This is an anthology of short stories by three well-known cozy mystery writers. They all take place around St. Patrick's Day, and have that particular theme; although they are very different in content. For the most part, I enjoyed each of them.

In the first by Carlene O'Connor, Tara Meehan is looking forward to her St. Patrick's Day wedding to Danny O'Donnell, an Irish charmer. But she's not thrilled that her best friend Breanna has planned a 'hen party' for her, as she's not much for that kind of festivities. But she goes along with it, even when she discovers that Breanna has invited one of her "frenemies" from the states, Rachel, to join in. When they are boarding the boat to take them to Inishmore, one of the three Aran Islands, a pair of twin Irish dancers beg to be let aboard since they missed their own boat.

What follows is nearly chaos. Breanna is serving up 'boozy milkshakes to everyone (doesn't sound appetizing to me, but then again, I don't drink), and during the ride it begins to rain and the boat sways, and...someone is killed. Murdered, in fact. When they arrive on the island, now closed up because of the storm, Tara vows to solve the murder. The police don't seem to believe them at first, but then things get really strange. Tara and the remaining members of her group must stick together to solve the crime. The ending was indeed surprising, and Ms. O'Coonor brings us another tasty mystery. Five Stars.

Peggy Ehrhart's mystery is different in that it begins at a well-loved local diner, and of course, someone dies. But why? Pamela Paterson and her partner-in-crime, Bettina Fraser work together to come up with a plausible reason for the murder, and, of course, a suitable suspect. But no one that they speak to seems to have a motive to have wanted the person dead. The more they look, the less likely their main suspects seem to be. In this one, I figured out the person and the reason before Pamela and Bettina, but it didn't stop my enjoyment of the mystery. It was well written and worth the read.

My only complaints are that the author spends too much time telling us that Pamela uses her wedding China (we know) and Bettina uses her sage green pottery (we know). Unfortunately for me, Pamela seems like a dull character with little personality and 'oomph' in her life. I do wish she'd change, but we can't have everything, can we? However, Wilfred's (Bettina's husband) makes some delicious meals and I'd love to eat there! Four Stars.

The last story is by Liz Ireland, who writes about life in Santaland. Her protagonist is April Claus, Santa Claus's wife, who is a young bride who's made friends with many of the elves. She and her friend Juniper attend a local iceball game, a noted elf event. But after the game, there is an elf found unconscious on the ice, and April doesn't think it was an accident. She and her friends need to find out who attacked the famous iceball player and why, and they need to do so before St. Patrick's Day hits and the elf's fair is fully in swing.

I have to confess that I am not a fan of fantasy, so this one didn't really draw me in as much as the other two. I also would have liked to have seen more interaction between April and Nick. Ah, well. The mystery is very good, though, and there's enough action to keep you interested. When the ending comes, I was a tad disappointed, but that's just me. Others will probably like this story as well. Four Stars.

This book contains three stories. I enjoyed the first two books.
IRISH MILKSHAKE MURDER by CARLENE O’CONNOR and
MURDER MOST IRISH by PEGGY EHRHART. Both had good storylines, some of my favorite characters, and lots of red herrings.
MRS. CLAUS AND THE LUCKLESS LEPRECHAUN by LIZ IRELAND was cute, but this type of fantasy mystery is just not my cup of tea.

. . .

"Irish Milkshake Murder" is a collection of three short Irish Milkshake related cozy mysteries. All three are great, holiday quick reads for any cozy mystery read. However, the first one for which the book is named, may be a bit mature for more than just a murder mystery. It takes place during a Hen/Bachelorette party and there's the typical American raunchy talk but tamed down a lot. The p word for the part of the body men have (I'm eluding to it because I'm cross posting this review and not all sites like that word) frequently mentions about cakes and wands, then maybe skip that story.

The other two are classic holiday versions of their regualar run series of books. Great Holiday adds when needing a quick read.

Cozy mysteries make me happy! I loved all three of these stories. I can’t wait to read more!

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for the arc of this book!

Cozy mysteries are my comfort, go-to reads and I did a happy dance when I received a copy of "Irish Milkshake Murder". Fantastic stories!