When competing card sharps stir up Siobhán O'Sullivan's quiet Irish
village, a poker tournament turns into a game of Hangman . . .
In the small village of Kilbane in County Cork, for a cuppa tea or a
slice of brown bread, you go to Naomi's Bistro, managed by the many
siblings of the lively O'Sullivan brood. For a pint or a game of
darts--or for the poker tournament that's just come to town--it's the
pub you want.
One player's reputation precedes him: Eamon Foley, a tinker out of
Dublin, called the Octopus for playing like he has eight hands under the
table. But when Foley is found at the end of a rope, swinging from the
rafters of Rory Mack's pub, it's time for the garda to take matters into
their own hands. Macdara Flannery would lay odds it's a simple
suicide--after all, there's a note and the room was locked. But Siobhán
suspects foul play, as does Foley's very pregnant widow. Perhaps one of
Foley's fellow finalists just raised the stakes to life and death.
With conflicting theories on the crime--not to mention the possibility
of a proposal--tensions are running high between Siobhán and Macdara.
Soon it's up to Siobhán to call a killer's bluff, but if she doesn't
play her cards right, she may be the next one taken out of the game . .
.