A Wake of Buzzards: A Jess O’Malley Mystery

In Ballyfortnum, a buzz about a dead bird could cause a killing.

Jess O’Malley’s found another body and needs to report it, but at least it’s only a bird this time.

A bird in the hand isn’t worth much if it’s dead and all the bushes have been ripped out by a heartless landowner. In this close-knit Irish village, gossip spreads like a flood after rain: soon the disliked farmer is accused of killing the buzzard and damaging lands that should be protected.

Really, he should be shot.

Everyone says it.

Then somebody does it.

When the farmer is found dead, the whole community agrees he had it coming. But if everyone’s a suspect, why is Jess’s name at the top of the list?

With so many suspects and so many motives, it’s hard to see the wood for the trees. Will Jess be able to clear her name and unveil the real killer? And why does no one seem to care if the killer is found?

A Wake of Buzzards is the third of this beautifully-written Irish village cosy mystery series, which depicts enjoyable snapshots of life in a close-knit Irish community. Jinny Alexander brings all the elements of traditional Golden Age mystery stories to a current-day setting. This deligthful new series has been likened to the Richard Osman Thursday Murder Club series, Fiona Leitch’s Cornish Village series, and MC Beaton’s Agatha Raisin series.