I don’t know if it is the ‘old dog’ in me, but I always strive to learn something when I read. Mystery novels are no exception.I prefer my mysteries to be either historical, or set in a location I am not familiar with. That is why this novel set in Ireland by first time author, Erin Hart, caught my eye.

There are two mysteries in this slow moving novel. The first involves the present day disappearance of the local gentry’s wife and young son. The second surrounds the finding of a severed head of a ‘bog person’ from long ago. The main characters in the story are the archeologist Cormac Maguire and Nora Gavin, a pathologist, from the US. Together with the local detective, Garret Devany, they become involved in solving both mysteries once they begin to research the identity of the bog lady and stay at the home of Hugh Osborne, the husband of, and the prime suspect in, the disappearance of his missing wife and son.

This mystery could be classified as partially historic and is also set in a place I am not familiar with, so I had the chance to learn about Ireland past and present, and also learn the science of digging up and preserving bog people. I don’t feel the author threw too much background information into the story, but instead only used enough dry facts and research to answer questions the reader may have while still maintaining the story line.

Curling up in front of a fireplace on a wing-backed, double-stuffed chair on a foggy spring afternoon.

Well written for a first time novelist, with seamless blending of fact and fiction. The sleuths in the story also use novel ways to solve the dual mysteries including folk songs and tales.

I found myself getting lost in the beginning because the author uses too many points of view, and some story lines are not necessary. Also the use of the 'f' word always distracts me unless it is used throughout the book (and I probably wouldn't read that kind of book anyways).

Erin Heart has written a second book using the characters of Nora and Cormac, solving more mysteries in the bogs of Ireland.

Ms. Hart has a web site at http://www.erinhart.com/index.htm

The quality of the prose in this book is quite good, and as a want-to-be writer of mysteries, I can learn from her. I also recommend this book for its setting and history.

Give this first novel a chance, and try to stick with it to reach the middle of the story, when things start to happen. Like all good Irish tales, it takes a while to warm up, but then it sticks with you longer than the dime a dozen action type of mystery.