Delicious Murder Mysteries to Devour or Give, in EGGNOG MURDER, Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, Barbara Ross

A fine rain is drizzling here in a silver mist, and it's pure November. One defense is to decorate a bit -- knowing the Big Holidays are racing toward us. I always figure those twinkling lights and glowing candles are intentional efforts to push away short-day-linked depression. And omigosh, the holiday to-do lists and the agony over presents to choose!

Thank goodness, those issues are neatly dealt with, now that EGGNOG MURDER has hit the shelves. This festive mystery volume brings together three noted New England storytellers who dip into the holiday brew and emerge with entirely different crime scenes for their noted sleuths. The only thing in common: eggnog, a traditional beverage that, in its purest form, includes cream, raw eggs, and plenty of booze, generally bourbon, rum, and cognac. (One recipe I regarded called it the "drink that thinks it's a custard pie"; here's a link to Martha Stewart's own version.)

EGGNOG MURDER contains three novellas (call them short books, or extra-satisfying story lengths). Each is about 100 pages long -- well actually, Leslie Meier's contribution "Eggnog Murder," which starts the volume, takes 130 pages. I was glad to break into the tale, knowing I'd reconnect with small-town reporter Lucy Stone in Tinker's Cove, Maine. Sure enough, at the tiny office of the weekly newspaper where Lucy works, a gift-wrapped bottle of eggnog turns up, just in time for the local business open house. Meier comes up with a fascinating way to poison a drink, and a lively set of red herrings -- or do I mean red Santa suits? Every Lucy Stone mystery wraps up some family issues and affection, too, perfect reading to escape those to-do lists for a couple of hours.

You know how your imagination can run away with you when you're reading a good mystery ... well, that's half the point, isn't it? You're trying to figure out the crime and the criminal just a few pages before the sleuth pulls it all together (yes, I really am competitive like that). As I slid merrily into the second novella, Lee Hollis's "Death by Eggnog," I suddenly pictured the three authors daring each other to tackle this theme, confident that they would diverge, and at the same time just as worried as the rest of us over whether their holiday offerings would come out right. And different enough!

Well, they are -- in "Death by Eggnog" Hollis's series sleuth Hayley Powell, a food and cocktails columnist, gets double pressure as she prepares to cover the Maine town's "Restaurant Association Christmas Dinner" event. It's a big deal, one of her co-workers wants to tag along, her brother is entering a recipe that's "killer" spicy, and friction among the year-rounders in the tourist-dependent town of Bar Harbor is running rampant -- although not quite nasty enough to produce the theoretical crime wave that the newspaper may need to juice up its sales figures. So why is Hayley the target when someone actually does die? (Confession: I peeked ahead to the end of the Hollis novella, to check out the recipes. Yes, there are recipes and a holiday note to readers from each author.)

"Nogged Off" from Barbara Ross provides a nifty interlude and set of family revelations for financial-wizard-come-back-to-Maine Julia Snowden. Fans of Ross's "traditional" and highly enjoyable sleuth series know that Julia's been torn over whether to cut all the ties to her former high-income, high-prestige urban job. At the start of "Nogged Off" she's finally closing down her city apartment -- and in the process, taking home to Maine with her a forlorn waif who'd been subletting the place. Is young Imogen jinxed, with all the bad things happening to her? And if she's a target instead, is Julia bringing something wicked with her, back home for the holidays? Imogen's version of eggnog already accidentally poisoned a bunch of people in the city -- what could happen in Busman's Harbor, Maine, though, with one extra guest for the preparations for Christmas? I couldn't stop reading this page-turner that pits family stresses and unexpected crime against the strengths that Julia, her boyfriend, and her mom, sister, and neighbors have already demonstrated.

You could just pick up one copy of EGGNOG MURDER and enjoy reading it yourself very carefully, so you can then wrap it as a gift for a bestie. But that would mean missing out on the pleasure of savoring this great distraction during the weeks to come, because you'd be rushing to finish the book. Besides, the recipes are worth keeping -- I plan to use the "Pecan Puffs" one, in happy memory of the year our neighborhood cookie swap accidentally included seven versions of nut balls. Might as well enjoy them, if they're only cooked up once a year!

So, all things considered, I recommend picking up two copies of EGGNOG MURDER. Unless, of course, you see the need for three. Pass me that gift list again, would you?

PS: Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.

Cozy in the Kitchen: New Mysteries-With-Recipes for Relaxing

Crossing off items on a holiday list? Baking and freezing for the upcoming party? Pick up a "cozy" mystery for relief, especially for that feeling of being burnt-out as the year wraps around its shortest days, and spring seems a loooong way off ... The "cozy killers" that Kensington Books brought out in the past few weeks are just plain fun to read: mysteries with amateur sleuths whose passion for life -- and for justice -- somehow entangles them in snooping, sleuthing, and solving.

Lee Hollis -- pen name of a brother and sister team -- started the "Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery" series with Death of a Kitchen Diva. And a couple of years ago, I enjoyed Hollis's Death of a Country Fried Redneck. DEATH OF A CHRISTMAS CATERER, this year's treat, is actually the fifth is this cheerful series. Hayley Powell has her own newspaper column, food-focused of course, a favorite part of the gutsy little publication in her Maine town, the Island Times. This year her editor boss is in a personal crisis, and dumps the office holiday party in Hayley's lap. She books a great caterer -- but when she and the caterer find out that the newspaper's party budget is miniscule, the caterer drops the job. And soon drops dead (not Hayley's fault!). Hayley makes some awful choices about her own private life while scrambling to solve the murder, and the suspense about finding the criminal is almost equaled by wondering whether she'll pull her life together in time, as well!

Tucked among the chapters are some of Hayley's flavorful columns, each one wrapping up with both a beverage and a food recipe ... like Crock-Pot Christmas Stew, and Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie. I wish Hayley lived next door! Meanwhile, after galloping through her adventures, I'm motivated to head to the kitchen. And while I'm cooking, I'll be mulling over the unusual and clever mode of death that Hollis's book involves. Somebody did some startling research for this one!

Equally enjoyable is Maya Corrigan's first "Five Ingredient Mystery," BY COOK OR BY CROOK, where Val Deniston is still adjusting to the drastic change in her life after a car accident -- no longer promoting chefs' cookbooks in New York City, she's come home to her grandfather and the family house near the Chesapeake Bay. Her new job isn't exactly high end: She's running the Cool Down Café at the local fitness club and taking part on a tennis team. But when her cousin Monique is the lead suspect in the death of one of the tennis players, Val becomes determined to find the real killer, and get her cousin out of trouble. Meanwhile two would-be suitors on hand are tangling with her grandfather, and the "cooking codger" himself is sneaking into Val's recipe collection, with ulterior motives.

Each book of Corrigan's series will include five suspects, five clues, and some five-ingredient recipes (Val's grandfather thinks anyone can handle five ingredients!). My choice from BY COOK OR BY CROOK is going to be the potato recipe, which looks terrific ... then again, so does the one for a strata ... and those macaroons ... The recipes all show up during Val's sleuthing, too. Mmm!

I have two more of these kitchen cozies to review in a couple of days. Meanwhile, next up: a college professor tackles employment research among California porn stars! And then some international titles. Come on back for more.

Reading the Recipes First? DEATH OF A COUNTRY-FRIED REDNECK by Lee Hollis

Joanne Fluke has neatly tied up the major market in "cozy" mysteries with a cooking twist -- her Hannah Swenson series includes a bakery in the plot, so cookie, cake, and other dessert recipes about in the volumes. I believe it's thanks to Fluke that I now thumb through the recipes first, when one of these mysteries arrives at Kingdom Books!

It's not a new approach -- Virginia  Rich (with eventual collaboration from not-yet-famous Nancy Pickard) gave us The Nantucket Diet Murders and The Baked-Bean Supper Murders. And in Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series, although there aren't recipes in the actual books (they are given later in a cookbook), cooking and kitchen maneuvers make up a large part of the background to gourmand Nero Wolfe's part-time labor as a crime solver.

But there's always a new twist, and Lee Hollis -- actually the brother-and-sister team of Rick Copp and Holly Simason -- brings us the "Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails" mystery series, set in coastal Maine, where Hayley's job as food columnist at the Island Times gives her a chance to jump desks and join the hunt for a killer. In DEATH OF A COUNTRY-FRIED REDNECK, Hayley fits the classic role of an "amateur sleuth" (the best definition of what are often called cozy mysteries) by stumbling into a crime when she tags along after her favorite country music star, Southerner Wade Springer. Inspired to seek a catering slot in order to meet the legendary performer (who is comfortably single!), she brushes off her country-fried chicken recipe, among others. And each time the narrative pauses to give one of Hayley's columns, there are recipes -- not just for cooking but also for refreshingly different cocktails.

Hollis focuses on plot twists and recipes, and not much on depth of character -- Hayley's eventual solution of the murder mystery in her lap depends mostly on trying out every possible combination of blame and suspicion until she stumbles onto the actual killer and motive. But it's a cute ride, with an unusual combination of New England atmosphere and displaced dishes, as well as some entertaining friction between Holly and her teenaged daughter Gemma. For a light read, stack this one on the bedside table or even in the kitchen.

But -- no, no, no -- clipping out the recipes from a real book is absolutely not allowed. Either work on them directly from the book pages, or copy them out somehow. And if you need a few more, especially for the outrageous cocktails, check out the author's very relaxed blog at www.leehollismysteries.com.