11 Mysteries Set in Ireland

Much to the dismay of Bracklyn House, Hugh Osborne's grand estate, the perfectly preserved head of a young, red-haired woman has been discovered in an Irish peat bog; and it threatens to expose the estate's secrets. Irish archaeologist Cormac Maguire and American Pathologist Nora Gavin are on the case, but due to the bog's acidic, decay-proof nature, they're unsure how long the woman has been buried there or even who she is. 

In their quest to identify her, they attempt to connect her existence to the other enigmas that have collected in this remote corner of Galway. For example, local Mina Osborne disappeared without a trace not two years prior during a walk with her young son. Are the incidents connected? Are there more people buried in the bottom of this bog? Or are the village whispers correct and Hugh Osborne is responsible for the murder of his family? 

Two people looking to leave their pasts behind, Welsh detective Anna Cole and Irish forensic psychologist Declan Wells work together to take a serial killer off the streets of Belfast. Due to a car bomb that sentenced him to life in a wheelchair, Declan has been off the beat for a long time. But when a serial killer strikes too close to home for comfort, he's desperate to get on the case—but he can't do it alone. 

Anna, fleeing from a dead-end relationship and seeking a secondment to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Instead of a mere distraction from her life, she instead gets a case and a partner that alter her life completely. But in their quest to catch the killer before another life is taken, they will both have to decide if leaving the past behind is truly possible. 

Neil Hockaday, NYPD detective, is visiting Ireland to piece together his family history and to meet his last living relative. His father perished in WWII and this visit to Ireland is his only hope at understanding his family history. But crime never rests, and when he arrives, the supposed suicides of a retired priest and two cops, and the death of an Irish woman due to a bombing keep him busier than he intended. 

From “the Godfather of the modern Irish crime novel” comes A Galway Epiphany, in which we meet ex-cop-turned-PI Jack Taylor. Finally leaving his depressing life in Galway behind in favor of a quiet retirement countryside with his friends, Jack needs only to return to the city once more to sort out his affairs. But whilst there, he's hit by a truck in front of Galway's Famine Memorial, leaving him in a coma but mysteriously untouched besides. 

He awakens weeks later to Ireland's frenzy over the so-called “Miracle of Galway.” The country is convinced that the two children caring for Jack in the street are saintly, and the scene of the “miracle” sacred. But the Catholic Church isn't so sure, and so Jack is enlisted to help find the children and confirm whether the act was truly a miracle or if it was a farce. But of course, Jack isn't the only one attempting to track down the children, and he eventually finds himself caught up in a case involving nuns, and arsonist, and a girl who's more naturally inclined towards manipulation than she is miraculous behavior. 

This haunting novel revolves around the mysterious disappearance of a teenage girl. When Martina Keane seemingly vanishes, her distraught family is irrevocably changed. Each member deals with the trauma and stress in different ways; while Mrs. Keane becomes emotionally distant and Mr. Keane is investigated as a suspect, Martina’s siblings are left to fend for themselves.

Set on a farm on the west coast of Ireland, readers are immersed in the landscape as the Keanes wonder what became of Martina when she ventured beyond the farm, and if she’s still out there. The Guardian notes that award-winning author Kate Thompson “is careful to evoke a sense of Ireland as a place of strangeness and myth without being swept away on bogs and blarney.”

When Tom Noone agrees to ghostwrite a biography of novelist Sebastian Devereaux, he has no idea what he’s getting himself into. To do research for his book, Tom and his young daughter Emily travel to Devereaux’s home on the remote island of Delphi, off the coast of Donegal. Unbeknownst to him, the rural Irish landscape holds sinister secrets about a Nazi atrocity committed there decades before.

As Tom’s research takes him deeper and deeper into the mystery, a body washes up on the shores of the island. Tom and Emily are forced to flee for their safety as a cast of characters with ambiguous motivations pursue them. Thrilling and suspenseful, The Lost and the Blind is a heart-pounding read. 

Master of crime fiction Dorothy Salisbury Davis penned this riveting novel starring amateur sleuth, Julie Hayes. The story begins in New York City, home of Julie—an up-and-coming reporter for the New York Daily. In rapid succession, Julie experiences two traumatic events: her husband has an affair and files for divorce, and she is sexually assaulted by two strangers. Reeling from these personal tragedies, Julie decides to take some time off.

The action picks back up in Ireland, where Julie tracks down her elusive birth father and becomes entangled with the covert Irish Republican Army, all while trying to piece together the mystery of her own attack. With a strong female lead, political intrigue, and a puzzling web of lies and betrayal, it’s no wonder Publishers Weekly called this “no simple mystery...a tale chockful of action that leads to a heartening, if bittersweet, conclusion”.

Each short story in this collection is set in the Northern Ireland city of Belfast. Given its history of sectarian violence, urban decay, and general civil unrest, the setting of Belfast is a perfect complement to these gloomy tales of noir fiction. From a disturbed incarcerated teenager to an undertaker who turns to smuggling illicit goods in his coffins, complex characters with dark secrets populate the pages of this gripping collection of mysteries.

Detective Bob Ryan had a more compelling reason than most to join the police force. When he was a child, he witnessed a horrific crime leading to the disappearance of two other children—a crime that he has no memory of, due to shock and trauma. Now another girl has gone missing in the same Dublin woods where he was found twenty years earlier, trembling and covered in blood. Following clues from the present investigation, as well as his own long-buried memories, Bob is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery and find the predator who’s stalking children. A dark and dangerous tale, In the Woods will enthrall you.

Related: Coming to a TV Screen Near You: Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad 

A detective finds himself working against a corrupt police force rife with political tension in this murder mystery. When doubts are raised about whether a local Galway man committed suicide or met foul play, Cormac Reilly re-investigates the death of that man’s mother, which was initially ruled an accidental overdose.

As he uncovers startling new details in both cases, which he believes are connected, Cormac is met with hostility from fellow detectives. Could it be that they have something to hide? The Ruin explores the depths of corruption amongst the very people charged with protecting society.

A cold case is given a closer look in this delightful cozy mystery. When Maura visits the small Irish village where her grandmother was born, she finds herself growing attached to the community. She gets a job in a local pub and is drawn into a homicide investigation when she turns a mysterious note over to the police.

That note is connected to two murders—one a recent slaying, and the other a decades-old body unearthed from a bog. Ominous events threaten her safety, but Maura refuses to leave the village unless it’s on her terms.