Maybe the first "real person" gothic romance, the heroine of this entertaining thriller is as preoccupied with bemoaning her weight and unruly hair as she is with solving the mysterious fatal shooting death of her idolized older brother at his new bride's family home in 1880's Ireland. Especially welcome is the historical background of the book. The reader can learn a lot about Cistercian abbeys, the Protestant-Catholic conflict, and the social customs of the day. The best part for me, however, was that the strange feeling I was beginning to get about one of the main characters was actually borne out to be the pivotal plot element. I had found myself thinking, "I must have read that wrong; those kind of things are not usually found in this kind of book", but voila! It was! Get this book if you want to read a truly intriguing whodunit as well as have a hoot of a good time.