Tag: St. Patrick’s Day

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Irish Knit Murder (A Knit & Nibble Mystery)

304 pages Kensington Books Pub Date 21 Feb 2023

ABOUT THE BOOK

St. Patrick’s Day takes an unexpected turn for crafting magazine editor Pamela Paterson and the members of her knitting club when a member of a prominent New Jersey family is found dead…

The Listers have been part of Arborville society for generations—though seventy-something Isobel Lister doesn’t fit the role of upper-crust heiress. She’s always been a colorful character, and her fun-loving spirit is on display at the senior center celebration as she performs some beloved Irish songs. But just minutes later, her body is found backstage.

It’s hard to imagine who’d target such a harmless eccentric, but Pamela finds herself suspecting everyone. There’s the Wiccan who thought St. Patrick wasn’t so saintly; the woman upset about cultural appropriation who feels the commercialization of shamrocks is a sham; the two men Isobel was seeing, who could have been green with jealousy—and old friends and family who may have feared Isobel would spill their secrets. But Pamela’s on the case, and that means for the killer, the jig will soon be up . . .

MY THOUGHTS

This is my first read by this author and I like her writing style. Some authors of cozy mysteries give too many clues early on and expose the killer right away. Not so with this one. Through well placed clues this St. Patrick’s Day cozy mystery is right up my alley. I do enjoy holiday themed books as long as it’s not overdone.


Community centers are always such an entertaining place for the elderly to go. St. Patrick’s Day was no different with an outgoing eccentric woman from a well-known about town family singing Irish tunes. She must not be everyone’s cup of tea though as she’s found dead right off stage shortly after her singing is over.

In cozy mysteries there always seems to be a take charge woman investigating these murders and she seems to always have more clues and the inside scoop before the police do. In this case it’s crafting magazine editor Pamela Paterson.

The knitting club tie in was fun and of course the addition of animals is always a bonus for me. So many suspects in this case all seeming to have a valid reason of why they could have done it. With delicious sounding Irish meals and drinks this one will go down as an easy read.

Pub Date 21 Feb 2023
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Peggy Ehrhart is a former English professor who writes mysteries and plays blues guitar. She holds a doctorate in Medieval Literature, and her publications include a prize-winning book dealing with classical mythology in the Middle Ages. Her Maxx Maxwell mysteries, Sweet Man Is Gone (2008) and Got No Friend Anyhow (2011), feature a blues-singer sleuth.

Peggy is currently writing the Knit & Nibble mystery series for Kensington Books. Set in the charming (fictional) town of Arborville, New Jersey, it features amateur sleuth Pamela Paterson, founder and mainstay of the town’s knitting club.

Peggy is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.

Visit Peggy online at http://www.PeggyEhrhart.com

Enjoy your Tuesday and thanks for stopping in.

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Four Leaf Cleaver (A Country Store Mystery Book 11)

322 pages Kensington Books January 24,2023 publish date

ABOUT THE BOOK

The eleventh installment in Maddie Day’s deliciously popular Country Store cozy mysteries . . . It’s Saint Patrick’s Day in  South Lick, Indiana, but a holiday cooking competition at Robbie Jordan’s country store and restaurant Pans ’N Pancakes is put on the back-burner when a killer strikes.
 
There’s no mistaking Saint Patrick’s Day at Pans ’N Pancakes. Robbie may only be Irish by marriage to Abe O’Neill, but the shelves of vintage cookware in her southern Indiana store are draped with glittery shamrocks and Kelly-green garlands and her restaurant is serving shepherd’s pie and Guinness Beer brownies. The big event, however, is a televised cooking competition to be filmed on site.
 
Unfortunately, someone’s luck has run out. Before the cameras start rolling, tough-as-nails producer Tara O’Hara Moore is found upstairs in her B&B room, bludgeoned apparently by the heavy hilt of a cleaver left by her side. Now, not only does Robbie have a store full of festive decorations, she’s got a store full of suspects . . .
 
Includes Recipes for You to Try!

MY THOUGHTS

Four Leaf Cleaver is another cozy mystery by Maddie Day in her Country Store mystery series. I’ve read a few in this series and was eager to continue on with it.
Pans ’N Pancakes is the restaurant/country store owned by Robbie in South Lick, Indiana. Now this little country store selling vintage cookware and serving delicious home cooked meals does well with the locals, but Robbie jumps at the chance to have a film crew at her little store filming a cooking contest.

With the festive shamrocks in place and delicious St. Patrick’s Day foods on the menu including Guinness Beer brownies the contestants can’t wait to get started as they’re all convinced; they’ll make the winning meal. Tragedy strikes when the producer is found bludgeoned before filming can even start.

I did enjoy the St. Patrick’s Day theme of the cozy. You don’t see a lot of books with this theme. There were a lot of red herrings thrown in there, clues that you thought took you somewhere but actually didn’t.

Robbie has a lot going on, she’s fairly newly married, runs a restaurant and has family issues she’s dealing with. Despite all this she still finds time to be an amateur sleuth though she’s told many times not to by the police department. Will this stop her, not quite.

I enjoyed the mystery, the characters were great, the elements were all there to make this a cozy that kept my attention and kept me guessing. I could feel the tension building up as the story got closer to its conclusion. Will be on the lookout for more books in this series.

Pub Date: 24 Jan 2023
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.
💚☘️

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Maddie Day is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning author, Maddie writes the Country Store Mysteries, the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, the Cece Barton Mysteries, and the Dot and Amelia Mysteries featuring Amelia Earhart as a sleuthing sidekick.

As Edith Maxwell, she write the Local Foods Mysteries and the Quaker Midwife Mysteries, as well as award-winning short crime fiction.

Maddie/Edith has two grown sons and lives in an antique house north of Boston with her beau, a small organic garden, and a gentle cat. She blogs every weekday with the Wicked Authors and on the second and fourth Fridays at Mystery Lovers Kitchen. Look for her under both names on social media and on her web site.

Thank you for stopping in today and reading my post. Have a wonderful day.

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Books From the Backlog

Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread.  If you are anything like me, you might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks. Hosted at Carole’s Random Life.

This book published in December of 2023

This is one of the many overdue books I have to read. I hope to get to it this month for St. Patrick’s Day.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Raise a glass for St. Paddy’s Day but keep a shamrock handy because some of these minty milkshakes are made with murder!

IRISH MILKSHAKE MURDER by CARLENE O’CONNOR
In advance of their St. Patrick’s Day wedding, Tara Meehan and Danny O’Donnell are off to the Aran Islands with their bridesmaids and groomsmen for a joint hen and stag party. The weekend kicks off with the ferry trip to Inis Mór, as the passengers enjoy boozy milkshakes on board and entertainment from a pair of famous Irish-dancing twin brothers. But faster than Tara can say “Oh, Danny Boy,” a murder shamrocks the boat as someone’s spiked shake turns out to be their final round. Stuck in a rural island cottage, while a storm rages outside, Tara must find the Celtic killer before her luck runs out . . .

MURDER MOST IRISH by PEGGY EHRHART
St. Patrick’s Day is drawing near in Arborville, New Jersey and the folks at Hyler’s Luncheonette are getting into the holiday spirit with a new, limited-time, Irish-themed menu item–a festive green milkshake appropriately named, “The Leprechaun.” It’s a hit, until a patron is felled by one of the frothy concoctions during a sheep parade through the town. Now, it’s up to Pamela Paterson and her Knit & Nibble knitting club pal, Bettina Fraser, to catch a murderer and put a stop to the sheer madness . . .

MRS. CLAUS AND THE LUCKLESS LEPRECHAUN by LIZ IRELAND
Spring in Santaland means two things: the elves have more leisure time and iceball season is in full swing! To celebrate, April Claus’s friend, Claire, whips up some minty milkshakes for her bustling ice cream shop, Santaland Scoop. But when the St. Paddy’s promotion makes one elf the target of a decidedly unlucky strike, Mrs. Claus and her friends must figure out if the attack was a failed hit job, a crime of passion, or an extremely unfortunate accident . . .

Does this look like a book you would read?

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