Irish Milkshake Murder by O’Connor, Ehrhart, and Ireland

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

This is another of Kensington Publishing’s holiday novella collections, with three stories each written by a cozy mystery author.  This collection, obviously, is in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, so each story uses that as a story element while featuring their series characters.  Often, these are stories set between books but you don’t need to be a fan to follow the action in these novellas.  In fact, I like to use them as a testing ground to see if am going to like the author’s style or not without having to try a whole book.

“The Irish Milkshake Murder” by Carlene O’Connor has her Irish Village Mystery series heroine Tara Meehan and two female friends on their way to an island for her hen party (which she didn’t want.) Her fiancé and his friends are on the same ferry for the stag party. They end up with a two dancing brothers who need transportation to the island as well. Tara manages to hang in for the choppy trip despite downing some of the boozy milkshakes provided. Unfortunately, one of the passengers gets a shake spiked with something else, and Tara realizes she’s once again in the middle of a murder investigation.  This story is long on Irish flavor, so if you need to get in the—um, spirit of the holiday, this is a good start.

Pamela Paterson is the main character of Peggy Ehrhart’s Knit & Nibble series, a widow who belongs to a knitting club. Her best friend Bettina is a reporter for a weekly newspaper, and the two of them end up solving crimes on a regular basis.  In “Murder Most Irish,” the two are enjoying lunch when another customer keels over after having a green milkshake.  It’s going to be up to Pamela and Bettina to solve the mystery before their beloved luncheonette is closed for good.  New readers may find this one a bit slow, but fans will love the descriptions of hearty and delicious food, fiber craft articles, and cameos from series characters.

Mentions of “Mrs. Claus” may make people think of a plump little old lady with white hair and apple cheeks, but April Claus is none of the above. She was swept off her feet by the handsome Nicholas Claus, only learning later that he was none other than THE Nick Claus. She has adjusted to Santaland and Santaland is trying to adjust to her, especially all the new holiday she’s brought with her—like St. Patrick’s Day.  In “Mrs. Claus and Luckless Leprechaun,” an elf is found with a head injury but whether it was from an unlucky fall or if this was a failed murder attempt.  This series is full of light-hearted fun, but the author treats it as seriously as possible so that the effect is off-beat but not silly. 

I found this collection to be quite the treat!

Mrs. Claus and the Nightmare Before New Year’s by Liz Ireland

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

April Claus is trying to stay calm, but when your husband is out making stops all over the world in an aging sleigh pulled by reindeer it’s a little hard.  The sleigh doesn’t even have seatbelts.  Although everyone tells her not to worry, that Santa always comes back, she’s still very tense.  She’s trying to immerse herself in the welcome back preparations, but then there’s a Situation.

Three humans have been found near Santaland, all injured from an apparent plane crash.  They can’t just be left to die, so they are transported to Christmastown where they’ll have to kept isolated and unaware of where they are.  There’s a complication, though:  one of the men has been stabbed—with a reindeer antler.

When the man dies, the ante is upped:  not only does April have to find a murderer, but she also has to keep the survivors convinced that they’re in Canada, that reindeer and snowmen don’t talk, that the elves are just somewhat short humans, and that all the Christmas stuff is just seasonal decorations and not a way of life.

Okay, so when I first heard about this series I thought it sounded way too cutesy for my taste.  Maybe even silly.  Then a reviewer whose opinion I respect gave it a very good review and I decided to give it a try.  I first read a novella set in this world, and found it to be delightful so I moved on to a full length book. 

I’ll admit that it does require a certain suspension of disbelief, what with talking reindeer, elves, snow monsters, and such, but then again so do books in which the local pastry chef solves murders and doles out recipes with equal aplomb.  Most of all, I found this book to be fun and imaginative.  Since April is still an outsider in some ways, having been a human innkeeper in Oregon before meeting Nick, she’s a good guide to the intricacies of Santaland living.  There’s a good bit of world-building and some wonderful characters.  Some of the reindeer were my favorites—oh, not the celebrity reindeer, but the off-beat ones like Wobbler and Quasar. The elves’ efforts to pretend to be Canadian were as humorous as they were earnest, and while I wouldn’t classify this as a fair play mystery, I had such fun reading it that I didn’t care.

While this may not be everyone’s cup of Christmas cheer, I found it was definitely mine. I’m looking forward to reading more in this series.