This was a wonderful collection of cozy mystery novellas with a Christmas theme. Eggnog galore! In the first, which I particularly enjoyed, reporter Lucy Stone has to track down the culprit after a bottle of eggnog turns out to be deadly. Also, her daughter Elizabeth is home from France for the holidays and with a full house at the Stone residence and everyone forced to share sleeping corners, sibling fights abound. This one was super-funny and extremely well written, a perfect combination of mystery and funny Christmas and family scenes. I always love seeing Maine and Nantucket books when Santa arrives by boat!

Trigger Warnings: mass shooting, suicide, disabled character portrayed as faking disability

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. ( )

Eggnog Murder
Authors: Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, Barbara Ross

**I received a copy of this upcoming book from Kensington Press via NetGalley in exchange for a fair, honest review**


Eggnog Murder is a collection of three Christmas themed cozy mysteries. Twinkle lights, Christmas carols....and murder. Perfect combination for mystery lovers!!

I loved this collection, as the stories are by 3 of my favorite cozy authors!

First up -- Leslie Meier. In Eggnog Murder, Lucy Stone is on the case looking for the Scrooge who poisoned a Tinker's Cove local with a tainted bottle of eggnog. Meier's Lucy Stone series never fails to deliver a great mystery, and this short addition to the series is no exception!

The second story is Death by Eggnog, written by Lee Hollis. Food and Cocktails columnist Hayley Powell investigates the death of a local cranky librarian who met her demise from.....you guessed it....bad eggnog. Hayley once again serves up justice in her spunky way! Loved it!

And, last but not least, wrapping up this lovely collection of Christmas cozies is Nogged Off by Barbara Ross. After bad eggnog causes food poisoning at a holiday party, a corpse shows up in Julia Snowden's moving van. A fun holiday whodunit!

This trio of stories is sure to put cozy lovers in the holiday spirit! All 3 are well-written short mysteries revisiting some favorite characters. Wonderful, holiday theme quick reads!

Eggnog Murder will release October 25th from Kensington Books. Kick off your holiday season with a little murder! (PS - Don't drink the eggnog!!!)
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This book has three stories in it that all have Eggnog as part of the plot. Eggnog Murder, Death by Eggnog, and Nogged Off. The books are based on the characters in the series that these ladies write, but you do not have to be familiar with them to enjoy these stories.

Eggnog Murder by Leslie Meier once again stars the sleuthing Lucy Stone. When one of the town's busiest ladies gets poisoned by tainted eggnog, the fingers are pointing. Did it come from the "The Red Beard Santa Club", or did someone else poison it? Was it poisoned at all? Who was the intended victim? While all this is going on, Lucy is writing a story about the death of a Veteran of Gulf Storm. Her sister's story about how she was abandoned, left scrambling for funds and receiving no support from veteran affairs touched Lucy immensely. The story turns out to be misleading and Lucy is in trouble. Where does this all lead? How does it all fit together? Great plot with twists that will pull you in. This story was a case of a planned murder gone wrong. Of course, don't forget to try the recipes included.

Death by Eggnog by Lee Hollis stars food columnist Hayley. There is some similarity with the first story. Town librarian Agatha Farnsworth dies from anaphylactic shock after drinking eggnog with milk that was labeled non-dairy. She was a miserable woman who left behind a long string of possible suspects. I love that the library in town plays such an important role in the lives of the characters. This one took me completely by surprise. I had no idea who the culprit was. Again there are some fun recipes included in this story. I enjoy the characters in this series. Hayley's brother and his husband are a hoot. The expressions the police chief uses, as his first language is Portuguese, are hilarious. The plot is great, but I did figure out the culprit in this one. Another fun read.

Nogged Off by Barbara Ross is another fun one. The ditzy character that Julia brings home to Busman's Harbor is Imogens Geinkes (initials I.M.A. Geinkes) and a jinx she is. Everything she gets involved in seems to go wrong. In this story she inadvertently poisons the staff with homemade Eggnog and they all end up in the hospital. Embarrassed so badly, she quits her job and can no longer take over the lease on Julia's apartment. With no where to go, being dumped by her boyfriend, she somehow gets Julia to invite her to her mother's home for a New England Christmas. Things do not go as planned. The truck with all her furniture is stolen from her mother's driveway and then, Imogen's boyfriend turns up dead tied to a chair in the back of the truck once it is located.
I thought I had this one figured out, but with another twist, I realized I was on the wrong track. This was a good story that kept me guessing to the end. Recipes are included in this story as well. I enjoyed the holiday traditions shared in the book as well as the information that these are the ones the author participated in growing up.

These stories really got me into the Christmas spirit. It was a great compilation of three very enjoyable cozy mystery writers. Check it out! The publisher generously provided me with a copy of the book via Netgalley. ( )

Five stars for the Barbara Ross story. Four stars for the Leslie Meier story (did not like the climax; too close to real-life events). Two stars and a half stars for the Lee Hollis story. ( )

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. ( )