Title:
Eggnog Murder
Author:
Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, Barbara Ross
Series:
Lucy Stone, Hayley Powell Food & Cocktails Mystery, and A Maine Clambake Mystery
Release Date:
October 25, 2016
Format:
Hardcover
Genre:
Mystery
Sub-Genre:
Christmas, Anthologies
Rating:
Read-A-Likes:
Summary: With the fireplace crackling, the tree twinkling, and the carols humming, few things in life are as picture perfect as Christmas in Maine—until murder dampens the holiday spirit. It must be something in the eggnog . . .
EGGNOG MURDER by LESLIE MEIER
When a gift-wrapped bottle of eggnog—allegedly from the Real Beard Santa Club—proves to be a killer concoction for a Tinker’s Cove local, all Lucy Stone wants for Christmas is to find the murdering mixologist who’s stirring up trouble.
DEATH BY EGGNOG by LEE HOLLIS
Food and cocktails columnist Hayley Powell has never cared much for Bar Harbor’s grouchy town librarian, Agatha Farnsworth. But after the Scroogy senior has a fatal—and suspicious—allergic reaction to supposedly non-dairy eggnog, it’s up to Hayley to ladle out some justice.
NOGGED OFF by BARBARA ROSS
Julia Snowden’s tenant Imogen Geinkes seems to be jinxed. First, her poorly named “Killer Eggnog” gives all her co-workers food poisoning at the holiday party, then her boyfriend’s body shows up in Julia’s moving truck as she’s headed back to Busman’s Harbor. Now Julia has to get moving to catch the cold-hearted culprit.
Cozy up with a glass of eggnog and enjoy the spirit of murder and mystery in a Yultide treat perfect for those winter holidays . . .-From Goodreads
What I Liked: As someone who would drink their weight in eggnog if it wouldn’t kill me, I love the idea of centering holiday mysteries around the drink. And each story in this collection was able to include eggnog in a way that was clever and fun! While familiar with all three authors featured in this book, I had never read any of them so I enjoyed getting to learn a bit about the amateur detectives that have made these women popular. Of the three stories, I would say Nogged Off was my favorite because I enjoyed the twist but each story here is worth a read. I was worried that I would be confused due to never having read the series’ these characters come from but every author did a good job of introducing these characters as if they were new, while also giving the reader enough background to understand the world in which the characters live.
What I Didn’t Like: In Eggnog Murder, there were some weird gender-related things that gave me pause, i.e the main character, who is a woman, commenting that another woman would be attractive if she was smiling and assuming that a woman would have short hair and dress in plaid shirts and work boots to fit more into her male-dominated work space. I actually had to double check when this book was published because I don’t expect to read things like that in modern books. In Death by Eggnog, there was a scene with an older man who is CLEARLY sexually harrassing a young woman and no one seems to care? Or do anything? I was waiting for one of the characters to comment on it but there was nothing.
Who Should Read It: Someone already reading any of the series’ these books are a part of will want to pick this collection up but any cozy mystery fan will enjoy these stories.
Review Wrap Up: I really enjoyed this collection of mysteries all surrounding my favorite holiday drink, eggnog. The mysteries were interesting enough to keep me guessing and there was enough humor to keep the stories light. However, Eggnog Murder deals with some heavy topics such as PTSD and suicide so don’t pick this book up expecting every part to be lighthearted.
The Spinster Librarian 