Overall rating and opinion of "House of Eire" by June Gillam

[Amy+++]

I was intrigued by the concept of the book.

[Cynthia_Oluchi]

This interesting book, to a very good extent, exposes great history studies of Ireland. I felt like I was already in the country. Also, the father-daughter relationship between Hillary and Claire is one I would like to call 'sweet'. Honesty is the basis.
Though the book has a dull start, it could be recommended to people who place values on family and love.

[Cynthia_Oluchi]

This interesting story, to a very good extent, exposes the great history studies of Ireland. I felt like I was already there while I read. The mother-daughter relationship between Hillary and Claire is what I would love to call 'sweet'. It is one based on honesty.
Though the story has a dull start, but could be recommended to people who place values on family and love.

[En+kay]

I will recommend this book for all lovers of historic folklore murders mystery, filled with twist and intrigues.
The characters though sometimes disjointed but in all a good read.

[Clemens Nickleby]

I gave this book 3 out of 4 stars because I felt the author had all the elements for a really great story that ended up merely a good one. I wish she had developed Yeats as a theme; the poem that is quoted at the beginning of the story and throughout is very powerful, but ended up feeling like an add-on rather than an integral part of the plot. In a few places, the events definitely have a contrived feeling and in others are downright implausible. It is still a good read though!

[Songjohn007]

I really enjoyed reading this book and I am giving it 4 out of 4 stars, The historical events of the Irish people in the book makes it more interesting with Claire the smart young girl's scene making the book more irresistible for any book lover.

[Namaste23]

I gave it a 4 out of 4. I liked how relatable the characters were. I wasn't a fan of Seamus's character as he is quite confusing. I would recommend this book. It is a great mystery and has some surprising twists.

[Azokamchi]

This book rates 3 out of 4 for me. I enjoyed being pulled into this Irish folklore and this will be of great interest to a lot of readers. The mystery aspect is very intriguing though the story slowly kicks off.

[Nessa_girl78]

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I did feel that there were a few lingering questions left unanswered, but that could be because the book is part of a series. May choose to delve into the other books in the series later.

[Moray_001]

I gave this a 3 out of 4. I really enjoyed how this author had the main character having dreams of her mother, and she uses this as a bit of a string to keep us moving along with that character's development. I also thought the way that the scenes of Ireland were described was great. If the author has never been there, it sure seemed like she has. There were a couple of things that I found slightly off-putting, like leaving Claire alone in a bed sleeping while Hilary knows there is a murderer running loose. Overall, though, by the end, I wanted to read the next one as Hilary's hunt for family history continues. I don't know many people who like cozy mysteries, so I don't know who I would tell to read it, but I will send it out on my social media for others to look into.

I agree that the character development was really good.

I actually enjoy mystery novels so this book sounds good.

[Moray_001]

I love the way the author, June, opened up her plot.. slowly and calmly, she drew us into a world that we had no idea existed, fully captivated. How she made us have a glimpse of what life in Ireland meant, a showcase of the kind of family relationship that is expected. I love it. Giving her a 4.

I see that you appreciate what others found to be a dull start to the novel.

[Wacamato1961]

I enjoyed the book but did have a few questions about the background; for instance, who exactly was Sarah and what was her relationship with Hillary? I would have liked for the characters to be a bit more "fleshed out" so I could better imagine them. I really enjoyed the Irish element and the spooky atmosphere, but OMG, there is quite a bit of sadness.

[Dorcas Serwaa Adu]

I rated it 4 out of 4 because I loved the mystery that surrounded the whole story. And how the author balanced the scary and mild scenes blending them into a perfect masterpiece. A few errors here and there but in the long run, it was a thrilling adventure

[La Loca Designs]

I gave this book 2 out of 4 stars. The murder was unnecessary, the plot was ill-conceived, and the ending was anti-climactic. The story was so slow that I almost didn't finish reading. Maybe it was because the book was labelled C/T/M/H, and did not do justice to any of those categories, but it fell frustratingly short of my expectations.

I completely agree with you. The "mystery" in this book fell flat and did not live up to expectations. I give it 2 out of 4 stars also.

[La Loca Designs]

I just finished reading this book. I really can’t say I’m a big fan. It starts out so slow. I couldn’t really find the mystery in this mystery novel. I knew who was going to be killed way before it happened and knew who the killer was. The only mystery was the discovery of the family secret that was behind the why.

The character of Hillary I found to be self-centered. She repeatedly puts her own wants before everyone else’s. Her allowing her daughter to be alone in the company of people she had recently met after 2 murders is disturbing. I also couldn’t really connect Hillary’s issue about her own mother to this story. It seems that part of the story line is just setting the stage for the next book.

I will give it a 3 out of 4 stars because it is well-edited and I enjoyed the setting of the book. I wouldn’t recommend it to any serious mystery readers. I feel they would be disappointed.

I didn't want to be a party-pooper, particularly when many readers were still reading the book, but I gave it 2 out of 4 stars pretty much for the reasons you mentioned. I have to say that it's not a book I usually read, so I ended up reading it only because some time ago it was free for BOTD and now it's the BOTM. I wouldn't pick it to review it, probably it's not my kind of stuff, so I felt those flaws much more than its merits.

I haven't finished the book yet but count me among the not-a-fan crowd. I really wanted to like this book, but I just can't. The writing is not that great. It's not terrible, but it's not great. I will forever forward refer to airplanes as "winged metal cylinders." That's a pretty sad attempt at avoiding writing "plane" again. Especially when there are so many other words that would have worked better: fuselage, 747, body of the airplane, jet, aircraft, etc.

I like the characters conceptually, but they're so extreme. The main characters especially had me rolling my eyes. I would not want any of them as friends. Bridget is bipolar, and Hillary has generalized anxiety disorder. They're exhausting personalities. The storyline is the best thing about it so far. I'm looking forward to the adventure and resolution.

I think with some tweaks, the book could be pretty good. But so far I can only give it a 2 out of 4 stars.

I agree so much. I also give the book 2 out of 4 stars. The mystery was non-existent, HIllary annoyed me, and I am not a fan of the author's writing style.