Of course, we’re all ready to think about St. Patrick’s Day the day after Christmas, right? Well, maybe not, but today’s release day for the collection, Irish Milkshake Murder. Three cozy mystery authors, Carlene O’Connor, Peggy Ehrhart, and Liz Ireland share a theme. Someone has been poisoned by a green milkshake.
In O’Connor’s “Irish Milkshake Murder”, Tara Meehan is an unwilling participant in her own hen party. Her best friend, Breanna, insists though, and Tara, her fiance, Danny O’Donnell, and a group of four friends head on a chartered ferry to the Aran Islands. Two brothers, billed as Dancing Twins, hitch a ride, saying they’re desperate. Captain Mickey makes everyone boozy milkshakes. Before they dock, one of the twins ends up dead.
Peggy Ehrhart’s “Murder Most Irish”, two members of the Kit and Nibble Knitting Club are at the local diner. They refuse a green shake, but a man at a nearby table keels over after drinking one. Pamela Paterson and Bettina Fraser suspect poisoning.
Liz Ireland’s “Mrs. Claus and the Luckless Leprechaun” finds Santaland preparing for the first Saint Patrick’s Day fair in Christmastown. After the local team wins an iceball game, April Claus and her friends go out to celebrate. One elf not celebrating is Crumble Woolly, who is found on the ice with a milkshake cup, a bump on his head. And, the iceball trophy is missing.
O’Connor and Ireland’s stories are as complex as their books featuring the same characters. I thought Ehrhart’s characters spent too much time focusing on coffee and Bettina’s clothes, but that’s my complaint. Her regular readers might not mind.
If you’re ready to move onto St. Patrick’s Day, check out Irish Milkshake Murder.
Irish Milkshake Murder by Carlene O’Connor, Peggy Ehrhart, and Liz Ireland. Kensington Books, 2023. ISBN 9781496745033 (hardcover), 352p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I read a galley from NetGalley in order to review the book for a journal.
