Mystery at an Irish Wedding: Half Moon Bay Mysteries by L.C. Winters
About Mystery at an Irish Wedding
"Wedding dresses, ex-fiancés, and a whole lot of murder — just another day in Half Moon Bay"Therapist Clementine Moriarty thought her return to the whimsical seaside town of Half Moon Bay, nestled in cozy Donegal - would be a chance to reconnect with her roots, spend time at her parents' charming little seaside art gallery and heal from heartbreak. But her homecoming is anything but peaceful when she stumbles upon an unwelcome surprise — her ex-fiancé, Greg, is getting married to her best friend, Charlotte, on the very beach where Clementine was supposed to say "I do."
Through a series of unexpected twists and turns, what starts as a personal nightmare soon spirals into an intriguing mystery. An anonymous email had lured Clementine back home, but who sent it and why? As the wedding unfolds, tensions simmer, secrets surface, and Half Moon Bay’s picturesque façade begins to crack. When someone turns up dead with a series of baffling clues and puzzles, Clementine finds herself the role of unlikely detective as she becomes the prime suspect.
With the help of a heartwarming, blue-haired artist and her sharp intuition, Clementine must navigate a maze of jealous exes, local gossip, and buried betrayals to uncover the truth amid the charming and Whimsical backdrop of Donegal. But in a village where everyone has something to hide, will this quirky crime-solving team be able to unmask the killer before it's too late?
Perfect for fans of small-town mysteries, vibrant characters, clever clues, and a touch of romance, Murder at an Irish Wedding will keep you guessing until the final page.
About the Character Guest Post
Character Interview: Clementine Moriarty & Mason Hughes
Q: Welcome to the blog! Let’s start with introductions. Who are you and what brings you to Half Moon Bay?
Clementine: I’m Clementine Moriarty — psychologist, reluctant investigator, and daughter of two artistic free spirits who own the Seashell Gallery. I left Half Moon Bay to travel the world and clear my head. I came back because of a suspiciously well-timed email about a surprise party. Spoiler: there was no party. Just a wedding I wasn’t invited to… because it was my ex-fiancé’s. To my best friend.
Mason: I’m Mason Hughes. I’m an artist — performance-based, conceptual, and usually barefoot if I can get away with it. I came to Half Moon Bay for peace and creative space. Instead, I found poetry in chaos and Clementine in combat boots. Worth it.
Q: What was your first impression of each other?
Clementine: Honestly? I thought he was performing for a TikTok I wasn’t cool enough to understand. He had blue hair, quoted Shakespeare, and seemed to be in conversation with the universe.
Mason: She looked like someone who’d seen too much and was trying very hard not to cry in public. Which I respect. She also didn’t flinch when I offered her a marker and asked for a word to start an installation. That’s rare.
Q: You two got caught up in quite the dramatic event. How did you end up sleuthing together?
Clementine: It started with a missing champagne bottle, a fake email, and a public wedding meltdown. Somewhere between there and the toxicology reports, I realised something deeper was going on.
Mason: And I just kept turning up. Occasionally with haikus. Occasionally with first aid. Clementine sees patterns. I see people. Together, we figured out the whole mess wasn’t just emotional — it was criminal.
Q: Mason, what surprised you most about Clementine?
Mason: She’s got this razor-sharp mind wrapped in what looks like polite patience. But underneath, she’s fire. Also, she makes excellent tea and terrible small talk.
Q: Clementine, what surprised you most about Mason?
Clementine: That he listens. Really listens. Most people fill the silence. Mason turns it into art. That, and he has about four different types of glitter in his satchel at any given time.
Q: What’s one thing you each learned from solving a mystery together?
Mason: That truth is rarely tidy. And sometimes the story we think we’re in isn’t the one we’re meant to tell.
Clementine: That healing doesn’t always look like forgiveness. Sometimes it looks like painting on a gallery wall with someone who sees you — really sees you.
Q: Final thoughts for readers visiting Half Moon Bay?
Clementine: The beach is beautiful. The gossip is lethal.
Mason: Bring your imagination, your honesty, and maybe your own snacks. Some secrets here go down better with popcorn.
About the Excerpt
About L. C. Winters
L.C. Winters is the pen name for Laura Cavanagh & Colin Vaughan. We are from Ireland, and we aim to bring our culture, cozy Irish atmosphere, legends and history into our stories. We write cozy mystery romance novels. Our focus is on creating a set of clever clues with twists and turns to keep you guessing until the very end. Our first series is called 'Half Moon Bay Mysteries' and it is set in a small, seaside village in Ireland. Our stories promote a romanticised view of small-town life with a host of eccentric, lovable characters.
As avid mystery fans (we love the classics like Agatha Christie as well as modern cozy authors like Richard Osman), we love deciphering clues and trying to beat the detective to figure out who commited the crime. So we decided to create mysteries with a complex set of interrelated clues which are delivered in an easy to follow story. We hope that the ending of each of our mysteries is both a surprise and, at the same time, feels inevitable and 'right'.
Laura has a degree in Psychology and this is reflected in our protagonist Clementine who uses her Psychology know-how to figure out the motives, secrets and inconsistencies in each suspect.
With our cozy fiction, we aim to create heartwarming stories with lovable, quirky characters in a nice, soothing environment. Wherever you are when you are reading our stories, we hope to whisk you away to beautiful, picturesque Ireland to the seaside county of Donegal!
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