Buried in a Bog by Sheila Connolly

Buried in a Bog by Sheila Connolly is a cozy mystery that gives us a glimpse into every day life in Ireland. Ms. Connolly's grandfather was born in County Cork and after she discovered a pub called Connolly's in the village of Leap, she used it as a backdrop for Sullivan's in her novel. There are many interesting tidbits in the book such as the confusion over names. Traditionally the first born son is named after his father's father, the daughter after her mother's mother, resulting in same names for different  members of the family (a genealogy nightmare). 

From the cover:

Honoring the wish of her late grandmother, Maura Donovan visits the small Irish village where Gran was born—never expecting to get bogged down in a murder mystery. Nor had she planned to take a job in one of the local pubs, but she finds herself excited to get to know the people who knew her Gran.

In the pub, she's swamped with drink orders as everyone in town gathers to talk about the recent discovery of an almost 100-year-old body in a nearby bog. When Maura realizes she may know something about the dead man—and that the body's connected to another, more recent, death—she fears she's about to become mired in a homicide investigation. Maura has a sinking feeling she may really be getting in over her head...

My thoughts: This is one of my favorites so far this year. I enjoyed the setting and the story, but I did want to understand more about Maura's life in Boston. Surely there must have been mementos and things that she might have wanted to keep, especially to remember her grandmother by. Ms. Connolly does a great job at describing things that might baffle someone from another country and explaining life in Ireland. 

Spoiler Alert:
Maura's family tree was very confusing with so many same or similar names. I've put together what I could figure out from the book (don't look at "read more" if you haven't read the book yet)