Book ~ "The Tempest Murders" (2013) p.m. terrell

From Goodreads ~ Detective Ryan O'Clery is working a series of homicides when he discovers a journal kept by an uncle five generations earlier, detailing the same type of murders as the Night of the Big Wind swept the Atlantic Ocean across Ireland in 1839.  As Hurricane Irene barrels toward the North Carolina coastline, Ryan discovers even the killer's description matches exactly. 

And as he falls in love with television reporter Cathleen Reilly, he begins to wonder if she is the reincarnation of Caitlyn O'Conor, the woman lost to the killer as the storm raged in Ireland - and if he is the reincarnation of Constable Ríán Kelly. Now he's in a race to rescue Cathleen before the killer finds her-or is history destined to repeat itself?

In January 1839 in Ireland, Ríán Kelly was a constable in love with Caitlyn (aka Cait).  As the Night of the Big Wind approaches, women were being murdered.  Ríán had to go to Dublin and when he got back after the Night of the Big Wind, he discovered that Cait had disappeared.  He was heartbroken as he searched for her.

“I know you too well,” Claire said. “You’re wanting the story of Caitlín O’Conor, aren’t you?”

“Who?”

She smiled. “Her name was Caitlín O’Conor. She was supposedly the great love of Ríán Kelly’s life. It was a star-crossed love story. Her father was a prominent man in the village and Ríán was a ‘lowly county inspector’ and though they were deeply in love, her father would not permit Ríán to ask for her hand in marriage.”

He felt his chest tighten and he sipped his coffee to avoid Claire’s piercing eyes.

“The tale is that they sneaked around for years; everybody knew it. Everybody except Caitlín’s father, that is. They were madly in love.” She sighed wistfully.

“What happened?” He kept his eyes on his coffee. “Did she marry someone else?”

“Her father died. Quite unexpectedly. Heart simply stopped. And without him in the way, they were clear to be married.” She brushed non-existent crumbs from the countertop before continuing. “He asked for her hand in marriage on New Year’s Eve. Let’s see, I believe it was 1838. Yes, that’s right. December 31, 1838.”

“How can you be so certain of the date?”

“Because seven days later, Caitlín was dead.”

His head jerked up and he stared into Claire’s eyes. They were as green as the fields of Ireland and now she cocked her head and eyed him curiously.

“He’d gone to Dublin, so the story goes,” she continued slowly.

“Ríán Kelly.”

“Aye. He’d been called away on business. And as Fate would have it, the great flood came while he was gone and Caitlín was swept away. It was January 6, 1839—Epiphany.” Her voice took on a whispered note as though she was telling a ghost story. “There were those in the faith who had forecast the end of the world would occur on January 6, 1839—the day of Epiphany. So when the air grew completely still, so still they could hear the voices of neighbors miles apart, there were some who thought the end was near.”

He waited for her to continue. His cheeks were growing flush and he could feel beads of sweat beginning to pop out across his brow. “What happened then?”

“By nightfall, there were gale force winds. They moved from the western coast of Ireland all the way to Dublin, where Ríán Kelly had traveled. Some said the winds were accompanied by an eerie moan, a rumbling of sorts. But not thunder; it was a sound never heard before nor since. It increased as the winds grew. And then the northern sky turned a shade of red that had never been seen before.

“Well, so the myth goes, Ríán Kelly left Dublin immediately. It was a miracle he made it back to the village at all. He traveled through the night, in the rain and the hail, with the winds all about him. Bridges had been washed away; the wind had been so strong—stronger than anything Ireland had experienced in more than three hundred years—so strong that it whipped the Atlantic into a fury and pushed it all the way across the island. Streams and creeks became raging rivers. Whole villages were wiped out. Even some of the castles were beyond repair.”

He rested his elbows on the counter and put his head in his hands.

“You’re sure you don’t want to lie down, Re? You look as if you might faint.”

“I’m fine,” he said. “What happened when Ríán Kelly reached his village?”

“It was gone. Oh, there were a few buildings still intact. The church, for one. But Caitlín O’Conor’s home had been washed away. There was no sign of Caitlín.”

“So that’s where the story ends, does it?”

“Oh, no. I suppose it’s where it just begins.”

In August 2011 in North Carolina, Ryan Kelly was a cop.  Originally from Ireland, he moved to the U.S. with his sister, Claire ... I could still "hear" their accent in their dialog.  For years, he had been having vivid dreams of a woman that seem so real.  When Ryan met Cathleen (aka Cait), he realized it's the woman he has been dreaming about and instantly fell in love with her.

Ríán was Ryan's ancestor and as he read Ríán's diary, Ryan realized that history was repeating itself ... women were getting murdered just before a big storm hit ( 2011's Hurricane Irene in Ryan's day).   How can that be?

This is the first book I read by this author and I liked it.

I liked the writing style and the stories kept me interested ... I was curious as to how/if they would come together.  The story was written in third person and focused on wherever the action was.  After all the jumping back and forth in time, I had hoped for a different ending.

I liked the characters.   Ríán and Ryan are both cops who are tracking serial killers but we get to see their emotional side since they have found "the one".  I liked Claire, Ryan's sister, and her young daughters ... they love and keep an eye out for Ryan.  Though I liked Caitlyn, I didn't connect with Cathleen.

I look forward to reading more books by this author.