Book Review: Irish Milkshake Murder by Carlene O’Connor, Peggy Ehrhart, and Liz Ireland

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Three fun St. Patrick’s Day set mysteries

Cons: Nothing worth dwelling on

The Bottom Line:

Deadly Irish drinks

Three times mysterious fun

Great anthology

Three Tales of Unlucky Milkshakes

I get people who complain about companies trying to rush the next holiday at us.  But I also get why it happens.  People have to have time to learn about products and buy them in time to enjoy at the appropriate holiday.  Which brings us to Irish Milkshake Murder, a St. Patrick’s Day novella collection which is being published the day after Christmas.  Don’t let that timing throw you off, however.  These stories are worth reading.

This is the latest holiday novella collection from Kensington Cozies and features Carlene O’Connor and Liz Ireland, two of the authors who teamed up for last year’s Halloween novella collection.  The third author this go around is Peggy Ehrhart.

Up first, we get the title story from Carlene O’Connor.  Tara Meehan and Danny O’Donnell have decided on a St. Patrick’s Day wedding.  Despite her protests to the contrary, Tara’s friend Breanna insists that Tara have a hen party.  In fact, Danny and his groomsmen are joining them on their trip to the Aran Islands.  The surprises start with one of Tara’s friends showing up from America and continue with two dancers on the boat taking them to the island.  Then someone dies after drinking a boozy milkshake.  With Tara and the rest trapped on the island by a storm, will she figure out what happened?

I might not have picked up the anthology for this story, but I’m really glad I read it.  First, it was fun to revisit the characters from the Home to Ireland series that I met in the last anthology Carlene headlined.  The story drew me in right away, and I was impressed with the twists that the author was able to pull off on the way to a logical solution.  I felt like I was surviving the same storm the characters did as I read.  Whether you already know these characters or not, you’ll be happy you read this story.

Next up is Murder Most Irish by Peggy Ehrhart with the characters from her Knit and Nibbles Mysteries.  As St. Patrick’s Day approaches, the local diner is featuring a seasonal Leprechaun milkshake.  While Pamela and Bettina aren’t interested in trying it, several others are enjoying them for lunch one Saturday.  That is until a man falls face down in his lunch after drinking from his.  Can the friends figure out what happened?

This was my introduction to the characters.  I’ll admit, that made me struggle a bit to get into the book, but that is on me.  The author did a good job of introducing the characters and their relationships.  The story was good with some nice twists along the way to the logical climax.  I did think the pacing was a little off, but overall, that’s a minor complaint.  I have the first book, so this makes an anxious to find time to read it.  As a bonus, there is a knitting pattern (and instructions) and a recipe at the end of this story.

Finally comes the reason, I picked up the anthology – Mrs. Claus and the Luckless Leprechaun by Liz Ireland.  It’s spring in Santaland.  While the temperatures might not be warming much, the elves do have a little more down time, which makes it the perfect time for iceball season.  April Claus has turned into a fan of the local team, and her friend Claire is also at the game selling her new minty milkshakes.  Late one night, the injured star of the team is found on the ice field where a game had just been played.  Who would attack him?

If you haven’t found this series yet, it takes a bit to adjust to the world that the author has created, but it is well worth the effort.  Her imagination is wonderfully fleshed out, and I love getting lost in the world of these books.  No matter what holiday the characters are celebrating, there is still a touch of Christmas magic, too, which I love.  And the fact that I finally got to read one of these in the Christmas season was a huge bonus for me.  We saw many of the series regulars, and I laughed at what they got up to here.  Plus, the mystery was great and kept me going until the over the top climax.  And I do mean that in the best way.  You don’t want to miss this story or this series.

All three of these stories are worth reading whether you are already familiar with the characters or not.  If you aren’t, you might just find some new authors to read this way.  Each story is about the third of the length of a regular novel, so they won’t take you long to read individually.  But the authors all do a great job of giving us great characters and fun mysteries in that length of time.  And the St. Patrick’s Day theme is strong in all of them as well.

You’ll want to be sure you have Irish Milkshake Murder on hand when it gets closer to St. Patrick’s Day.  Or, if you can’t wait that long, enjoy it today.  Either way, you’ll savor these delicious cozies.

And do check out the rest of the Mrs. Claus Mysteries.

 NOTE: I received an ARC of this anthology.