Genre: Mystery/Fantasy
Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496745033
Kensington Cozies
352 Pages
$27.00; $22.95
December 26, 2023
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
An Irish anthology of cozy mysteries featuring a trio of today's top cozy mystery authors that will make other cozy anthologies green with envy.
IRISH MILKSHAKE MURDER by CARLENE O'CONNOR
In advance of their St. Patrick's Day wedding, Tara Meehan and Danny O'Donnel are off to the Aran Islands with their bridesmaids and groomsmen for a joint hen and stag party. The weekend kicks off with the ferry trip to Inishmore, as the passengers enjoy boozy milkshakes on booard and entertainment from a pair of famous Irish-dancing twin brothers. But faster than Tara can say, "Oh, Danny Boy," a murder shamrocks the boat as someone's spied shake turns out to be their final round. Stuck in a rural island cottage, while a storm rages outside, Tara must find the Celtic killer before her luck runs out...
MURDER MOST IRISH by PEGGY EHRHART
St. Patrick's Day is drawing near in Arborville, New Jersey and the folks at Hyler's Luncheonette are getting into the holiday spirit with a new, limited-time Irish-themed menu item -- a festive green milkshake appropriately named, "The Leprechaun." It's a hit, until a patron is felled by one of the frothy concoctions during a sheep parade through the town. Now, it's up to Pamela Paterson and her Knit & Nibble knitting club pal, Bettina Fraser, to catch a murderer and put a stop to the shear madness...
MRS. CLAUS AND THE LUCKLESS LEPRECHAUN by LIZ IRELAND
Spring in Santaland means two things: the elves have more leisure time and iceball season is in full swing! To celebrate, April Claus's friend, Claire, whips up some minty milkshakes for her bustling ice cream shop, Santaland Scoop. But when the St. Paddy's promotion makes one elf the target of a decidedly unlucky strike, Mrs. Claus and her friends must figure out if the attack was a failed hit job, a crime of passion, or an extremely unfortunate accident...
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This is an anthology of short stories by three well-known cozy mystery writers. They all take place around St. Patrick's Day, and have that particular theme; although they are very different in content. For the most part, I enjoyed each of them.
In the first by Carlene O'Connor, Tara Meehan is looking forward to her St. Patrick's Day wedding to Danny O'Donnell, an Irish charmer. But she's not thrilled that her best friend Breanna has planned a 'hen party' for her, as she's not much for that kind of festivities. But she goes along with it, even when she discovers that Breanna has invited one of her "frenemies" from the states, Rachel, to join in. When they are boarding the boat to take them to Inishmore, one of the three Aran Islands, a pair of twin Irish dancers beg to be let aboard since they missed their own boat.
What follows is nearly chaos. Breanna is serving up 'boozy milkshakes to everyone (doesn't sound appetizing to me, but then again, I don't drink), and during the ride it begins to rain and the boat sways, and...someone is killed. Murdered, in fact. When they arrive on the island, now closed up because of the storm, Tara vows to solve the murder. The police don't seem to believe them at first, but then things get really strange. Tara and the remaining members of her group must stick together to solve the crime. The ending was indeed surprising, and Ms. O'Coonor brings us another tasty mystery. Five Stars.
Peggy Ehrhart's mystery is different in that it begins at a well-loved local diner, and of course, someone dies. But why? Pamela Paterson and her partner-in-crime, Bettina Fraser work together to come up with a plausible reason for the murder, and, of course, a suitable suspect. But no one that they speak to seems to have a motive to have wanted the person dead. The more they look, the less likely their main suspects seem to be. In this one, I figured out the person and the reason before Pamela and Bettina, but it didn't stop my enjoyment of the mystery. It was well written and worth the read.
My only complaints are that the author spends too much time telling us that Pamela uses her wedding China (we know) and Bettina uses her sage green pottery (we know). Unfortunately for me, Pamela seems like a dull character with little personality and 'oomph' in her life. I do wish she'd change, but we can't have everything, can we? However, Wilfred's (Bettina's husband) makes some delicious meals and I'd love to eat there! Four Stars.
The last story is by Liz Ireland, who writes about life in Santaland. Her protagonist is April Claus, Santa Claus's wife, who is a young bride who's made friends with many of the elves. She and her friend Juniper attend a local iceball game, a noted elf event. But after the game, there is an elf found unconscious on the ice, and April doesn't think it was an accident. She and her friends need to find out who attacked the famous iceball player and why, and they need to do so before St. Patrick's Day hits and the elf's fair is fully in swing.
I have to confess that I am not a fan of fantasy, so this one didn't really draw me in as much as the other two. I also would have liked to have seen more interaction between April and Nick. Ah, well. The mystery is very good, though, and there's enough action to keep you interested. When the ending comes, I was a tad disappointed, but that's just me. Others will probably like this story as well. Four Stars.
I received an advanced copy of this book through the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Carlene O'Connor's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/o/carlene-oconnor/
More on Peggy Ehrhart's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/e/peggy-ehrhart/
More on Liz Ireland's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/i/liz-ireland/
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