Death Wears a Four-Leaf Clover: A Nora Duffy Mystery
In this third book in the series about Nora Duffy, her family, and friends, Death Wears a Four-Leaf Clover follows the progressively violent activities of a young man obsessed with the idea that his copper four-leaf clover necklace will protect him from death.
Nora is a petite pediatric brain surgeon based in Chicago, whose handsome lawyer husband, Tom Barry, continues to think of her as his Irish warrior princess. Having inherited a castle in the town of Sneem on the southwestern coast of Ireland from her great-uncle, Nora and her family, along with their precocious four-year-old daughter, travel to Ireland for the first time after a global pandemic—only to be once again surrounded by mayhem and murder.
An elderly woman, trapped in her small car, is pushed into a mire and quickly sinks into the quicksand. This is followed by other mysterious deaths, and the assaults continue during a vacation around Europe.
Despite this, many positive events have taken place over the last year at the castle. The valuable treasures discovered in a hidden room have been given to a museum in Dublin, and the renovations of the collapsed part of the castle have been finished. The store on the estate is thriving, and the proceeds are used to help the poor and orphaned at St. Brigid's Orphanage. The Medical Research Center has finally been completed, and a dedicated group of researchers are seeking answers to long-neglected diseases. Owing to the success of their medical supply business during the pandemic, Nora is able to add a second woman to the board.
Things should be looking up for Nora and family, but a possible new claimant to Uncle Cy's fortune appears and causes heartache and distress. Once again, Nora and Tommy, along with Garda Chief Jack Brennan and Solicitor Fiona Finnegan, are mystified when murders occur with seemingly no motive or clue as to the killer's identity. Nora and Tom's friends from the Chicago Police Department continue to protect the family, whether they are enjoying the Irish countryside or visiting the Parliament buildings in London, the catacombs in Paris, or the rocky desert Skellig Michael Island, where death is no stranger. Meanwhile, the latest Duffy Hall Castle ghosts are determined to cause as much trouble as possible at the castle and environs, which they consider theirs.
Nora and Tom try to maintain a sense of balance amidst this chaos, relieving their stress with the many activities of their large families and trusting that God is in charge every step along the way of their interesting but traumatic journey.