Wild Irish Rose (Molly Murphy Series #18)

by Rhys Bowen, Clare Broyles

Overview

New York Times bestselling author Rhys Bowen, now writing in partnership with her daughter, Clare Broyles, transports and enthralls readers through the incomparable Molly Murphy Sullivan. Wild Irish Rose, the next novel in this beloved mystery series, is cause for celebration for readers and critics alike.

NEW YORK, 1907: Now that she’s no longer a private detective—at least not officially—Molly Murphy Sullivan is looking forward to a time of settled tranquility with friends and family. Back in New York, where her own story began, Molly decides to accompany some friends to Ellis Island to help distribute clothing to those in need. This journey quickly stirs up memories for Molly. When you’re far from home and see people from your country, every face looks like that of a family member.

That evening Molly’s policeman husband, Daniel, is late returning home. He comes with a tale to tell: There was a murder on Ellis Island that day, and the main suspect is the spitting image of Molly. The circumstances are eerily similar to when Molly herself arrived on Ellis Island, and she can’t help but feel a sense of fate. Molly was meant to be there that day so that she could clear this woman’s name.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250808073
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/28/2023
Series:	Molly Murphy Series , #18
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	145,243
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

RHYS BOWEN is the New York Times bestselling author of the Anthony Award—and Agatha Award–winning Molly Murphy mysteries, the Edgar Award–nominated Evan Evans series, the Royal Spyness series, and several stand-alone novels including In Farleigh Field. Born in England, she lives in San Rafael, CA.

CLARE BROYLES, who is Rhys Bowen's daughter, is a teacher and a musician. She has worked as a composer and arranger in the theater for both Arizona Theater Company and Childsplay and was nominated for an Arizona ‘Zoni’ theater award. Clare is married to a teacher and they have three children.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Wild Irish Rose

“[Bowen and Broyles deliver] a satisfying domestic mystery, rich in the details of running a middle-class urban household in the early twentieth century.” —Booklist

Praise for Rhys Bowen and the Molly Murphy Mysteries

“One of the great mystery writers working today.” —Louise Penny

"Molly is sassy, saucy, brave and smart.” —The Huffington Post

“Molly Murphy, the plucky star of Rhys Bowen’s mystery series…likes to fight for the underdog.” —USA Today

“Readers will surely testify that Murphy has become one of their favorite characters… This book is a keeper.” —Tampa Tribune

“Molly is an indomitable creature.” —Washington Times

From the Publisher

01/31/2022

Set in 1907, bestseller Bowen’s uneven 18th Molly Murphy mystery (after 2017’s The Ghost of Christmas Past), coauthored with daughter Broyles, takes Molly to Ellis Island one cold winter day to help distribute warm clothing to immigrants. There Molly encounter a near-ringer for herself, Rose McSweeney, who—as Molly’s husband, police captain Daniel Sullivan, tells her that evening—is suspected of fatally stabbing a man in an Ellis Island storeroom. The corpse carries no identification, the murder weapon is missing, and the story of the witness who claims he saw Rose leaving the murder scene doesn’t entirely add up. Herself an Irish immigrant once falsely accused of a crime, Molly is determined to clear the woman’s name despite Daniel’s opposition. Hiding her plans, she tracks Rose to the boarding house in which the police are keeping watch on her and strikes up a friendship. Well-drawn family dynamics and Molly’s feisty personality compensate only in part for a mystery in which her blindness to obvious clues isn’t credibly explained by her emotional investment in the case. Still, series fans will enjoy catching up with Molly and company. Agents: Christina Hogrebe and Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

02/04/2022

In the 18th book in the Molly Murphy series (following The Ghost of Christmas Past), this mystery set in New York City in 1907 follows Molly as she convinces her police captain husband to accept her help in solving a murder committed on Ellis Island. Readers are reminded that Molly is taking risks by acting outside her role of wife, mother, and homemaker by showing her determination and skill as a private detective, much to the dismay of her mother-in-law. She feels driven to help a young lady who just immigrated from Ireland, bringing back memories of her own voyage from Ireland to America. Molly's success in finding people and clues involved in the case show her husband that her intuition and investigative skills can help solve the case. Characters from other titles in the series are woven in the story along with background for new readers, but not so much as to weigh down the story for returning fans. VERDICT This installment will please readers of the series and welcome new ones to the adventures of a woman determined to use her talents, even if they do fall outside of society's expectations.—Linda Gray

Library Journal

2021-12-15
A marriage is imperiled by that age-old threat: the wife’s desire to continue sleuthing.

Most women in 1907 are wives and mothers who stay home to care for their families. But restless former private detective Molly Murphy envies her husband Daniel’s job as a New York City detective. When Sid and Gus, the eccentric neighbors with whom she’s shared past adventures, ask her to help with a clothing drive set up by the Vassar Benevolent Society to take clothes to newly arrived immigrants at Ellis Island, the task plunges her into a dangerous and exciting murder case. Molly's ward, Bridie, a bright young girl Gus and Sid have offered to tutor because she’s chronically underserved at school, is invited along. When they arrive on the island, Bridie accidentally follows a woman who looks like Molly—a woman who later turns out to be the chief suspect in the murder of an unidentified man that Daniel’s investigating. Molly is predisposed to finding Rose McSweeney innocent, for she naturally sees herself in the beautiful Irish immigrant and soon befriends her, much to the disapproval of Daniel, who wants her to stay far from his case. Despite his stern warnings, Molly continues to make inquiries, and she eventually turns up a great deal of new evidence the police would never have found. The investigation moves slowly as it awaits information from Ireland and England, but Molly, undaunted, continues to champion Rose, who may not be what she seems.

The clever and adventurous heroine dissects a complicated mystery while standing up for women’s rights.

Kirkus Reviews