Eggnog Murder

Eggnog Murder is a delightful Christmas book containing three stories all with eggnog as the theme. Eggnog Murder by Leslie Meier is part of the Lucy Stone series and begins when one of the prominent woman in town is murdered by drinking eggnog. Lucy won’t rest until she discovers who the eggnog mixologist murderer is. In typical Leslie Meier fashion, this is well written, full of surprises and the characters are quirky and likable.
Death by Eggnog by Lee Hollis is a cozy Christmas mystery centering around the grouchy town librarian’s very suspicious allergic reaction to eggnog. The town’s food and cocktails columnist Hayley is determined to uncover the truth.
Bogged Off by Barbara Ross always writes a great mystery and this one didn’t disappoint. Julia sets out to play detective and find out who the culprit is when all her co-workers get food poisoning at the holiday party.
I received a copy of this book and, in my opinion, each author is to be commended for writing such delightfully entertaining holiday mysteries.

Such a fun read

I managed to slip this one properly into place for two of the three series included in this collection of novellas. (I accidentally read book five in the Maine Clambake series just before reading this one, so I didn’t get too far off track.) This is the first time I’ve come to one of these holiday collections and actually found that I read all the series included.

“Eggnog Murder” (Lucy Stone mystery #23.5)
Good grief. Somehow Lucy managed to annoy me in less than 150 pages. Usually these holiday novellas take on a lighter, more festive air, but this one was rather sinister. Top that with the fact that Lucy spent the better part of the story being ungrateful, ungracious, and judgmental, and this felt like the least festive holiday novella ever. In addition, the author somehow managed to get political on multiple fronts, despite the abbreviated length: allergies, opioid crisis/NARCAN, no longer teaching cursive in schools, gun control, veterans’ affairs, PTSD, caregivers’ fatigue, mental health, suicide. It was a little (a lot) too much for what should have been a fun holiday adventure. I also have to wonder…how does Lucy not manage to have even ONE likable offspring out of four?! One star for this. Begrudgingly.

“Death by Eggnog” (Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails mystery #8.5)
Like Lucy in the first novella, the Hayley Powell contribution remained true to series character: in this case, more obnoxious and silly than irritating and sinister. Funny thing, I figured out the inspiration behind the murderer’s plan but not the proper culprit or motive; I was applying my suspicions to the wrong individual! This one was somewhat more festive as well, so that was a plus. However, the author felt the need to continue beating the reader over the head by repeating several facts (I realize this reiteration of details for for readers unfamiliar with the series but, yes, by the third time they were mentioned, I think everyone has understood that Leroy is Hayley’s dog and Blueberry is her cat, thank you!), pushed into the area of being a little bit raunchy, and somehow managed to write a story that was very close in content to the one before it. It appears the authors did not coordinate with one another on what they planned to write. Two stars for being festive and moderately entertaining.

“Nogged Off” (Maine Clambake mystery #4.5)
My favorite, by far, of the three. Perfectly paced for a novella; it felt neither rushed nor incomplete. I was completely engrossed in figuring out what was going on, blindsided by the twists, and totally satisfied with the ending. I also liked that it furthered the ongoing personal stories of the recurring characters. (You won’t be lost if you skip it in the series, but you’ll enjoy it if you include it.) To top it all off, the author shared that she incorporated some of her town’s and family’s Christmas traditions into the story, which explains why they felt so genuine. A solid four stars for the final novella in this collection.

With the authors all following the eggnog theme, I would have liked to see a bit more variety in plot. The first two novellas are not my favorite series that I read to begin with, so the fact that they basically also wrote slightly different versions of the same story really helped the final story shine with a plot that was entirely original, in addition to the fact that it is also one of my favorite cozy series. Unfortunately, the one novella I did really like couldn’t save the book from maxing out at 3 stars cumulatively. “Nogged Off” was well worth enduring the first two though.

Eggnog Murder by Leslie Meier
This is a collection fo stories from different authors with the same theme: eggnog murders.
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Eggnog Murder by Leslie Neier
This story starts out with Lucy and her family that live and work in Tinker’s Cove, Maine. I have read many in the series and enjoy them as they are not very graphic.
This one has a lot to offer as it’s Christmastime in the small village and things are happening.
The community has a lot going on some to raise money for the charities the community donates to.
Love hearing all about the events and especially the charities. Lucy is feature reporter for the local paper and she helps to solve the murders in town.
Red bear santa club sounds like a good cause as they raise a lot of money. There are a few deaths and with Elizabeth coming home from Paris and the house already full it’s going to be a challenge to get through it all.
Love hearing about the LBD and how it can be enhanced. Hope the story about PTSD gets written and things happen that can aid others.
Amazing who the culcprit was in this story as it points to many along the way.
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Death by Eggnog by Lee Hollis
First time reading this author so playing a bit of catch up with the characters.
Hayley works at the Island Times and she gets along with a crime reporter Bruce but they don’t mesh all the time.
The town is having their annual restuarnt dinner where everyone brings their establishments best treats to sample. Some are allergic to nuts and some to dairy.
Nobody gets along with the 80 librarian but none wanted her dead either. Amazing that we have been to this town in Maine-Bar Harbor and enjoyed other places nearby: Jordan’s Pond, Mount Desert, etc. Awesome place to find nature, outside and peace.
Lot of characters but easy to keep track of who is who and does what for a living. Has recipes.
Love how Hayley helps solve the mystery of who the murderer was. She does talk to a lot of others in town and asks a lot of questions.
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Nogged Off by Barbara Ross
First time reading this author and enjoyed the book. This one starts out with Julia and she’s on her way from Maine to NY to close out her apartment that she sublet and will sell to her in a weeks time. Problem is when she arrives things don’t go according to plan.
After they arrive back in Maine with the furniture and other belongings things go haywire and the truck and it’s contents are stolen. Love haring of the town and especially the events that take place annually-what a treat!
Julia takes it upon herself to help solve the mystery of the murder and who it really is. So much information about identical twins-so fascinating to learn about this.
Good story line and hope to read more from this author. Enjoyed the characters.
I received this review book from The Kensington Books and this is my honest opinion.