An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor

Barry Laverty has just graduated from medical school in the mid-1960's when he agrees to take a job in the small Northern Irish town of Ballybucklebo. He becomes the assistant to the colorful Doctor Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly. Doctor O'Reilly has been practicing medicine in Ballybucklebo for many years and knows all his patients and their quirks very well. Through Barry, the reader gets to know all the characters in the town--Mrs. Kinky Kincaid, Dr. Reilly's housekeeper, Councillor Bishop, the local bigwig with an evil streak, Maureen Galvin and Seamus, her layabout husband and many more. Perhaps Barry even has time to find love. The novel is the first in a series and has a lot of charm. It would appeal to people who enjoy James Herriot, Maeve Binchy, the Mobile Library mysteries by Ian Sansom and the television series Ballykissangel.