Mags Munroe Books in Order

The Mags Munroe series shifts Jean Grainger's storytelling into cozy crime, without losing her trademark warmth and sense of place. Instead of big houses or wartime Europe, the action unfolds in Ballycarrick, a fictional Irish town where the local Garda sergeant is as likely to be worrying about hot flushes as hardened criminals.

Mags Munroe is a middle aged policewoman juggling work, teenage daughters, aging parents and a husband whose hobbies can be as trying as any suspect. In The Existential Worries of Mags Munroe she insists that nothing ever happens in Ballycarrick, and that this is how she likes it. Then an unexpected and baffling crime jolts the town, forcing her to step out of her comfortable routine and investigate something completely outside her experience.

In Growing Wild In The Shade Mags deals with the arrival of a mysterious newcomer who clearly wants to disappear into small town anonymity. Ballycarrick, with its twitching curtains and endless curiosity, is the wrong place to hide. As she tries to balance the newcomer's right to privacy with real concerns about danger, Mags realises she has missed important clues and that the stakes may be higher than she thought.

Each To Their Own puts her in the uncomfortable position of policing people she has known all her life. Faced with minor offenders who are also family friends, and a crowd of angry parents, she has to decide how far to bend without breaking either the law or her own conscience. At the same time, outside agitators arrive in town, and a protest that should be peaceful turns ugly.

In Closer Than You Think the arrival of an elderly couple who call themselves a witch and a warlock upends Ballycarrick's rhythms. Their presence delights some residents and enrages others, and Mags is dragged into squabbles she never expected to referee. When a situation that looks like a joke takes a darker turn, she realises that forces from far beyond the town are taking an interest.

By the time of Chancing Your Arm, Mags is fielding two headline grabbing cases at once: a world famous showjumper has vanished, and a troubled celebrity is hiding out in a nearby castle. Working alongside Conor O'Shea from the Tour books, she must sort publicity stunts from real peril.

These novels are light on gore and heavy on character. They explore midlife, marriage, parenting and community change against the backdrop of puzzling but ultimately hopeful mysteries. If you like crime stories where the detective goes home to cook dinner and argue with teenagers after solving the case, Mags Munroe is an ideal guide.