Three authors write short stories featuring Irish Coffee and murder. See my complete review at www.reviewingtheevidence.com

The perfect cozy treat for Saint Patrick’s Day! All three of these Maine-set short stories (novellas? I’m not sure how to technically categorize them) were festive and fun. Leslie Meier’s story was the one I was most looking forward to. It definitely didn’t disappoint, with its Irish dance mom murder mystery. If you’re like me and love the Lucy Stone series, you’ll like this one. However, my favorite story of the trio was from Lee Hollis. I couldn’t stop reading once I started. The whole setup of a Saint Patrick’s day comedy show was a great setting, and I’m definitely going to be trying out that Irish coffee recipe. Best of all, the mystery kept me guessing. Lastly, Barbara Ross’s story was a really interesting and unexpected twist on the theme that I thoroughly enjoyed and won’t spoil. Thank you so much to Kensington and NetGalley for the ARC, I really enjoyed it!

I've become increasingly fond of novellas and short stories, particularly holiday-themed ones. So I was thrilled to get the chance to review this collection set in Maine around St. Patrick's Day, and even though each features Irish Coffee, the three stories are all quite different and very entertaining. This is perfect for anyone looking to add a little St. Paddy's Day fun to their tbr!

Each author has a long-running series, but this can be read as a stand-alone. This collection brings us a murder among stage moms of an Irish step-dancing troupe, a comedian collapsing and dying publicly at the end of a show, and a 150-year-old cold-case murder with some fascinating real-life history woven in.

Such a fun collection of mysteries, with Ross's historical cold case a clever standout. Engaging sleuths, funny moments, Irish coffee, historical info about Irish immigrants in Maine, and recipes for some Irish favorites made this a cozy, festive, and entertaining read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to review this ARC!

I originally read this book because Barbara Ross had a novella in it for her Maine Clambake Mystery series and as usual the author didn't disappoint.

PERKED UP by BARBARA ROSS was absolutely amazing and I wish it had been longer. I have read the Maine Clambake Mysteries since the very beginning. I absolutely love the characters and the authors writing is brilliant. She captures the essence of Maine in her stories and captures the reader from page one. Loved it.

Now with that said I wasn't going to read the other two stories, but I thought about it and said OK why not...now I wish I had the other books in the author's series. I fell in love with each novella. They are new to me authors and I hope to read their series of books.

DEATH OF AN IRISH COFFEE DRINKER by LEE HOLLIS I was captured in the book from page one one reason that I know Bar Harbor, Maine we vacationed there a few times. Also spent part one of my honeymoon there. Death of an Irish Coffee Drinker was amazing, and I hope to read the other books in the series. Lee Hollis captured my attention from the first page, and I didn't stop reading until I had the novella finished. Such a great story and I really enjoyed it. The author's writing was flawless.

IRISH COFFEE MURDER by LESLIE MEIER again a new author to me and I hope to read her series in full. I found the story intriguing and I couldn't put the novella down...I finished it in one sitting. The author's writing is wonderful and kept me reading. I truly enjoyed her story. Amazing story and I'm glad I read it.

While I'm not an eloquent reviewer I do review from my heart. And I can truly say that the three novellas are amazing.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Cozies for an advanced digital copy of Irish Coffee Murder for an honest review. These are my words and my words alone.

Three St Patrick's Day themed cozy novellas make a nice quick read. I usually don't read novellas as they just end too quick! In this case I couldn't pass up a Lucy Stone story by Leslie Meier and a Julia Snowden story by Barbara Ross. As a bonus, I was introduced to Hayley Powell in a Lee Hollis story. The recipes included were great, too.

1. IRISH COFFEE MURDER by LESLIE MEIER
Lucy Stone writes an article about four local Irish step dancing students and ends up solving the murder of a step dancing mom.

2. DEATH OF AN IRISH COFFEE DRINKER by LEE HOLLIS
Hometown boy becones famous comedian and comes back for a St Patrick's Day performance. Hayley Powell caters the after-party where everyone is having a great time, until the guest of honor dies. Now Hayley needs to figure out who wasn't happy that he was back in town. . .

3. PERKED UP by BARBARA ROSS
On a snowy St Patrick's evening Julia Snowden is planning on having Irish Coffees and watching a movie with her best friend, Zoe. Julia's mom and a family friend join them and the power goes out. So what to do? Tell a true ghost story if course. As the evening and the story progress, family and neighbors drop in and add to the story. When the lights go back on, Julia is determined to identify the murderer in the story, and the ghost.

I read these pretty regularly as I love the Hayley Powell series by Lee Hollis.

Irish Coffee Murder by Leslie Meier - 3 stars
Lucy Stone is covering Irish dancing in tiny Tinker's Cove for the local paper. It's highly competitive and one of the mothers ends up dead after a "donnybrook" (sounds like a fight) drinking Irish coffees. I have no idea what has happened to Leslie Meier as her books have become more and more dark and her characters nearly downright unlikeable. Lucy used to have a good relationship with Ted, her boss at the paper and he has become a real jerk. Lucy herself is snide and at times straight up rude. I can't figure out what happened to the cozy characters. However, since most of the supporting cast is missing in this book, maybe we're just seeing more of the warts of Lucy Stone.

Death of an Irish Coffee Drinker by Lee Hollis - 4.5 stars
Hayley's BFF Liddy lands a local comedian for a St. Patrick's Day concert and Hayley is asked to cater at her brother's bar. When the guest of honor keels over after drinking an Irish coffee while giving a toast, Hayley has to find out who killed him and why. The murder weapon and the whodunit was intriguing. This story features all the characters I know and love.

Perked Up by Barbara Ross - 5 stars
I have read most of the novellas featured with Meier and Hollis but never actually read a whodunit in Ms. Ross' series. This one features a group savoring Irish coffees during a blackout and telling a ghost story. As each character is introduced, they have their own take on the legend. I enjoyed this story the most out of the book and thought the whole thing was quite clever. I am going to have to read more of these mysteries.

I’m not usually a fan of novellas but these are some of my favorite series so it was nice to visit with the characters again. Usually these feature the same characters in a shorter mystery but don’t really move the series along in any way. I was pleasantly surprised that the Maine Clambake story did, focusing on a few potential budding relationships. The stories were all well written and intriguing, particularly the last one, which was a cold case. Highly recommended for fans of these series but you don’t have to be to follow the stories.

Irish Coffee Murder is a collection of three novellas, all set around St. Patrick’s Day in Maine, and all using the theme Irish Coffee. It’s interesting to see how each author uses that theme to create a unique story.

The first novella in the collection is Leslie Meier’s “Irish Coffee Murder.” The story features the main character from her full-length novels, Lucy Stone. Lucy is a reporter for Tinker Cove’s local newspaper and travels to Portland, Maine to cover an Irish dance competition. There was lots of drama that seemed all too realistic between the dance moms before, during, and after the competition. There is plenty of drama between the dance moms throughout the competition, especially after a few too many Irish coffees! A few days later, one of the women is found dead in her home, and Lucy is on the case. This story starts out really good, and I really enjoyed the details about competitive Irish step dancing that are included. Unfortunately, things seem to veer off course instead of focusing on the investigation and the resolution to the murder comes abruptly, taking away from the story as a whole.

The next novella is “Death of An Irish Coffee Drinker" by Lee Hollis. The main character is Hayley Powell and her good friend, Liddy, is excited to have booked hometown hero Jefferson O’Keefe for a comedy show on St. Patrick’s Day. Liddy mixes business with pleasure and seems to be rekindling an old romance with Jefferson. Liddy’s happiness is cut short when Jefferson is murdered during the performance, possibly from the Irish coffee he’s served. Now it’s up to Hayley to find out who could have killed this up-and-coming star. I don’t care for the self-centered Liddy, whose demanding ways quickly become annoying. Luckily, Hayley’s character is very likable and I enjoyed seeing how hard she works to find the murderer. I was ultimately surprised when the identity and motive of the killer was revealed. Mixed in with the narrative of the investigation are food blog columns by Hayley that include several tasty-sounding recipes.

The final novella in the book is “Perked Up” by Barbara Ross. Julia Snowden and her friend Zoey decide to spend a quiet night at home on St. Patrick’s Day. They are soon joined by Julia’s mother and an old family friend, George. There is a power outage, and as the night goes on, more friends and family join the gathering to drink Irish coffees and tell ghost stories. One of the stories is about a murder from 150 years ago and each person has their own theory about what really happened. After the night comes to an end, Julia can’t let it go and continues to do research about this crime from long ago. It took me a little while to get into this story, but once I did, I was intrigued by this very cold case. When I was finished, I appreciated the author’s clever take on the theme, and this became my favorite story of the collection.

This book is great for fans of each author or as an introduction to the work of the unfamiliar authors. Each story has its own strengths and weaknesses, but overall is a fast, fun read to get ready to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

I received this ebook from NetGalley through the courtesy of Kensington Books. An advance copy was provided to me at no cost, but my review is voluntary and unbiased. This review will also appear on the Smitten Review Site and Blog.

23 Irish Coffee Murder by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Barbara Ross is a great collection of cozy mysteries with Irish Coffee as a unifying element. This is the first book I have ready by these authors and hope to read more in the future. Thanks you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Irish Coffee Murder by Leslie Meier
Lucy, a reporter, is writing a piece on Tinker's Cove's students in Irish step dancing. But when one of their mom's turns up dead in her bathtub, Lucy investigates.
This cozy mystery is book 28.5 of the Lucy Stone Mystery series, and although there is a backstory and many fun characters to read in the other books, it can be read as a standalone. It was fun to see Tinker's Cove and it's residents again, an easy read full of red herrings.
This book also contains Death of an Irish Coffee Drinker by Lee Hollis and Perked Up by Barbara Ross. I was mainly interested in the book for Leslie Meier's story, but the other two were also two very entertaining cozies, and I will dive into the author's backlists!
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A delightful trio of novellas. This could be considered an introduction to these authors or a brief visit with old friends/characters. Engaging and entertaining. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

All three of these authors were new to me so I figured this was a great way to get a sample of them and I think that was successful. I didn’t feel lost in any of the stories so I don’t think I it’s necessary to read all the prior books. I really liked the first two novellas a lot. The third one was ok, but it really wasn’t as much to my tastes at all. The first two are typical cozy mysteries but in novella form. The last story takes place during a storm when the friends all tell different versions of the same local ghost story/unsolved murder mystery. The first mystery features a lot of Irish culture and includes Irish dancing which was cool. All three stories include Irish coffee which was fun. Overall his was a fun, quick read that will be a perfect read for St. Patrick’s Day.

This is an enjoyable trio of novellas centering on St. Patrick's Day and, as the title would suggest, Irish coffee.

My favorite, by one of my favorite cozy mystery authors, Leslie Meier, is the first novella, which centers on Tinker Cove, Maine reporter, Lucy Stone, and her efforts to unravel a death among the Irish step dance community. Every mystery I read by Leslie Meier, even a novella, is a real treat for me.

The second one, by author Lee Hollis, involves a local boy who did well and is back in town to perform a show. This is part of the Hayley Powell Food and Mysteries series. I liked it so much that I just went out and purchased the first book in the series, Death of a Kitchen Diva, and I am very eager to read it.

The third one, featuring a 100+ year old mystery which current day townsfolk stuck together during a power outage try to solve, was decent, but a bit disappointing after the other two standout novellas. While interesting, the story jumped around more than I would like but I would certainly consider reading another book in the Maine Clambake mystery series by Barbara Ross because I enjoyed the characters, which saved the day on this one.

I enjoyed the story; found a number of things that were inconsistent or otherwise distracting to me. I've noted those in a Kindle export document which I'll try to paste in here.

My review has been written and posted on Goodreads.

Thanks for the opportunity to read and review. I would note that the girls' name Paige is generally spelled with an "ai" in the middle, also that an ellipsis has three periods, not two or four.

Please feel free to contact me if you've any questions.

thanks again ~ Laura

Highlight (yellow) - Chapter One > Location 92
helping Lucy move the foodstuffs into the morgue, then disappeared down the stairs to the cellar.
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Why does the newspaper office have a morgue?
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hardly be considered obsessive about cleanliness. No matter, she
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Capital n needs to be italicized
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inside to find Reverent Marge.
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Reverend
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They were losers and she was a winner. Tt was that simple.
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It was that simple
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something that sent him over the edge. It happened to me– n a small way.
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in a small
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She said Kelly’s with herandand the best thing would be for Kelly to go to school and
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with her and the
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She cut the onion into big chunks, adding them to a Crock-Pot. “And I’m too busy to bother with all that social
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It it's late in the day, she wouldn't use a crock pot; a slow cooker takes 8-10 hours on low for a stew. Even on high it would take four to six. Personally I'd have her use an electric pressure cooker (Instant Pot). Then it would be done in less than two hours. If you use my suggestion, you'll want to change the other use of crock pot to the other cooking implement.
Highlight (yellow) - Chapter Seven > Location 1057
hard.. It’s not as much fun
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An elipsis uses three periods
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would’ve been nice to hear you voice saying ‘Lucy Stone from The Courier,’
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hear your voice
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“Well, I hope he’s not disappointed,” said Lucy, who knew that that Gilead,
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knew that the Gilead
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“Long time no see. Come on in. I just put the kettle on.”
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I was just about
DEATH OF AN IRISH COFFEE DRINKER
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“You have no idea the hoops I had to jump through to get him,” Hayley
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Liddy
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He turned to Hayley. Can you believe this?
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Hayley. "Can you...
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his voice would always be with us. He had
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Awkward change of voice (with us)
PERKED UP
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her stubborn adherence to her own exactly standards for
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exacting standards
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Page, talking as they made their way into the front hall.
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Paige
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My niece , Page , appeared in the archway.
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Paige
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Page’s impressive wins on the swim team,
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Paige
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Captain George opened his mouth to speak, but we are ahead of him.
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but we were ahead
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cheering for Page at her swim
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Paige
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“No school!” my niece, Page, crowed.
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Paige

Irish Coffee Murder consists of three short, Irish themed cozy mysteries by three great authors. I always love when I see another holiday cozy mystery bundle like this come out.

The first mystery in the set is Irish Coffee Murder by Leslie Meier and it is part of the Lucy Stone mystery series. Lucy Stone, a local reporter, writes a story about four Irish step dance students and things are good until one of their moms ends up murdered. As always, Lucy gets to the bottom of things and searches out the killer with her typical cutting edge reporting style. I found this to be an enjoyable mystery and liked being able to follow along with Lucy once again.

The second mystery in the set is Death of an Irish Coffee Drinker by Lee Hollis and is part of the Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails mystery series. When a local comedian who has hit the big time returns to Bar Harbor for a St. Patrick’s Day show, Hayley is set to cater the after party. The show goes well, but when the comedian drops dead during the reception, Hayley is in the case to figure out what happened. I have a read a few of the mysteries in Thai series, mostly the show holiday ones in the box sets, but this was definitely my favorite Hayley Powell mystery yet. Usually I’m not a huge Hayley Powell fan, but there was something about this mystery that I loved!

The last mystery in the set is Perked Up by Barbara Ross and is part of the Maine Clambake mystery series. When a storm knocks out the power in Busman’s Harbor, Julia Snowden and company end up swapping tales of a famous local ghost story. As always, once intrigued by a mystery, Julia gets to the bottom of it all and figures out who the ghost really is. I love the Maine Clambake mystery series and I definitely enjoyed this mystery, but it wasn’t exactly what I’m used to in this series. The whole ghost aspect threw a different ball into the game, but it was good nonetheless.

Overall this was an enjoyable St. Patrick’s themed mystery collection. This is great for cozy mystery fans!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book!

I love the regular novellas these authors participate in creating. I believe this is the fifth such collection of short stories featuring long running series.

I love Lucy Stone and Leslie Meier has managed to create another plot for Lucy to shine. Four Irish step-dancing students are from different financial backgrounds but all face more than dance competitors at the latest event.

Lee Hollis' Hayley Powell is not one of my regular cozies but I do enjoy each novella and this one is no exception to the liking. Hometown comedian dies after drinking his Irish Coffee and Hayley has to figure out who done it!

Maine Clambake Mysteries with Julia Snowden is one I look forward to from Barbara Ross. The plots of each book always teach me something along the way. This time the friends solve an old murder while drinking Irish Coffee during a power blackout.

Great way to keep up with your favorite cozies without a big time investment. Perfect for St. Patrick's Day.

Irish Coffee Murder was a great, quick read. I really liked the characters. They were funny and very relatable even in a shorter story. I loved the humorous writing style and the mystery kept me guessing until the reveal. I recommend Irish Coffee Murder to all cozy readers.

An entertaining trilogy from 3 authors who never disappoint. Each mystery is intriguing with the cozy mystery touches we have come to expect from these ladies.

An enjoyable group of three short stories linked by the Title, Irish Coffee Murders. I am quite familiar with the first and last authors and their stories and these novellas did not disappoint. The middle author was new to me so I was expecting the same quality of expertise as the other two stories. I was not disappointed. Well worth the money.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book

The book is actually three novellas.
IRISH COFFEE MURDER by is written by Leslie Meier of the Lucy Stone Mysteries and has a bit too many contentious characters for my winter tastes. ***
DEATH OF AN IRISH COFFEE DRINKER by Lee Hollis of the Hayley Powell Food & Cocktail Mysteries is
a little odd and has a lot more of the author's signature humor. ****
and PERKED UP by Barbara Ross of the Maine Clambake Mysteries is a complex mystery that includes a power outage today and an unsolved murder over a hundred years ago. This one is my personal favorite. *****
I requested and received a free e-book copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!