February was a short month, but I started reading some St. Patrick's Day-themed mysteries that were then newly published.
Irish Soda Bread Murder by Carlene O'Connor, Peggy Ehrhart, and Liz Ireland I've come to enjoy all three of these authors, who have collaborated on other holiday-themed anthologies. Carlene O'Connor, who is listed first, writes a series set in Ireland, revolving around a large family and the oldest sister, matriarch now that their parents have died. But int his short story, our protagonist is Tara Meehan, who is helping her Uncle Johnny. Several of Uncle Johnny's friends are participating in a psychic fair, but no one forsees a murder. The only clue: the Irish soda bread the victim is holding in their hands. Peggy Ehrhart takes us to the familiar setting of Arborvitae, NJ, and a community center St. Paddy's Day party. Part of the festivities is an Irish soda bread competition, but the judge drops dead after sampling one of the entries. Liz Ireland's series is set in Santaland, but this time Liz Claus is back hime in Oregon because her bed and breakfast inn was flooded, and her caretaker is nowhere to be found. Along for the ride are three elves who've been anxious to see the world ever since Liz married Nick, and their adventures as undocumented aliens threaten to reveal the existence of Santa Claus and Santaland before Liz can find out who killed a smuggler and thief at her inn. While all were enjoyable ways to celebrate one of my favorite holidays, the premise of an Irish soda brea competition was a bit of a stretch--there really aren't very many ways that you can make a traditional Irish soda bread, so that premise was farfetched. But I love holiday-themed mysteries, and I always enjoy this group of authors' short stories. (Net Galley)
Murder in an Irish Garden by Carlene O'Connor Siobhan, matriarch of the rollicking Irish family mentioned above, is trying to study for her sergeant's exam, but she and her husband Macdara seem to be fighting about everything these days. And neither of our stubborn Irish Garda are going to give an inch. The local gardening group is delighted, and somewhat bewildered, that they were chosen to host a gardening competition, but the local gardeners go all out to create what they hope will be a winning entry. They are all angry when one competitor hires an internationally-known garden landscape designer to help with his garden, which they all think is cheating. But were they angry enough to kill her? I thought this was one of the weaker entries in the series, perhaps because Siobhan's big family takes more a back seat. Eion is opening his new restaurant, The Sullivan Six, and while there are changes like this to the family across the arc of the series, it's easy to jump in with any book. It was easy to identify the killer and the surprise story ending early in the book, but it's still a pleasant read. (Net Galley)
Death of an Irish Druid by Catie Murphy This is book 6 in a series I'd never tried. I was unimpressed and admit I didn't finish the book, a rarity for me as it was an advanced reader's copy and I diligently try to finish those before I formulate my opinion. Megan Malone, American ex-pat, drives a limo in Dublin, and apparently in the previous novel, her girlfriend Jelena broke up with her over her sleuthing adventures. So Megan was happy to drive her old friend Raf and his beloved Sarah around Ireland to give herself some breathing space after the break up. Unfortunately, she finds the body of a local landowner at their first stop, and while the local police think the death was an accident, Megan is not convinced. I wasn't convinced but the premise of the book. Calling Megan the murder driver was neither cutesy (the references to her hashtag were already annoying and I was still in Chapter 1) nor appropriate--I like my amateur detectives to be unwilling to get caught up in a murder, not revel in them and seek them out as a way to deal with heartbreak (which in itself seems wrong). This is one of the few ARCs I bailed out on. (Net Galley)
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