"The Mystery of Mercy Close" by Marian Keyes / Monday, April 15, 2013 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

Page-turning laughs await in the new mystery from Irish author Marian Keyes’ “The Mystery of Mercy Close.”

This is the fifth Walsh Sister novel. Helen, the protagonist, is the youngest of the Walsh sisters. She is a private detective, or was, or maybe will be if she can just get a case. She first loses her electricity, then her apartment. She has to move back in with her mother. She’s dealing with a new boyfriend, his kids, and boyfriend’s ex-wife. She isn’t feeling exactly at the top of the world, but her sense of humor is kicking.

In the midst of this, along comes an ex-boyfriend who wants to hire her to find the last missing person from an old Irish 1990s teen band. Mercy Close is (or was before he disappeared) the lead singer for the band Laddz. The remaining members want to have a reunion performance, but first they have to find Mercy. This is where Helen comes in.

This is a funny book, but it is heavy at times. Realistically portrayed along with depression, guilt, psychiatric stays, and attempted suicide, the main character’s romp with depression reveals a dark side uncommon in many protagonists. Of course, her environment is a lighter matter.  The people she meets in the music biz are all recognizable nuts and her investigation of the missing person’s case reveals the delightful vices of booze, drugs, and…well, you know the third, it being rock ‘n roll.

The main plot of this book is Helen and her journey.  Secondly, comes the mystery of the missing person.  If you like character pieces with a little mystery – and ones that will leave you laughing as well as feeling something in your gut – Marian Keyes’ “The Mystery of Mercy Close” might need to be the next novel you read.
– Clay Stafford, author, filmmaker, and founder of Killer Nashville

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