Another pleasing entry, same old formula...

books:


	• Irish Linen: A Nuala Anne McGrail Novel (Nuala Anne McGrail Novels) Andrew M. Greeley Forge Books, 2008 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 12 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Fine Linen

This installment of the adventures of Nuala Anne McGrail is particularly interesting to me. Usually Nuala Anne novels present both a current mystery and a historical one. In Irish Linen, the historical situation involves Germany in 1930-1945. I was stationed in Germany for 3 years so, for me that was like reliving parts of my experience. The current situation, the search for the runaway son of a prominent family, is set in Chicago where I was stationed three times. I like Chicago.
There are three elements that I will discuss: The development of the Coyne family, the setting and characters for the historical tale, and a few short references to the two puzzles.

Irish Linen immerses me again in the delightful Coyne family. Nuala Anne has gained some confidence in her abilities as a detective, an entertainer, and a wife and mother. Dermot is often as clueless with Nuala as many males are with their sweetheart and spouses. The children are rapidly maturing, with Nelliecoyne becoming mature well beyond her eight years, while "the Mick" is still a quiet boy. Socra Marie has blossomed into a very effective "terrorist" with the frequent energy of several people. The new edition, Patjo (Patrick Joseph in English) is a pleasant and cute child.

The historical tale tells the story of Timothy Patrick Ridgewood, his friends Claus Graf von Stauffenberg, and Annalise von Sternberg. Timothy, while studying in Germany, meets Claus and they become friends. Claus introduces Timothy to Annalise, an orphaned girl about 16, with the hope that he will fall in love with her and rescue her from life in Hitler's Reich.

Later Tim returns to Germany as the Irish Ambassador. The events of Hitler's arming of Germany and his strategy for war are told to Timothy by Claus and by Admiral Canaris, a German noble stationed in German Intelligence. Neither the Admiral or Claus believe in Hitler and his policies. The stress among the characters in Hitler's Germany make for an exciting story. Will anyone stand up to Hitler? Will those who are against the Nazi authorities survive? Will Timothy develop a meaningful relationship with Annalise?

The current mystery is an intriguing story of family dynamics. Is the son really missing or simply rebelling from his parents? Nuala Anne and Dermot interview witnesses who contradict each other and sometimes even contradict themselves. The resolution of the puzzle is rather satisfying to Andrew Greeley fans.

Irish Linen is a fine story in an exciting setting. I recommend it, especially for those who enjoy experiencing historical Germany.

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Another Great Andrew Greeley book

Andrew Greeley is one of my favorite authors. His quirky characters live for me and Nuala Anne McGrail and her Dermitt and their children are some of my favorites. I have a real problem putting them down. I find the conbination of historical mysteries woven around a "contemporary" one fascinating. Please Father Greeley may I have some more.

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Another pleasing entry, same old formula...

Fans now have their tenth novel following the lives of Dermot and Nuala, rich and talented Chicago Irish Catholics who solve mysteries in both the present and the past in each outing. If there is anything surprising here, it is the historical section, which shows us Claus von Stauffenberg, the man who tried to blow up Hitler and end World War II a year earlier than it actually took. This is timely, because Tom Cruise is currently in Germany making a film about Stauffenberg's tragedy. And the WWII love affair this time around is actually more interesting than what Nuala and Dermot are doing in the present. This series requires a suspension of belief, as all novels do, and an interest in Catholicism or Chicago or the Irish (past and present). As a person currently going through an unwanted divorce, I got emotional in a couple of places near the end, because the kind of love and marriage and family created by Dermot and Nuala is the idealized dream that many of us have not been able to sustain. In some ways, I am a sucker for sappy love stories, and I suppose that isn't macho, but this couple makes me envy them and covet their romantic skills.

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Typical good read

This was a very enjoyable read although the story in the past, Irish Ambassador to Nazi Germany, had very little to do with the current problem of a lost person, I don't want to give too much away. Greeley is slowly joining his two main series, Nuala Anne and Blackie Ryan; this was very nicely handled and there was at least a hint in my mind of a future story back in Ireland.

'Tis a Fine Story Altogether

Irish Linen is another charming interlude with the feisty Nuala Anne McGrail and her adoring husband Dermot Coyne. Dermot is researching the history of the Irish ambassador in Germany during World War II, and Nuala is trying to determine the whereabouts of a fellow Irishman from Chicago, Desmond Doolin, who has gone missing somewhere in Iraq and is presumed dead. The two parallel stories are unrelated other than the Irish-ness of the main characters, however both stories are interesting in their own right. I particularly enjoyed the historical background of the Irish ambassador in Germany. However, the fact that these stories are told in alternating chapters and are essentially unrelated seems to indicate that the contemporary story (the search for Desmond) is not meaty enough to sustain a complete novel in itself.

As in all Greeley novels in this series, the characters are charming and likeable, the language is peppered with Irish phrases, and there is an undercurrent of theology adapted to modern times.

Father Greeley is inarguably one of the most prolific writers of our time. Wikipedia lists 80 non-fiction and 60 non-fiction works. "Irish Linen" is the 10th in the Nuala Ann McGrail "Irish" series. The O'Malley clan is also featured in 6 other novels. I eagerly await each new publication, as it takes the writer into a world surrounded by the charm, luck, culture and language of the Irish, filled with intrigue and insights into modern issues and problems.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

The perils of wartime add special urgency to latest mysteries being investigated by Nuala Anne McGrail and her adoring husband, Dermot Coyne. More than a little fey, Nuala has a well-deserved reputation for getting to the bottom of even the most tangled intrigues, even when they may be taking place on the other side of the world.

Desmond Doolin, an idealistic young man from their West Side Chicago neighborhood, has gone missing in Iraq. Having flown off to the Middle East in the name of peace, he hasn?t been heard of since. The U.S. government denies any knowledge of his whereabouts, and his grieving family has all but written him off as dead, but Nuala is convinced that there?s more to the story . . . and herself won?t stop asking questions until she finds out what has really become of Desmond, one way or another.

Meanwhile, a parallel investigation uncovers the story of another young man abroad in dangerous times. Poking around in the past, Dermot and Nuala happen upon the memoirs of Timothy Patrick Clarke, the Irish ambassador to Nazi Germany, who risked his life for the sake of a beautiful German widow . . . and a secret plot to kill Adolf Hitler.

Working together as always, Nuala and her husband find themselves engrossed in the secrets of the past, the present, and two very different wars.

Irish Linen is another captivating installment in a series that Publishers Weekly calls ?immensely entertaining.?

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