalltownfiction

THE AUTHOR: Born into a long line of Irish storytellers, Carlene O'Connor's great-grandmother emigrated from Ireland filled with tales in 1897 and the stories have been flowing ever since. Of all the places she’s wandered across the pond, she fell most in love with a walled town in County Limerick and was inspired to create the town of Kilbane, County Cork, the setting of her Irish Village Mystery series.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to RB Media for providing an audio ARC of No Strangers Here, written by Carlene O'Connor and narrated by Emily Mahony, for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

When I first started listening to this book I was thoroughly confused because I had forgotten that this was the first book in a new series! I quickly figured out that I hadn't met these characters before and I was very excited to get into the meat & potatoes of the story and figuring out who all the key players were. I absolutely love Emily O'Mahony's narration of this novel and I will look for more books narrated by her in the future. Her accent is absolutely gorgeous and I could listen to it all day.

This was a great first book, Carlene did a great job of introducing Dimpna Wilde and her family. I like that bits of her past were parceled out throughout the book providing clues to the current crime.

Very much looking forward to reading book #2 in the County Kerry series.

OMG this was so good. I have ready the author’s other series and I think this one is my favorite. I can’t wait to read the next one. The storyline keeps you gripped to the story the whole time. She does a great job keeping the person of interest revealed until the end. Highly recommend this book.

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.

I’ll start by saying I really enjoyed the narrator of this book but at times the Irish accent was a little difficult to understand. The story moved a little slow for me at first but the characters were interesting and detailed and it picked up towards the middle. I was surprised by the outcome and like when I can’t predict the ending! I’ll definitely be checking out the next book in this series when it’s released!

3.5 stars

A veterinarian goes back to her hometown in rural Ireland when her aging parents fall under suspicion in a murder inquiry. I really enjoyed this mystery, the setting, and the animal interactions. The ending is a bit far fetched, though.

[What I liked:]

•I liked both MCs, especially Dimpna. I also really enjoyed the scenes where she treats animals in the clinic or gets called out to farms. Those helped round out her character, but also helped break up the darkness & tension of the murder mystery.

•There is a lot going on in this plot! Inter-generational resentments between townsfolk in Dingle, childhood traumas, long kept secrets, friend betrayals, & of course the murders. There are no dull moments in this book.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•I wish Cormac had gotten some more character development. Hopefully in future installments we’ll get to know him better.

•The ending is a bit implausible. Someone basically holds a gun to someone’s head to get them to confess to a string of crimes, & I don’t see how that kind of confession would be admissible in court.

CW: r*pe, infidelity, terminal illness, child neglect/abuse, substance abuse, suicide, murder, ableism, sexism

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

No Strangers Here by Carlene O’Connor
Narrator, Emily O’Mahony
I have never read this author before so cannot compare to her previous series. I really did not enjoy this book very much but I did finish it. However, it felt like a chore. It just did not grab my interest and the solution was kind of ridiculous. I did not really engage with the characters and I did not care about the very mild romance. Also, it was a ten plus hour audiobook and it really could have lost about two hours.
The narrator had a lovely accent but her pronunciation and phrasing were sometimes very strange.
All in all, it was okay but not great.