From Library Journal
Nuala Anne McGrail and Dermot Michael Coyne return in the third in this "Irish" series (Irish Gold, LJ 11/1/94; Irish Lace, LJ 11/1/96). When fey Nuala and her betrothed, Dermot, visit the graves of his grandparents, she senses an empty coffin. The coffin belongs to Jimmy "Sweet Rolls" Sullivan, who was a rival of Al Capone. So where is Jimmy? Witnesses swear they saw him gunned down by Capone's men during the celebration of his wife's birthday, where his blood stained the cake red. Nuala and Dermot must reach into the past to discover why Jimmy is not in his coffin. In the meantime, this handsome couple is nearing their wedding and desperately trying to keep their hands off each other until their blessed night. To further complicate the search for Jimmy, Dermot is defending himself against a grand jury indictment for alleged commodity exchange fraud. Typically entertaining Greeley fare; recommended for most public libraries with strong popular fiction collections.-?Georgia Panos, Johnson Cty. Lib. System, Leawood, Kan.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Greeley continues to crank out entertaining yarns at an amazingly rapid rate. The third installment in the Nuala Anne McGrail series follows the pattern initially established in Irish Gold (1994) and refined in Irish Lace (1996). While native Chicagoan Dermot Coyne proceeds to court fetching Irish beauty Nuala McGrail, both are drawn into a tantalizing mystery that stretches back in time, involving several generations of the Coyne family. Using her inexplicable psychic gift, Nuala is determined to discover why the grave of Prohibition-era gangster Jimmy "Sweet Rolls" Sullivan has lain empty for nearly 70 years. As Dermot and Nuala begin to investigate, they sense their inquisitive foray into the past may have serious consequences threatening their future together. Father Greeley's signature combination of Irish mysticism, Roman Catholic ritual, and Irish American romance will delight his host of faithful fans. Margaret Flanagan


From Kirkus Reviews
This third helping of Oirish whimsy does everything it can to prevent Dermot Coyne and Nuala Anne McGrail (Irish Lace, 1996, etc.) from reaching the hymeneal altar. Nuala Anne is seeing visions again. This time it's a gangster who's buried next to the Coyne family plot--or rather isn't buried there, insists Nuala Anne, who claims legendary Jimmy (Sweet Rolls) Sullivan has been AWOL ever since he was plugged and planted back in 1926. Always obliging, Dermot begins to look into Sweet Rolls's history with the Capone gang, but he doesn't have much time, because his nuptials are approaching rapidly--though none too rapidly for the lustfully virginal couple--and there's an unwelcome last-minute wrinkle: The bride's insufferable older brother Laurence, convinced that Dermot's family and finances are equally disreputable, demands that the wedding be called off. Ordinarily Laurence would be no match for fiery Nuala Anne or her wealthy swain, but just as he's issuing his most high-handed demands, a vengeful old school chum and a careerist US attorney join forces to get Dermot indicted on charges of fraud, citing the $3 million accident that allowed him to quit the Chicago commodities exchange and become the bestselling author of Irish Love. It's this last complication, in fact, that ends up running away with the story. Though fans of Dermot and Nuala Anne's overplotted pair of historical/courtship romances may complain that the story of how Dermot beats the Feds is much less ambitious than the others--Greeley adds about as much mystery to the brew as the lovers do water to their Jameson's--the smiling fairy-tale intrigue of Dermot's troubles perfectly suits the blandishments of his narrative, whose blarney is thick enough to cut with a chainsaw (as non-Irish readers may yearn to do). Accomplished lightweight suspense, though in honest truth there's less suspense about what became of Sweet Rolls's corpse than about what Nuala Anne will be wearing under her wedding gown. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Review
"'Tis a charmin' tale that Andrew Greeley tells in his latest mystery novel, Irish Whiskey....It's a lively novel filled with Irish wit, interesting situations, and likable people." --The Chattanooga Times

"It's a mystery and a love story like the two before it, Irish Gold and Irish Lace. Also like those, Irish Whiskey is a lot of fun. Father Greeley knows how to tell a story." --Gannett Suburban Newspapers



Book Description
Nuala Anne McGrail is almost more than any poor mortal man can handle without losing his sanity: her beauty causes shortness of breath in men of all ages, she's strong, she's smart, she's witty, she sings like an angel, and--to top it all off--she's psychic, or fey as they say in the Old Country.

But our man Dermot Michael Coyne, "accidental millionaire," part-time writer, and full-time worshiper of Nuala, seems to be bearing up pretty well in as much as Herself has consented to marry him.

Before that blissful day arrives, another one of Nuala's "spells" sends the pair on a hunt to find out what really happened to Al Capone's famous rival, Jimmy "Sweet Rolls" Sullivan. And as they've found in previous adventures, historic mysteries can often be too current for safety, and the dead should be left buried--wherever they are.



About the Author
A native of Chicago, Reverend Andrew M. Greeley, is a priest, distinguished sociologist and bestselling author. He is professor of social sciences at the University of Chicago and the University of Arizona, as well as Research Associate at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. His current sociological research focuses on current issues facing the Catholic Church-including celibacy of priests, ordination of women, religious imagination, and sexual behavior of Catholics.

Father Greeley received the S.T.L. in 1954 from St. Mary of Lake Seminary. His graduate work was done at the University of Chicago, where he received the M.A. Degree in 1961 and the Ph.D. in 1962.

Father Greeley has written scores of books and hundreds of popular and scholarly articles on a variety of issues in sociology, education and religion. His column on political, church and social issues is carried by the carried by the Chicago Sun Times and may other newspapers. He stimulates discussion of neglected issues and often anticipates sociological trends. He is the author of more than thirty bestselling novels and an autobiography, Furthermore!: Confessions of a Parish Priest.

FROM THE CRITICS

LA Times

A master of the human heart.

Baltimore Sun

Greeley has a fluent, beguiling pen.

Chattanooga Times

Andrew Greeley always writes a gripping novel.

Publishers Weekly

The veteran Greeley plots this latest work with some admirable cunning, which shows up clearly in a highly believable trading expos and in the exacting re-creation of the supposed death of an enigmatic crime lord from Capone-era Chicago. Unfortunately, it all counts for naught beside the truly tiresome twosome around whom this third book in a series (after Irish Gold and Irish Lace) revolves. Nuala Anne McGrail is an Irish beauty with a fine singing voice, all kinds of sexy outfits, a job as an accountant and the gift of second sight. She talks dirty, likes to be fondled and must be the least likely virgin featured in recent literature. Her dutiful betrothed is Dermot Coyne, who also doubles as the narrator. A former commodities trader who's now a bestselling author, Dermot is currently under investigation for the $3 million he netted during his brief trading days. When Nuala "sees" an empty coffin in a cemetery plot, the hunt for a missing corpse is on. The shooting death of Jimmy Sullivan, onetime rival to Al Capone, emerges as just the kind of long-unexplained mystery that exactly suits Nuala's otherworldly gifts and Dermot's dogged legwork. Dermot's trial is fun, and so is Jimmy's turbulent history. But the lovers' dialogue is laughable with its lewd promises for the upcoming wedding night. And then there's Dermot's continuous declarations of his endless devotion and the lustful attention Nuala elicits from every breathing male in Chicago. One might be tempted to opine that Greeley knows less about love (or lust) than he might think.

Library Journal