326 pages Publisher Kensington Cozies Publication date December 24, 2024
ABOUT THE BOOK
It’s almost time for the delicious warmth of Irish soda bread, but be careful where you bite–some of these recipes call for murder in this delicious collection of cozy mystery novellas featuring the popular St. Paddy’s Day treat.
IRISH SODA BREAD MURDER by CARLENE O’CONNOR
There’s very little time left before her wedding, but nonetheless Tara Meehan is helping out at her Uncle Johnny’s salvage mill for the day. Aunt Rose set up a convention for local psychics, including a bake sale to raise money for charity, but now she’s sick and available only via an iPad Johnny is carrying. The event promises to deliver a real pot of gold until Rose’s biggest rival shows up. Before Tara can utter a simple “top o’ the morning” to the man, he drops dead—with Johnny’s soda bread in his hands. It’s up to Tara to identify the deadly baker before another victim ends up chasing the rainbow straight into a grave . . .
AN IRISH RECIPE FOR MURDER by PEGGY EHRHART
To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year, the Arborville, New Jersey, Advocate is sponsoring a soda bread–baking competition. Bettina Fraser is excited—her bake-off idea was the one to get the green light! But when a town councilman acting as a judge keels over after sampling an entry, the party atmosphere dies just as quickly. Now it’s up to Bettina and her Knit and Nibble knitting club bestie, Pamela Paterson, to find the killer responsible for the murderous morsel.
MRS. CLAUS AND THE SINISTER SODA BREAD MAN by LIZ IRELAND
When April Claus arrives in Cloudberry Bay, Oregon, to check on her flooded inn, her biggest worry is to keep everyone from realizing her three companions—Jingles, Juniper, and Butterbean—are elves. But soon enough she has more serious worries—it looks like her hapless caretaker Ernie has been storing stolen goods at the inn! Then one of Ernie’s shady pals is found dead, and the murder weapon turns up in a decorative loaf of soda bread at April’s craft fair booth. It’s up to April to uncover the killer before she spends St. Patrick’s Day in the county jail!
MY THOUGHTS
A collection of three Irish themed cozy mystery stories. The main “ingredient” connecting all the stories is Irish soda bread.
I enjoyed these stories to varying degrees.
In IRISH SODA BREAD MURDER by CARLENE O’CONNOR, Tara Meehan is running out of time before her big wedding but still manages to find time to help her uncle and aunt. At their salvage yard there is a charity event featuring psychics at the convention and a bake sale. Lots of Irish soda bread for sale unfortunately the main baker is sick, so a substitute baker is brought in for the bread baking and soon after taking the first bite of bread someone falls dead. Was it the baker or someone else that slipped something into the bread?
AN IRISH RECIPE FOR MURDER by PEGGY EHRHART, the Arborville, New Jersey, Advocate is celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day this year with an exciting baking contest. When the judge samples the Irish Soda bread, he thinks it’s really delicious until he keels over dead.
Who could have done it and why?
MRS. CLAUS AND THE SINISTER SODA BREAD MAN by LIZ IRELAND, a flooded inn in Cloudberry Bay, Oregon may be April Claus’s least worrisome thing when a murder weapon is found in the decorative Irish Soda bread.
All but one author I am familiar with and I’ve read books with the same characters in them as in this collection.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.
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