Authors: Carlene O'Connor/Peggy Ehrhart/Liz Ireland
Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496751089
Kensington Cozies
352 Pages
$27.00; $13.77 Amazon
December 24, 2024
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It's almost time for the delicious warmth of Irish soda bread, but be careful where you bite -- some of these recipes call for murder in this delicious collection of cozy mystery novellas featuring the popular St. Paddy's Day treat.
IRISH SODA BREAD MURDER by CARLENE O'CONNOR
There's very little time left before her wedding, but nonetheless Tara Meehan is helping out at her Uncle Johnny's salvage mill for the day. Aunt Rose set up a convention for local psychics, including a bake sale to raise money for charity, but now she's sick and available only via an iPad Johnny is carrying. The event promises to deliver a real pot of gold until Rose's biggest rival shows up. Before Tara can utter a simple "top o' the morning" to the man, he drops dead -- with Johnny's soda bread in his hands. It's up to Tara to identify the deadly baker before another victim ends up chasing the rainbow straight into a grave...
AN IRISH RECIPE FOR MURDER by PEGGY EHRHART
To celebrate St. Patrick's Day this year, the Arborville, New Jersey, Advocate is sponsoring a soda bread-baking competition. Bettina Fraser is excited -- her bake-off idea was the one to get the green light! But when a town councilman acting as a judge keels over after sampling an entry, the party atmosphere dies just as quickly. Now it's up to Bettina and her Knit and Nibble knitting club bestie, Pamela Paterson, to find the killer responsible for the murderous morsel.
MRS. CLAUS AND THE SINISTER SODA BREAD MAN by LIZ IRELAND
When April Claus arrives in Cloudberry Bay, Oregon, to check on her flooded inn, her biggest worry is to keep everyone from realizing her three companions -- Jingles, Juniper, and Butterbean -- are elves. But soon enough she has more serious worries -- it looks like her hapless caretaker Ernie has been storing stolen goods at the inn! The none of Ernie's shady pals is found dead, and the murder weapon turns up in a decorative loaf of soda bread at April's craft fair booth. It's up to April to uncover the killer before she spends St. Patrick's Day in the county jail!
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This is an anthology of short novellas by three authors who are fairly well-known in the cozy world. (And if you don't, you should pick up on of their other books!) Of course, we all have our favorites, but I do love anthologies as you can finish them very quickly and they are interesting. That is, if they are done well, which these three certainly are.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Irish Soda Bread Murder: When Tara Meehan moved from the states to Ireland to scatter her mother's ashes, she discovered her Uncle Johnny, who owns a salvage mill and welcomed her into his life. Since then, she's been running a successful business and has acquired a fiancé as well. On this day, though, there is going to be a psychic fair that will benefit charity. There is also a bake sale, and since her Aunt Rose is ill, it was up to Johnny to bake the soda bread. But all is not well when the first person to try the bread -- another psychic, Ronan Stone, eats it and is found dead. Now everyone present is a suspect, and it's up to Tara to find the killer, as the police are stumped.
This is a very good mystery. With all the psychics as suspect, and all seem to have motives, including Rose, Tara needs to find out who hated Ronan enough to kill him. She listens in to the police interviews to gather clues, and then has a chance to figure it out later in the night, with everyone present. The murderer was well hidden, and I didn't figure it out until Tara did. A worthy read.
⭐⭐⭐⭐An Irish Recipe For Murder: When Bettina and Pamela are at a soda bread bake-off, it doesn't last long. The man tasting the bread falls over ill from the first bread offered. He later dies, and the woman who baked it is riddled with guilt. But is she a killer? Neither Bettina nor Pamela think so, and they must put their heads together to figure it out.
A good mystery. I have read all the books in the original series, and enjoyed them. This addition is enjoyable as well. I have my own issues with Pamela, but it did not color my enjoyment of this. The clues are hidden well, and the murderer was a complete surprise. This was the best part, as figuring it out wasn't easy, and the reason for the murder was rather sad. Recommended.
⭐⭐⭐⭐Mrs. Claus and the Sinister Soda Bread Man: When April Claus is called away early from the North Pole to her inn in Oregon, it's due to a broken pipe that has leaked everywhere. When she arrives with three of her elves, not only is there water everywhere, but a foul smell no one can figure out. Also, her caretaker Ernie seems to be missing. Since her main goal is to keep the elves from being recognized, she's surprised when people liken them to leprechauns and want them to appear in their St. Paddy's day parade. With that solved, there's a new riddle: who sent her a text, and why is there a dead body inside her front door?
Although I'm not big on fantasy, I really enjoyed this story. The elves bring a little laughter to the tale, and April is up to her ears in both getting her inn ready for summer and trying to figure out who killed the man. It doesn't help that her local nemesis is making her life miserable as well. But when the ending comes, it's all that one would desire, with a nice resolution to everything, and another story well worth reading. Recommended.
In the end, I enjoyed all three tales and these are perfect for St. Patrick's Day stories. I would definitely recommend them to others.
I received an advance copy from 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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