Moira, Deirdre, and Nuala are at it again as they help unsettled spirits in their journey on the Otherside.
Moira Gallagher's unique ability to see and converse with departed spirits has led her to establish a detective agency with her sisters. Together they help restless spirits move on from this world by solving the problems they were unable to on their own before their untimely deaths.
In these four new adventures, the sisters risk their lives to hunt down a killer, help a World War 2 sailor with his unfinished business, prove a car accident was no accident, and turn a beloved Irish tradition on its head.
Join these spunky Irish lasses as they continue to take on new clients of the deceased variety in this cozy paranormal mystery.
Moira, Deirdre, and Nuala are at it again as they help unsettled spirits in their journey on the Otherside.
Moira Gallagher's unique ability to see and converse with departed spirits has led her to establish a detective agency with her sisters. Together they help restless spirits move on from this world by solving the problems they were unable to on their own before their untimely deaths.
In these four new adventures, the sisters risk their lives to hunt down a killer, help a World War 2 sailor with his unfinished business, prove a car accident was no accident, and turn a beloved Irish tradition on its head.
Join these spunky Irish lasses as they continue to take on new clients of the deceased variety in this cozy paranormal mystery.
The Body in
Brú na Bóinne
And other ghostly tales
A Gallagher Girls Mystery
by
Gail Grant Park
Copyright Ó2024 Gail Grant Park
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the production of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.
For more information, address:
gail@gailgrantpark.com
or visit http://gailgrantpark.com
ISBN: 978-1-7379917-8-6 (paperback)
ISBN: 9-1-7379917-9-3 (hardcover)
Cover design by Patrick Knowles
Dedication
To my daughter, Jessica Rachel Siemers, whose invitation got me on the path to publishing this work, and whose encouragement keeps me going.
Table of Contents
The Body in Brú na Bóinne. 12
The Ghost Of Inisheer. 153
A Death On Beltane. 193
The Case Of Molly Malone. 225
Vocabulary
Ogham (O-am) = early alphabet circa 4th century
Brú na Bóinne (Bruna boyn ye) = “Palace of the (River) Boyne.” Neolithic monument complex of passage tombs, burial mounds and standing stones comprised of sites at Knowth, Dowth and Newgrange.
Giulio = JOO’-lee-o; Italian name meaning “youthful.”
Glendalough = glen da lock; medieval monastic city founded by St. Kevin
Wean = wayn; young child
Ciara = KEE-ra
Aelish = Eye-leesh
Gawking = vomiting
Oisín = Osh-EEN
Taliesin = Tah-lee-EH-sin
Aoife = EE-fa
amore mio = A-more-ā me-o; my love (Italian)
mia cara = my dear (Italian)
Savage = great, brilliant
Craic = Krack = lively banter, joking around
Donkey’s years = a long time
Fine thing = beautiful
Slán = goodbye
Quare = very
Stall the ball = wait a minute
Tout = informant
Shut your gob! = shut your mouth!
Ship Fever = Dysentery
St. Caomhán = St. Kevin
Teampall Bheanáin = Benen’s Temple, an oratory/burial place of Benen a disciple of St. Patrick.
Bodhrán = Bare-RON, a drum-like percussion instrument
Get the messages = do the shopping
Dia dhuit = Dee-ah gwich = a greeting, i.e.: hello
Jeanie Mac = an exclamation of surprise
Materia medica = compilation of herbs, their description, actions and uses.
Alcólach = Alcoholic
Messer = Meddler
Tosspot = someone who drinks heavily
Sláinte = slawn-che = a toast meaning ‘health’
Molly Malone’s 19th century slang:
Be gorra = exclamation of surprise
Muckers = friends
Gander = looking around, taking a chance
Skanger = low class
Yonks = a long time
Blather = nonsense, gossip
Codswallop = ideas that are foolish, untrue
Mollycoddle = pamper, indulge
~
Author’s note on spelling:
As this book takes place in Ireland, and the main characters are Irish, I use the version of English that is standard there. Thus, you’ll find colour but not color, recognise, but not recognize, etc. I am sure my American readers can easily surmount this challenge and hope it will provide a feeling of accomplishment as you come to easily cruise over the unfamiliar spellings.
The Body in Brú na Bóinne
And other ghostly tales
“Is caidreamh casta é an scéalaíocht.”
Storytelling is a complicated affair.
The Body in
Brú na Bóinne
[An Comhlacht I m Brú na Bóinne]
Chapter 1
Deacair geirrfhiadh chur as a’ dtor ná beidh sé.
‘It is hard to drive a hare out of a bush in which he is not.’
—Irish Proverb
20 March 2011
“There they are!” Nuala pointed to the airport entrance as a young woman and man exited, pausing to look around uncertainly. “Alex! Katie! Over here!” she called.
“I recognised you right away from our dream!” Nuala gushed as she embraced Katie.
Alex and Katie Stone, newlyweds and ‘kissing cousins,’ were reuniting with their Irish cousins whom they first met a year ago when Deirdre and Moira came to America. The Gallagher sisters had visited New
England to investigate an ancestral mystery surrounding gold missing from a claim during the Alaskan Gold rush three generations prior. Not only did they find the treasure, but they helped to reunite two branches of the family that had become estranged due to the disputed fortune.
Although Nuala had not accompanied her sisters at that time, she had connected with Katie via a shared dream that not only helped clarify the sisters’ quest but also created a bond between Nuala and Katie before they had even met in person.
“Nuala! It’s great to finally meet you! This is my fianc—my husband—Alex,” Katie said, turning to the tall, dark-haired young man next to her who was holding two large carryon bags.
“Here, let me help with those,” Deirdre said, stepping forward. “It’s so good to see you both again.”
She took one of the bags from Alex. “Moira is just over there, waiting with the van. This way,” she instructed, leading the way to the kerb where Moira was waving at them next to a rather vintage-looking VW van.
Deirdre and Alex stowed the luggage while Katie enveloped Moira in a hug.
“I can’t believe we’re finally here! Spring break was our first chance to get away. Well, there was Christmas, but we had to see the folks back in Massachusetts for Christmas,” she laughed.
“What do you want to do while you’re here?” Deirdre asked, once everyone was settled in the van.
“I’m interested in Celtic historical sites as well as our family history. I want to get down to Cork to see the family homestead, but also want to take advantage of having native tour guides. Can you show us things that tourists don’t usually see? I prefer ruined castles over the restored versions. After my visit from the Old Ones in my dream, I’ve wanted to learn more about ancient Ireland. Maybe see some Ogham stones? And isn’t Brú na Bóinne near here?”
Katie stopped to catch her breath. Her words had come out in a rush, as if she had rehearsed this speech and wanted to get it all out in one go.
“You pronounced Ogham and Brú na Bóinne very well,” Moira said.
“I’ve been practicing. Didn’t want to sound too much like a tourist.”
“We’re near Brú na Bóinne now; it’s not far from Dublin. But we’ll need a reservation. Let’s check to see if there are any slots available this morning if you’re up for it after that long flight,” Deirdre said.
“Believe it or not, we were able to get some sleep on the plane, so I’m ready to go. How about you, Alex?”
“Bring it on!”
While Deirdre called the Brú na Bóinne Visitors’ Centre, the cousins got caught up on the past year since they had seen each other. Alex and Katie enthused about Alaska, the amazing scenery, their new jobs, and the quaint cabin they’d built outside of Nome.
Nuala’s and Seán’s upcoming wedding was the big topic for the Gallagher sisters. Scheduled for September, they were kept busy with the planning of the big event.
“Oh, that’s wonderful! Congratulations, Nuala!” Katie said.
“Thanks; it’s all a bit overwhelming, but I’m excited,” Nuala returned.
“I know exactly what you mean. I still can hardly believe I’m Mrs Alex Stone,” she said.
“Okay, I’ve got us tickets for this morning. They don’t open the site until nine, but the visitor’s centre is open, and we got spots for ten o’clock. It’s just eight now, so we have time to get some breakfast,” Deirdre reported.
“Sounds great! I couldn’t stomach what passed for breakfast on the plane,” Katie said.
They travelled a few kilometres north and pulled off in Stamullen at the Coco Heaven Coffee House. Despite the morning chill, they sat outside and enjoyed coffee and sausage rolls while Deirdre filled them in (at some urging) on Giulio Mancuso, the owner of the van, and the “special friend” she had been seeing for the past few months.
“Tell us how you met,” Katie said, leaning forward, her green eyes sparkling with anticipation.
“We met jogging,” Deirdre answered.
“Aw, come on, Deirdre, give her the juicy version. How you rescued him. The reverse ‘damsel in distress’ story,” Nuala said with a grin.
“That sounds intriguing,” Alex said.
“It’s not a big deal. We were both at the park jogging (not together) when this woman’s dog got away from her and ran after a squirrel right across Giulio’s path, causing him to stumble. He fell over the dog and landed hard on his shoulder. I happened to come along behind him and stopped to help.”
“Deirdre always carries her mini first aid kit of tinctures and salves with her, so she administered some potent medicine on the spot, making a significant impression on Giulio,” Nuala added.
“What a great meet-cute!” Katie said. “What is he like? How long have you been dating?”
“‘Meet cute?’ I haven’t heard that before—some Americanism?” Moira asked.
“It’s the fun story of the first-time lovers met each other. You know … how their romance began,” Katie explained.
“We met last autumn, so … about four months? He came here a couple years ago for the study abroad program at UCD—did three semesters at Glendalough studying Irish Medieval history. He’d done some work in Palestine, and that interest expanded to the Irish monastic system. Now he’s doing graduate work in pre-Celtic history. He would have loved showing us around Brú na Bóinne, but he’s back in Glendalough this week with a group of undergrads he’s instructing. They took the school transport; that’s why I was able to borrow his van,” Deirdre explained.
“Now it’s my turn to ask … what is UCD?” Katie asked.
“Oh, sorry. University College Dublin,” Deirdre said. “It’s the college both Moira and I also graduated from.”
“It’s another half hour to get to Brú na Bóinne from here, so if we want to be on time for our reservation and still have a few minutes to browse the visitors’ centre beforehand, we should head out,” Moira said.
They arrived at the visitors’ centre well before ten to find caution tape across the car park and gardaí turning cars away. They parked on the verge and Moira and Deirdre got out and approached the gardaí.
“What’s happening?” Deirdre asked.
“The site is closed due to an emergency.”
“What emergency?”
“There’s been a death. That’s all I can tell you. Closed until further notice.”
Moira and Deirdre returned to the van and reported the news, what little there was.
“Well, that’s disappointing! Now what do we do?” Katie said.
“More to the point, I’m wondering what kind of death? An accident? A visitor that became ill? This is concerning,” Alex said.
“Um … Moira … do you think you could discover anything about who died?” Nuala was staring at her sister, who had suddenly gotten a faraway look.
Without a word, Moira jumped out of the van and ran towards the woods bordering the visitors’ centre.
Everyone clambered out as well, and stared after Moira, who now had reached the tree line and stopped, looking back at them.
“I’ll just be a tic. Wait at the van for me. Someone is very agitated, just beyond the trees.”
“Shouldn’t we go after her? This could be dangerous,” Alex suggested as they watched Moira jog off.
“She’ll be alright,” Deirdre said, but she continued to look anxiously at the spot where Moira had disappeared into the trees.
Moira returned after a few minutes and walked back to them. “I’m pretty sure that was the victim. She’s disoriented and confused, and I definitely felt an angry vibe, but she wasn’t ready to talk to me. I think we should wait here a bit.”
“Wait, what? What do you mean, ‘that was the victim?’” Alex said, frowning.
“Moira doesn’t just get help for her cases from dreams, like the one Katie and I shared. She communicates with the deceased themselves and they enlist her help,” Nuala explained.
Both Katie and Alex were speechless as they stared first at Moira, then at each other. The silence lasted only a moment though, as Katie said, “Those policemen are looking suspiciously at us. I don’t think we can stay here.” She glanced nervously towards the caution tape and the two uniformed men standing on the other side.
Deirdre turned back to Moira. “Are you suggesting this death was violent? Was the woman murdered?”
“That’s a very strong possibility,” Moira answered.
“What do you think about calling Inspector Keating in Dublin? She may have some sway to get us into the area. Maybe if you were closer to the place of death, you could discover more?” Deirdre suggested.
“That’s a great idea! Deirdre, can you try to get her on your mobile? Call the station first, and if that fails, try the private number that she gave us during our last case together. She said to use it anytime, but I don’t want to abuse it.”
Deirdre was connected to Inspector Keating at the station and while they were talking, they heard the thwop-thwop-thwop of a helicopter overhead. It disappeared beyond the tree line where Moira had seen the phantom woman.
Deirdre put the Inspector on speaker as she was explaining the situation.
“They’ve called in the Emergency Response Unit, as the homicide appears fresh and there is concern that there may be an active threat in the area. It is out of my hands at the moment, but once the ERU has given the ‘all clear,’ I can see if they’ll let you into Newgrange, which is where the body was found. That sounds like the helicopter arriving now. They’ll drop off the unit to secure the area and evacuate the victim’s body. Seems you have serendipitously arrived just as things are getting interesting there. Gotta go. We’ll be in touch.”
After waiting about fifteen minutes, debating what they should do, one garda began walking towards their van.
“Uh oh! Do you think we are in trouble?” Katie asked.
No one answered her as they watched the garda approach. Deirdre rolled down the driver’s window.
“I don’t know why you bunch are so special, but I’ve got a message to let you drive down to the incident site at Newgrange. You’ll have to go around the long way via the N51 … take you about twenty minutes from here. I’d have you come through the visitors’ centre but all the bus drivers have been dismissed for the day until this is sorted out and that’s the only way to get to the site from here. I’ve called ahead and the gardaí there are expecting you. They’ve been told to give you their full cooperation.”
“Thank you! We appreciate your help,” Deirdre said as she started up the van. He backed away from the vehicle as she pulled out onto the road.
“‘Full cooperation!’ I had no idea you were such celebrities!” Alex said.
“Nothing of the sort; we’ve just worked hard to establish a good relationship with the gardaí … in Dublin, at least. We’ve been successfully working together now for over a year, and after we helped Garda Keating bring three murderers to justice last autumn, she was promoted to Inspector. Let’s just say she’s very appreciative and responsive whenever we call.”
“Yes, it’s been nice to have someone who is understanding and doesn’t push to know the how of our methods. She smooths the way for us to be helpful,” Moira added.
“We haven’t had to call on that relationship before now, but I’m glad it worked. Let’s just try to keep a low profile here and not get in anyone’s way, alright?” Deirdre said.
“Well, I for one, am very interested in hearing the ‘how’ of your methods,” Alex said.
No one responded as they pulled into the parking lot outside Newgrange and Deirdre’s mobile trilled.
“Inspector Keating! Thanks for your help. We are just arriving at the site now,” Deirdre said, answering the call.
“Good. I’ve told them you are consultants to the Dublin gardaí. Make me proud and good luck!”
They were met at the gate by an escort of two gardaí, who did not look very happy to have that assignment. Deirdre took the lead, as she tended to be more diplomatic than Moira ever could.
“Thank you for allowing us access. We appreciate your consideration,” she said.
“Just stay out of the way. The ERU have just gone, so a few of us are left here to guard the area and keep people out until we get the word that it’s open to the public again,” he said, unsmiling.
“We understand,” she said.
“Would it be possible to see the location where the body was found?” Moira asked.
“I guess. Follow me.”
They walked the path to the left of the tumulus to the entrance. Alex and Katie stared open-mouthed at the massive retaining wall of white quartz cobblestones. Katie looked as if she wanted to speak but didn’t, keeping her lips pressed tightly together. The two Americans meekly followed the Gallagher girls and tried to look a part of their entourage.
Approaching the entrance to the mound, they could see that the iron gate was open, the lock broken in pieces on the ground. One garda led the way into the passage, the other brought up the rear. They all squeezed through the upright stones that stood as sentinels to the interior. When the passageway opened up and they could finally stand erect again, Alex and Katie continued to gape and turn, taking in the cruciform chambers and their contents. Katie turned to Alex and whispered, “I’m glad we read up on the site beforehand, so we know some of its history and significance.”
“It’s nothing like I imagined though, even after seeing pictures. This is amazing!” Alex whispered back.
“She was found here this morning, in front of this westernmost chamber. When the employee came to open the gate and found the lock broken, he came inside and found her. She was laid out straight with her hands over her chest. Her throat had been cut.” The garda’s tone was hushed as if he were in a church or some other sacred place. He looked to Moira to see how his words had been received, but it was Nuala who spoke.
“Has she been identified? Do they know anything about her?”
“That I wouldn’t know. ERU have taken her to Dublin where the autopsy and other identifying methods will be done. She was young; probably mid-twenties, I’d say. I saw her as they brought her out. She had no shoes on …”
Moira had by now already started back through the entrance, so the rest followed her. Once outside, she thanked the gardaí and said she’d like to walk around the site a bit, if they didn’t mind?
She then turned to Deirdre and said, “She’s not here. At least, she’s not inside the mound. I’m going to walk around. I’ll catch up with you all back at the van in a tic.”
Moira left them and continued around to the back side of the site. She trudged up the hill until she found herself at the very top of the mound. Here she sat and tried to clear her mind of the chaos of questions that the visit to the chamber had prompted.
Who are you? How can I help? I know you’re scared and unsettled. I’m here for you.
As a reader fascinated with the possibility that spirits might occasionally visit or inhabit our world and as a devoted fan of cozy mysteries, I was enchanted by Gail Grant Park's book. Set in Ireland, I felt further transported to a land of great history, mystery and fancy.
This second book in the Gallagher Girls Mysteries includes four separate novellas. Although this book can be read and enjoyed without knowledge of the previous storylines, familiarity with Book 1 in the series will help round out the backstory of the Gallagher sisters and other characters. Some stories in Book 2 make reference to prior tales, but each story offers its own unique mystery to be resolved.
The stories are well written and provide an entertaining blend of ghost story and investigation. Each tale feels distinct and succinct without dragging on unnecessarily. There are not a lot of different plot threads that could create confusion in the overall story and the author doesn't flip excessively between different timelines. Each mystery unravels in a manner that flows naturally and encourages the reader to continue turning pages late into the night.
To add to the authenticity of the Irish setting, the author includes some idioms common to the Emerald Isle in the dialog. A helpful vocabulary section with a guide to pronunciation and translation is included at the beginning of the book. For North American readers, I feel that the language adds even more charm to this book.
Another delightful feature of the book is the inclusion of a lovely Irish proverb or verse at the beginning of each chapter. For example,
Better one good thing that is, than two good things that were.
and
When misfortune is greatest then is relief nearest.
An attentive reader may perceive a hint of foreshadowing provided in some of these lyrical additions.
The Body in Brú na Bóinne and other ghostly tales was a "sound" (excellent) book and I recommend that any fan of mysteries or paranormal stories "give it a lash" (try it)!