County Cork Mysteries Books in Order
Part ofSheila Connolly Books in OrderBrowse the County Cork Mysteries by Sheila Connolly in order, with story summaries, series background on Maura Donovan and Sullivan's Pub in Ireland, and guidance on the best place to begin.
Last updated: January 17, 2026
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).
Publication Order
9 books
Fatal Roots
by Sheila Connolly
2020
Curious about the boundaries of the property she inherited in Ireland, Maura explores the tangled hedgerows behind her cottage and uncovers human remains. The discovery brings old land disputes and family feuds to the surface, forcing Maura to decide how far she will go to protect her new home.
The Lost Traveller
by Sheila Connolly
2019
Sullivan’s Pub is finally thriving when Maura stumbles on a mutilated corpse in the ravine behind the building, the victim’s face too damaged to recognize. As the gardaí struggle to identify him and villagers claim to know nothing, Maura follows faint clues that suggest the stranger was not as unknown as everyone pretends.
Tied Up With a Bow
by Sheila Connolly
2018
As Christmas approaches in Leap, Maura puzzles over how much to decorate the pub and a mysterious building project across the street. When a frightened young boy and his mother arrive from Dublin with something to hide, Maura and her friends work to keep them safe and untangle the threat on their trail.
Many a Twist
by Sheila Connolly
2018
Maura is stunned when her estranged mother appears in County Cork, working for the new owners of the nearby Crann Mor hotel. After her mother’s boss is found dead in the gardens, Maura must probe long standing village tensions and family secrets to clear a woman she barely knows.
Cruel Winter
by Sheila Connolly
2017
An unusual snowstorm strands Maura and a motley group of patrons in Sullivan’s Pub, including Englishwoman Diane Caldwell, long suspected in a notorious local stabbing. With nowhere to go, Maura encourages an improvised trial of the decades old crime, only to uncover new evidence and dangerous resentments.
A Turn for the Bad
by Sheila Connolly
2016
After a local farmer vanishes during a walk on the beach with his young son, rumors of suicide and accident swirl through Leap. When the body that washes ashore is someone else entirely, Maura begins to suspect smugglers are using the coves near her pub and that the missing man stumbled into danger.
An Early Wake
by Sheila Connolly
2015
When Maura learns that Sullivan’s Pub once hosted legendary traditional music sessions, she agrees to revive the idea to draw more visitors. The return of aging musicians and fans brings with it a suspicious death that forces Maura to untangle rivalries, old feuds, and the pub’s own musical past.
Scandal in Skibbereen
by Sheila Connolly
2014
In County Cork, Maura Donovan is settling into running Sullivan’s Pub when an American art researcher arrives searching for a lost painting by a famous Irish artist. After a man connected to a nearby estate is murdered, Maura must balance local wariness of outsiders with the hunt for a killer and a valuable work of art.
Buried in a Bog
by Sheila Connolly
2013
Honoring her grandmother’s last wish, Maura Donovan travels from Boston to the tiny Irish village of Leap and takes an unexpected job at Sullivan’s Pub. When a nearly century old body is found in a nearby bog and a more recent murder follows, Maura discovers that old loyalties and long buried crimes still shape the village.
Series background & context
The County Cork Mysteries carry an American heroine across the Atlantic and drop her into a village in West Cork that feels both foreign and oddly familiar. Maura Donovan grows up in Boston hearing her Irish grandmother’s stories but with little sense of connection to the place itself. Her grandmother’s last wish is simple: go to Ireland, find the people she left behind, and tell them she is gone.
Maura arrives in the tiny village of Leap expecting a short visit. Instead she discovers distant relatives, a pub whose late owner arranged for her to inherit it, and a community that is wary of outsiders but quick to watch over its own. Sullivan’s Pub becomes the center of her new life, a place where she pulls pints, listens to gossip, and slowly learns how things are done in rural Ireland.
Each mystery in the series grows out of that setting. In Buried in a Bog, the discovery of a long dead body in a peat bog links the present to violence almost a century old, and Maura realizes that the past is never as distant as it looks. Later books deal with missing farmers, suspicious deaths tied to development along the coast, and strangers whose arrival during a snowstorm forces the village to relive an infamous murder that was never fully resolved.
Connolly uses Maura’s outsider status to explain Irish customs without slowing the story. Maura does not know the rules for wakes, land boundaries, or how much deference to give the local gardaí, so she asks questions that a reader might ask. At the same time, she is not a tourist. She learns how to keep a pub running, how to negotiate with suppliers, and how to balance the demands of visitors and locals who all think of Sullivan’s as their second living room.
The books are rich with details of music sessions, village shops, and weather that can change a plan in an instant. Maura’s slow building friendships and possible romance with people like Mick Nolan give the series a warm undercurrent even when the central crime is dark. The mysteries often hinge on long held grudges, property disputes, or secrets that families have tried to bury for generations.
Readers who enjoy armchair travel will find plenty to like: winding roads, old graveyards, and the constant presence of history just under the surface. Read in order, the series traces Maura’s shift from visitor to committed resident, someone who may grumble about Irish bureaucracy but will fight hard to defend the pub and village she has come to call home.
Edited by
Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.
Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.
Comments
Did we miss something? Have feedback?
Help us improve this page by sharing your thoughts