Sheila Connolly Books

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Sheila Connolly was an American author with Irish roots that wrote cozy mysteries. She died in 2020. Born in 1950 in Rochester, New York, Connolly attended Wellesley College from where she graduated with honors.

Order of County Cork Series

# Read Title Published Details
1 Buried in a Bog 2013 Description / Buy
2 Scandal in Skibbereen 2014 Description / Buy
3 An Early Wake 2015 Description / Buy
4 A Turn for the Bad 2016 Description / Buy
5 Cruel Winter 2017 Description / Buy
6 Many a Twist 2018 Description / Buy
7 The Lost Traveller 2019 Description / Buy
8 Fatal Roots 2020 Description / Buy

Order of County Cork Short Stories/Novellas

# Read Title Published Details
1 Tied Up With a Bow 2018 Description / Buy

Order of Glassblowing Mysteries Series as Sarah Atwell

# Read Title Published Details
1 Through a Glass, Deadly 2008 Description / Buy
2 Pane of Death 2008 Description / Buy
3 Snake in the Glass 2009 Description / Buy

Order of Museum Mysteries Series

# Read Title Published Details
1 Fundraising the Dead 2010 Description / Buy
2 Let's Play Dead 2011 Description / Buy
3 Fire Engine Dead 2012 Description / Buy
4 Monument to the Dead 2013 Description / Buy
5 Razing the Dead 2014 Description / Buy
6 Privy to the Dead 2015 Description / Buy
7 Dead End Street 2016 Description / Buy
8 Digging Up History 2019 Description / Buy

Order of Museum Mysteries Short Stories/Novellas

# Read Title Published Details
1 Dead Letters (Short Story) 2012 Description / Buy

Order of Orchard Mysteries Series

# Read Title Published Details
1 One Bad Apple 2008 Description / Buy
2 Rotten to the Core 2009 Description / Buy
3 Red Delicious Death 2010 Description / Buy
4 A Killer Crop 2010 Description / Buy
5 Bitter Harvest 2011 Description / Buy
6 Sour Apples 2012 Description / Buy
7 Golden Malicious 2013 Description / Buy
8 Picked to Die 2014 Description / Buy
9 A Gala Event 2015 Description / Buy
10 Seeds of Deception 2016 Description / Buy
11 A Late Frost 2017 Description / Buy
12 Nipped in the Bud 2018 Description / Buy

Order of Orchard Mysteries Short Stories/Novellas

# Read Title Published Details
1 Called Home (Short Story) 2011 Description / Buy

Order of Relatively Dead Mysteries Series

# Read Title Published Details
1 Relatively Dead 2013 Description / Buy
2 Seeing the Dead 2014 Description / Buy
3 Defending the Dead 2015 Description / Buy
4 Watch for the Dead 2015 Description / Buy
5 Search for the Dead 2016 Description / Buy
6 Revealing the Dead 2018 Description / Buy

Order of Victorian Village Mysteries Series

# Read Title Published Details
1 Murder at the Mansion 2018 Description / Buy
2 Killer in the Carriage House 2019 Description / Buy
3 The Secret Staircase 2020 Description / Buy

Order of Sheila Connolly Standalone Novels

# Read Title Published Details
1 Once She Knew 2012 Description / Buy
2 Reunion with Death 2013 Description / Buy

Order of Sheila Connolly Short Stories/Novellas

# Read Title Published Details
1 Size Matters (Short Story) 2010 Description / Buy
2 The Rising of the Moon (Short Story) 2012 Description / Buy
3 Kept in the Dark (Short Story) 2012 Description / Buy
4 An Open Book (Short Story) 2012 Description / Buy
5 Under the Hill (Short Story) 2014 Description / Buy
6 A Necessary Death (Short Story) 2015 Description / Buy

Order of Cozy Case Files Mystery Sampler Series

# Read Title Published Details
1 Cozy Case Files Volume 1 ( By: Cynthia Riggs, Mindy Quigley) 2017 Description / Buy
2 Cozy Case Files Volume 2 ( By: Carolyn Haines, Donna Andrews, Hannah Dennison, Cate Conte, Diane Kelly, E.J. Copperman, Ellie Alexander, Cynthia Riggs, Susan C. Shea, Mindy Quigley) 2017 Description / Buy
3 Cozy Case Files Volume 3 ( By: M.C. Beaton, Donna Andrews, Ellie Alexander, Mindy Quigley) 2017 Description / Buy
4 Cozy Case Files Volume 4 ( By: Parnell Hall, Shari Randall, Ellen Hart, Ellie Alexander, Frances Brody, Tessa Arlen, Vivien Chien, Julia Chapman, Paige Shelton, Jane K. Cleland, Mindy Quigley) 2018 Description / Buy
5 Cozy Case Files Volume 5 ( With: Carolyn Haines, Donna Andrews, Carola Dunn, Ellie Alexander, Susan C. Shea, Judith Flanders, Mindy Quigley, Auralee Wallace) 2018 Description / Buy
6 Cozy Case Files Volume 6 ( With: Carolyn Haines, Donna Andrews, Cate Conte, Kylie Logan, Leonard Goldberg, Allison Montclair, Ellen Hart, Mindy Quigley) 2019 Description / Buy
7 Cozy Case Files Volume 7 ( By: Donna Andrews, Diane Kelly, Ellen Crosby, Ellie Alexander, Vivien Chien, Ashley Weaver, Mindy Quigley) 2019 Description / Buy
8 Cozy Case Files Volume 8 ( By: M.C. Beaton, Diane Kelly, Vivien Chien, Paige Shelton, Susan Cox, Elizabeth Penney, Mindy Quigley) 2020 Description / Buy
9 Cozy Case Files Volume 9 ( By: Carolyn Haines, Donna Andrews, Hannah Dennison, Kylie Logan, Leonard Goldberg, Susanna Calkins, Allison Montclair, Ellie Alexander, Eve Calder, Mindy Quigley) 2020 Description / Buy
10 Cozy Case Files Volume 10 ( By: Carolyn Haines, Donna Andrews, Cate Conte, Diane Kelly, Ellen Hart, Ellie Alexander, Vivien Chien, Jane K. Cleland, Ashley Weaver, Susan Cox, Elizabeth Penney, Mindy Quigley) 2020 Description / Buy
11 Cozy Case Files Volume 11 ( By: Diane Kelly, Ellie Alexander, Vivien Chien, Paige Shelton, Mariah Fredericks, Elizabeth Penney, Mindy Quigley) 2021 Description / Buy
12 Cozy Case Files Volume 12 ( With: Carolyn Haines, Donna Andrews, Hannah Dennison, Cate Conte, Kylie Logan, Leonard Goldberg, Allison Montclair, Ellie Alexander, Ashley Weaver, S.C. Perkins, Eve Calder, Jess Dylan, Mindy Quigley, Meri Allen) 2021 Description / Buy
13 Cozy Case Files Volume 13 ( By: Mindy Quigley) 2021 Description / Buy
14 Cozy Case Files Volume 14 ( By: Diane Kelly, Gigi Pandian, Ellie Alexander, Paige Shelton, Mindy Quigley, Korina Moss) 2022 Description / Buy
15 Cozy Case Files Volume 15 ( By: Mindy Quigley) 2022 Description / Buy
16 Cozy Case Files Volume 16 ( By: Carolyn Haines, Donna Andrews, Diane Kelly, Elizabeth Penney, Mindy Quigley, Korina Moss, M. C. Beaton) 2022 Description / Buy
17 Cozy Case Files Volume 17 ( By: Rhys Bowen, Diane Kelly, Gigi Pandian, Ellie Alexander, Paige Shelton, Jean-Luc Bannalec, Olivia Matthews, Olivia Blacke, Mindy Quigley, Clare Broyles, Korina Moss, Anastasia Hastings) 2023 Description / Buy
18 Cozy Case Files, Volume 18 ( By: Carolyn Haines, Donna Andrews, Leonard Goldberg, Allison Montclair, Vivien Chien, Olivia Matthews, Olivia Blacke, Mindy Quigley, Meri Allen, Katharine Schellman, Korina Moss) 2023 Description / Buy
19 Cozy Case Files, Volume 19 ( By: M.C. Beaton, Donna Andrews, Cate Conte, Diane Kelly, Ellie Alexander, Cynthia Riggs, R.W. Green, Elizabeth Penney, Korina Moss, Celeste Connally) 2023 Description / Buy
20 Cozy Case Files, Volume 20 ( By: Rhys Bowen, Gigi Pandian, Ellie Alexander, Paige Shelton, Olivia Matthews, Jennifer J. Chow, Olivia Blacke, Mindy Quigley, Clare Broyles, Anastasia Hastings) 2024 Description / Buy
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Sheila Connolly Anthologies

# Read Title Published Details
1 Thin Ice: Crime Stories by New England Writers 2010 Description / Buy
2 Best New England Crime Stories 2013: Blood Moon 2012 Description / Buy
3 Writes of Passage 2014 Description / Buy
4 Edgar Allan Cozy 2016 Description / Buy
5 Cozy Case Files Volume 5 2018 Description / Buy
6 Cozy Case Files Volume 6 2019 Description / Buy
7 Cozy Case Files Volume 12 2021 Description / Buy
+ Click to View all Anthologies
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The author eventually studied Fine Art at Havard University. She left the institution with a Ph.D. Connolly would have loved to succeed as an Art Historian. But jobs in the field were so scarce that she finally decided to change gears by enrolling at the University of California (Berkley) to acquire an MBA.

In the years that followed, the author tried her hand at a variety of careers. Besides putting her skills as an art historian to good use, she also participated in two political campaigns along with working as a fundraiser.

While some people may dismiss these jobs as unnecessary detours, especially the time she spent working as a professional genealogist, Connolly’s previous jobs inspired the stories she went on to tell. She used her experiences to create quirky characters with interesting skillsets that had to navigate extraordinary situations.

On her website, Connolly claimed that everything she had done before she became a writer was simply research that eventually became the foundation for her novels. Though, she was also quick to reject the notion that she relied solely on the past to tell interesting stories.

Connolly wasn’t afraid to try new things. In fact, she made an effort to learn new skills so that she could better represent them in her novels. That includes learning how to grow apples and managing pubs in Ireland.

As a child, Connolly read a lot. She learned the habit from her mother and grandmother. She was obsessed with Nancy Drew. Along the way, she discovered the cozy mystery genre. The jobs she did before she joined the publishing industry worked in tandem with her love for storytelling to produce the mysteries for which is best known.

For instance, her days as an academic art historian taught her to describe the things she had seen. On the other hand, working as a fundraiser taught her to concoct stories about items she knew very little about.

Ireland featured prominently in some of her stories because Connolly was obsessed with her Irish roots. She never knew her father’s parents even though they both came from Ireland. Connolly’s father took her mother to visit them and she ended up hating them.

So Connolly was deprived of the opportunity to meet them. Later on, she did a test that revealed that she was 75 percent Irish. Apparently, her grandmother on her mother’s side was adopted. She did not realize that she was Irish.

The revelation elevated Connolly’s interest in Ireland, so much so that she bought a cottage in Ireland. Her decision to write fiction can be attributed to 911. The catastrophe woke Connolly up from her stupor, compelling her to pursue her publishing dreams.

Sheila Connolly Awards

Connolly has received nominations for Agatha and Anthony Awards.

Best Sheila Connolly Books

Connolly was living in Ireland when she died. Connolly’s best novels include:

Buried In A Bog: Maura’s grandmother wanted her to visit the Irish village where she was born. And when she died, Maura decided to honor her final wishes. The village was pleasant enough.

Against her better judgment, Maura landed a job at a local pub. It wasn’t long before a murder mystery came calling. Even though the drink orders were threatening to overwhelm her, Maura couldn’t ignore the talk going around the pub regarding a dead body that had been discovered in a bog. Even though the body was a hundred years old, Maura was shocked to discover a connection between herself and the ancient murder.

One Bad Apple: Meg Corey wanted to sell her mother’s Colonial home and the orchard that came with it. This was the reason that brought her to the quiet New England Town.

She did not expect her old lover from Boston to pull her into development plans that involved her land. She was even more astounded by the murder mystery that followed.

Someone had murdered the ex-lover in question. They had dumped his body on her property, giving the police a very good reason to suspect Meg. If she wants to escape jail time, Meg must find the real killer.

When Does The Next Sheila Connolly book come out?

Sheila Connolly doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is The Secret Staircase and was released on June, 2nd 2020. It is the newest book in the Victorian Village Mysteries Series.

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1 thought on “Sheila Connolly”

  1. I wish I had known Ms. Connolly since she seems to have led such an interesting life. It is a shame that we will never know what her plans were for completing Abby’s and Ned’s story.
    I enjoyed the County Cork series, which I read after a trip to Ireland. I’m sorry she is gone, but am glad she shared her gift of storytelling with the world.

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