The Book of Killowen (spoilerish)

 The Book of Killowen (2013) by Erin Hart

The fourth book in the Nora Gavin series finds Nora and Cormac Maguire back in Ireland after Nora returned to the United States to try and finally bring her sister's murderer to justice. This time they are drawn into forensic case that combines the discovery of an ancient "bog man" with a modern-day murder. 

An excavator digging in the peat bog near Tipperary, discovers a sunken car. When the peaty turf is removed from the boot (trunk), it reveals the remains of a ninth century (or thereabouts) man. Nora, Cormac, and Niall Dawson, all experts in archaeology and pathology, are called in by Detective Stella Cusack and the local authorities to examine the remains. But the real question is how did a ninth century man wind up in the boot of a modern day vehicle? 

As Nora begins her examination of the body in situ, she realizes that there are one too many feet. There's another body underneath the bog man--and it winds up being Benedict Kavanaugh, a well-known philosopher and TV personality who has been missing for a few months. Why are the two bodies together? What was Kavanaugh doing in the area? And why didn't anyone see him and/or come forward when appeals were made at the time of his disappearance? All trails seem to lead to Killowen, a local artist's colony. Kavanaugh's wife and her "assistant" often stayed there. All of the inhabitants seem to be a bit skittish on the subject of Kavanaugh. And...once upon a time the philosopher that Kavanaugh was most interested in stayed at a local monastery. Nora, Cormac, and Stella Cusack find themselves in the middle of a mystery with ties to blackmail, treasure trove, secret identities, and ancient heresy. The past and present mingle and it's sometimes difficult to discern how much the past has influenced the murder of Kavanaugh. And why does the killer seem to be able to anticipate their every move?

---Spoiler ahead!!!---

I thoroughly enjoyed Hart's Haunted Ground, the debut novel in this series. I found her combination historical/modern mystery very intriguing and well done. The second novel, Lake of Sorrows, wasn't quite as captivating and I never could bring myself to read False Mermaid (which tells the story of of bringing Nora's sister's killer to justice). The blurb on that one indicates that once again the more recent murder had ties to a more historical one in Ireland and I just couldn't see how that would work. I was glad to see that Nora and Cormac were back at work in Ireland for this one. The tie-up between the ancient philosopher's murder and Kavanaugh's made sense and, for the most part, the mystery works well. The characterization is strong and vibrant--even more so than the debut novel. And it was interesting to meet the various inhabitants of the artist's colony. But.... (here's where the spoilery bit comes in)

I was disappointed that there was more than one killer involved. Generally speaking, I like there to be plenty of motives to go around so the reader has to sift the evidence and figure out which one is the one that pushed someone to kill. Nearly everyone at the colony has a skeleton in their closet which gives us a nice set of suspects to think about. But it makes things a bit too murky when there are several murderers to go along with the several motives. If it weren't for that little quibble, I'd give this a full four-star rating for sure. ★★★ and 3/4

First line (Prologue): The oak wood was still.

First line (1st Chapter): Kevin grasped the twin joysticks and thrust the right one forward, feeling the fierce hydraulic power in the arm of his backhoe.

Last line: She leaned forward and laid her head on his shoulder, and he could feel her heart beating, through solid flesh, in quiet double rhythm with his own.
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Deaths: 6 (one stabbed; one smothered; one hit on head; one fell from height; one poisoned; one suicide)