A Shattered Circle & Baileys

If you love mysteries set within, above and around the law, you'll love the books by Kevin Egan. He's back today with his latest, A Shattered Circle (you can check out our review). 

Barbara Lonergan, the main character of A Shattered Circle, has a problem. She has many problems, really, but the main problem is her husband, the Hon. William Lonergan. After falling off a ladder, Judge Lonergan has shown signs of dementia. Barbara has successfully kept his condition a secret while scrambling to find a treatment that will arrest, if not reverse, his steady decline.

Then the bad stuff happens.

A persistent private investigator needs to question the judge about the murder of a country lawyer – a crime that has no apparent connection to the judge. An angry litigant has filed a judicial complaint against Judge Lonergan, starting a process that could reveal the judge’s dementia. And court officer Foxx, who is trying to exonerate a dying friend of an ancient murder, has begun to ask Barbara uncomfortable questions.

No surprise that Barbara has trouble sleeping at night. She is worried, and tries to harness her worries into productive thoughts that might lead to solutions. Still, at some point, she needs to sleep and turns to a concoction her mother devised when Barbara was a girl and had a terrible toothache – Scotch and milk.  

This is not the drink to drink while reading A Shattered Circle. Barbara herself remembers the drink as “a putrid combination of two things she intensely disliked.” And the book takes place in the high summer of August, which in New York City can be a month of white hot skies and stifling humidity. What adult reaches for milk in those conditions?

My suggestion is something colder, sweeter, and less soporific (to remain awake while reading the book). It is called the Scotch Irish. The ingredients are:

1 part Bailey’s Irish Cream

1 part Scotch of your choice

Shake and serve on the rocks.

Then get back to reading A Shattered Circle.

Don't forget to check out the drink that matched his previous book, The Missing Piece.