Irish Milkshake Murder

October 1, 2023

In this compendium of cozy novellas, three authors observe St. Patrick's Day with green milkshakes that have a little extra something in them. Tara Meehan, the amateur sleuth in Carlene O'Connor's "Home to Ireland" mysteries, returns in Irish Milkshake Murder, in which Tara is a reluctant participant in her own hen party, for which she, her fianc�, and four friends head to the Aran Islands on a chartered ferry. Twin Irish dancers tag along, and one ends up dead after drinking a boozy milkshake. In Peggy Ehrhart's Murder Most Irish (another of her "Knit and Nibble Mysteries") Pamela Paterson, a member of the Knit and Nibble Knitting Club, sees a man collapse after drinking a green milkshake. Lastly, Mrs. Claus hunts for a villain in Liz Ireland's Mrs. Claus and the Luckless Leprechaun, a new installment in her "Mrs. Claus" series. The elves are preparing for the first Saint Patrick's Day fair in Christmastown, which includes an iceball game. It is rough play, as an injured participant is found after the game, with a bump on his head and holding a milkshake cup. VERDICT Libraries looking for cozy St. Patrick's Day mysteries might want to add this volume to a holiday mystery collection. Fans of the three authors will enjoy the returns of their favorite amateur sleuths.--Lesa Holstine

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November 15, 2023
Three novellas offer sweet but sometimes lethal ways to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. What do Galway, Ireland; Arborville, New Jersey; and the North Pole have in common? Why, they all mark the name day of Ireland's patron saint by serving up frosty milkshakes for revelers to savor. In O'Connor's title story, these revelers are traveling to an island off Ireland's western coast to celebrate Tara Meehan's upcoming wedding to Danny O'Donnell, so the milkshakes have real booze in them and everyone's already pretty sloshed when Noel Carrigan, one of the twins hitching a ride on the bridal party's ferry, takes a swig of his milkshake and keels over dead. In Ehrhart's "Murder Most Irish," the deadly milkshake is served up at Hyler's, a Jersey diner, but after a couple of hefty gulps, quiet, middle-aged Lionel Dunes ends up just as dead as Noel, leaving fellow diners Bettina Fraser and Pamela Peterson to solve his murder. Santaland is the setting for the third contribution, Ireland's "Mrs. Claus and the Luckless Leprechaun." The story follows April Claus, Santa's Oregonian spouse, who's been importing some of her favorite American holidays. The suspect shake is provided by April's good friend Claire, owner of the local ice cream shop, and the victim is Crumble Woolly, injured star of the Twinklers elf iceball team. Crumble doesn't die, but news of the tainted shake makes all the other elves shun Claire's shop, so it's up to April to put things right. An unconventional St. Patrick's Day treat may satisfy cozy fans who like their murder sweet.

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December 22, 2023
St. Patrick's Day and milkshakes link the stories in these three satisfying mystery novellas. O'Connor's (Murder at an Irish Bakery, 2023) transplanted New Yorker Tara Meehan and her Irish friend Breanna Cunningham solve the murder of an Irish dancer who may have drunk a poisoned, boozy milkshake on the ferry taking the group to Tara's hen party. Suspicious of one another, the group must also deal with a major storm and loss of power on their remote island destination. In Ehrhart's tale, close friends journalist Bettina Fraser and editor Pamela Patterson (from Knitmare on Beech Street, 2023) investigate when Lionel Dunes drops dead at the local diner after drinking a holiday-themed milkshake called the Leprechaun. Ireland's Mrs. Claus (last seen in Mrs. Claus and the Trouble with Turkeys, 2023) discovers who attacked Crumble Woolly, a local iceball legend, leaving him for dead, while trying to counter a rumor that a milkshake purchased from her best friend's stand poisoned him. Santaland is lovingly rendered, with Mrs. Claus humorously dealing with the overly conscientious reindeer who pulls her sleigh. Fans of the three series will relish these fun, holiday-themed stories.

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