I always look forward to the mystery collections by Carlene O’Connor, Peggy Ehrhart, and Liz Ireland. Their collections contain three novellas with a common theme, a holiday or a food. This time, it’s Irish Soda Bread Murder in time for St. Patrick’s Day. But, the stories surprised me. I’m usually eager to read Liz Ireland’s story featuring April Claus, wife of Nick Claus. But, this one disappointed because it was set in Oregon, not Santaland. And, the characters, even April, seem out of their element.
Carlene O’Connor’s “Irish Soda Bread Murder” features a psychic fair and bake sale in Galway a week before Tara Meehan’s wedding to Danny O’Donnell. When one of the psychics is murdered, poisoned by Irish soda bread, Tara and others arrange a seance in which she’ll point to the killer.
Surprisingly to me, my favorite story was Peggy Ehrhart’s “An Irish Recipe for Murder”. Bettina Fraser, the chief reporter for a weekly newspaper, “The Advocate” had the idea for home bakers to enter their Irish soda bread in a contest for Arborville’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration. When a local councilman and contest judge keels over after tasting one bread, Bettina worries she’ll be remembered as the reporter who suggested the contest. She teams up with her friend Pamela Paterson to find the murderer.
As I said, I was disappointed in Liz Ireland’s “Mrs. Claus and the Sinister Soda Bread Man”. April Claus brings three elves with her to Cloudberry Bay, Oregon, when there’s a crisis at the inn she owns. What kind of trouble can three elves get into away from Santaland? As I said, everyone seemed out of place, and the story just didn’t work for me.
Irish Soda Bread Murder is a light escape for anyone wanting to think spring a little early.
Irish Soda Bread Murder by Carlene O’Connor, Peggy Ehrhart, and Liz Ireland. Kensington Books, 2024. ISBN 9781496751089 (hardcover), 352p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I received an ARC from Kensington through NetGalley, with no expectation of a review.
