A different sort of book, blending history with today.
An interesting take of a richly historical place with the culture all its own.

Enjoyed the twists and turns of mystery, and humor.
Was not your typical read, nice variety, but description and setting sometimes were overwhelming and had to concentrate to follow some of it.

Will look to find the sequel. ( )

"The Pig Comes to Dinner," the second volume in Joseph Caldwell's trilogy about an Irish pig and its influence on human lives, may be even funnier than the first book, "The Pig Did It."

In that book, the unnamed pig digs up a man's body, which the humans try to give a decent burial while dancing around the question of how this man happened to be buried in their yard. The pig also brought together Kitty McCloud and Kieren Sweeney, members of two feuding families who discover they love each other.

Now married in "The Pig Comes to Dinner," the couple has purchased an old castle with money from Kitty's popular books. She "corrects" novels of the past, placing the stories in the present and giving them happy endings

Unfortunately, the castle comes with two ghosts, which only Kitty and Kieren can see. It seems that centuries before, dynamite was buried somewhere on the castle grounds. Two attractive teenagers, a boy and a girl, were held as hostages to force the disclosure of the whereabouts of the explosive. Nobody talked, and the teens were hanged. Their ghosts, it seems, cannot rest until the dynamite blows up the castle.

There are other complications. Kitty and Kieren find themselves falling in love with the respective ghosts. Lord Shaftoe, a descendant of the man responsible for the deaths of those two teenagers, now claims to be the rightful owner of the castle and wants to evict Kitty, Kieren and their pig.

Will the castle be blown up? Will the ghosts be freed? Will the pig avoid being the main course at the big dinner Kitty and Kieren are planning for their neighbors? Learning the answers to these questions is a pleasurable reading experience. ( )

I read Caldwell's "The Pig Did It" too quickly to fully appreciate its Irishness. Now, determined to more carefully savor each book I read, I can say that this sequel carries the lilt of a pennywhistle. The feud between the Sweeneys and the McClouds has come to an end with the marriage of Kieran and Kitty but the truth of its origins is revealed as England's past transgressions in Ireland intrude into the present day in both ghostly and corporeal form. The pig, of course, is the key. ( )