Irish Coffee Murder by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis and Barbara Ross Review

 Good Morning Sweet Friends :)

I pray today finds you all doing well, and I'm so thankful you chose to join me today on The Preppy Book Princess for another book review.

I'm Kirby and reading is one of my all time favorite pastimes. Back in September of 2015, I decided to go ahead and turn my favorite pastime into a creative passion, and The Preppy Book Princess was officially created.

I've read amazing books and I've read some not so amazing books, and I share about it all here with you guys.

Today's review definitely entered into the latter of those categories, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Grab a cup of your favorite hot beverage, and let's talk about another cozy mystery novella collection.

Irish Coffee Murder by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Barbara Ross:

Source: Library

Publisher: Kensington

Publication Date: January 24th, 2023

Genre: Cozy Mystery/Novella Collection

Series: Lucy Stone/Haley Powell/Maine Clambake

Synopsis:

You don't need to be Irish to enjoy St. Patrick's Day in Maine, where the chilly March weather offers the perfect excuse to curl up with an Irish coffee. But someone may have spiked this year's brew with
murder . . .

IRISH COFFEE MURDER by LESLIE MEIER
Part-time reporter Lucy Stone is writing a piece for the Courier about four Irish step dancing students from Tinker's Cove on the cusp of making it big. But the story becomes headline news for all the wrong reasons when one girl's mother is found dead in her bathtub. Did a stage mom take rivalry too far, or is some other motive at play?

DEATH OF AN IRISH COFFEE DRINKER by LEE HOLLIS
As owner of Bar Harbor's hottest new restaurant, Hayley Powell offers to cater the after-party for popular comedian Jefferson O'Keefe, who's playing his old hometown for St. Patrick's Day. But it's no laughing matter when Jefferson keels over after gulping down his post-show Irish coffee, leaving Hayley to figure out who decided this joker had gone too far . . .

PERKED UP by BARBARA ROSS
It's a snowy St. Patrick's Day in Busman's Harbor. But when the power goes out, what better way for Julia Snowden to spend the evening than sharing local ghost stories--and Irish coffees--with friends and family? By the time the lights come back, they might even have solved the coldest case in town.

(synopsis from goodreads)

My Review:

I haven't loved most of the previous novella collections in these series, but I continue to pick them up because I adore Barbara Ross' cozy mysteries, and her Maine Clambake Mystery series continues to be one of my favorites. However, I didn't end up enjoying this collection at all.

Irish Coffee Murder by Leslie Meier:

While the only titles I've read in the Lucy Stone mysteries have actually been the novellas in these collections, I usually at least enjoy the short mystery enough to finish it, even if it's never inspired me to want to read anymore from the series. This one was an entirely different experience, and it failed to hold my interest right from the beginning. I wouldn't even have truly called this one a "cozy", and I could have personally done without a lot of the content. I also felt the mystery wasn't put together as well as it usually is, and the only piece I ended up enjoying about this one overall was the history of the Irish dancing that comprises a large amount of the story.

Final Rating: 2/5.

Death of an Irish Coffee Drinker by Lee Hollis:

Years ago I used to read the Haley Powell mysteries, but gave up quite early on in the series. I found the characters and the writing style both to be annoying and juvenile, and this story reinforced that for me. The mystery itself had an interesting set up, but the execution wasn't what it could have been, and the characters definitely grated on my nerves. This was without a doubt the weakest contribution to the collection if you ask me.

Final Rating: 1.5/5

Perked Up by Barbara Ross:

Barbara Ross' contribution was the sole reason I ended up picking up this particular collection. Hers was definitely the best of the three, but I still didn't end up loving it. The set up was interesting and unlike anything I'd ever read before in a cozy mystery so I do give this author kudos for that. However, I didn't enjoy the ending and the way the one revolves around ghosts and other supernatural components. Definitely the best of the three, but still not as good as Barbara Ross' usual mysteries.

Final Rating: 2.5/5

Overall, I know this is probably an unpopular opinion for this title as I know most readers really enjoyed it, but I personally wouldn't recommend it. It's not one I see myself rereading in the future, and at this point, I'm not sure if I'd bother reading future novella collections of these binds up or not.

Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day :)

This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.