No one at the tavern, including Andreas, the owner, can help. It's a three-hour walk down the hill. So Andreas gives them each a brandy, says a prayer for the dead and prepares lunch.

Hours later, the five people are still sitting in the tavern talking. The tragedy has drawn them together and no one wants to leave.

So begins Maeve Binchy's new novel, Nights of Rain and Stars. It's Binchy at her best. The author of Evening Class, Circle of Friends and The Lilac Bus excels at drawing strangers together and weaving their pasts with the present. By book's end, we know them all.

It's a strange group.

There's Thomas, a quiet American, a divorced professor on sabbatical. He's also taking time away from his young son, so the boy can adjust to his mother's new boyfriend.

Elsa is German. She's tired of her job as a TV journalist. Or is she running from something?

Small, anxious David, an only child of wealthy parents, has left London to avoid taking over his father's business.

Fiona and Shane are Irish. Fiona is a caring person, a nurse. Shane is moody and self-centered. Everyone says he is not the man for her.

The group leaves the tavern that night, but not the village. They want to stay for the funerals.They are curious about the locals, too.

Thomas is renting an apartment from a woman who left her native Ireland many years ago and followed the man she loved to this village. What is her story? The villagers will not say.

Andreas, the tavern owner, is estranged from his only son. The boat accident has intensified his longing to make amends.

The story takes place over several weeks. The five meet daily for meals, take side trips and compare notes. They talk about themselves and their lives back home. They become close friends. In true Binchy style, Nights of Rain and Stars is funny and sad. The ending is hardly surprising, but it doesn't matter - Nights is still a nice, warm story.