Halloween Cupcake Murder by Carlene O’Conner, Liz Ireland & Carol J. Perry 4 stars

The multiple holiday themed mystery short stories are always a delight to readers and I was fortunate enough to read the recently published Irish Coffee Murder. I was really glad to receive permission to read “Halloween Cupcake Murder” featuring some of my favorite authors. Of the three short stories, my favorite was “A Triple Layer Halloween Murder” by Carol J. Perry that takes place in her Witch City series. A mystery about a missing baker, missing money and a cute cat; what more could a person ask for. The other two mysteries were very good. The entry for Ms. O’Conner felt like a good gateway to her Home To Ireland series. I will definitely look for the other two books featuring Tara Meehan. I am not familiar with Liz Ireland’s Mrs. Claus series but after reading “Mrs. Claus and the Candy Core Caper”, I might have to give it a try. I will be looking forward to “Christmas Mitten Murder” and “Now You See It” by Carol J. Perry coming out in the Fall of 2023.

Thank you Netgalley and Kensington Books for this ARC

Get ready for not 1 but 3 exciting excellent cozies! All are solid mysteries with delightful characters. Great for the holidays but also great anytime. Settle down get comfy and enjoy! Thanks #netgalley and #Kensington for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

Halloween Cupcake Murder is a collection of three cozy mysteries set at Halloween.

HALLOWEEN CUPCAKE MURDER by CARLENE O'CONNOR

Tara Meehan is busy decorating her architectural salvage store for Galway’s Halloween Mystery Tour including finding decorations in the town’s curiosity shops. When a chance encounter with a store owner leads to murder, mysterious cupcakes, keys, and paintings, Tara finds that this Halloween will be spookier than most.

I really enjoyed this story and thought it could easily have been a full length novel. The mystery is a nice one, if a little too based on coincidence, with plenty of suspects. I loved the Halloween aspects of the story – they add just the right amount of spookiness to the story without it being overly scary. This was the first story I’ve read with Tara as the main character and I really liked the fact that she wasn’t one of those Too Stupid To Live Characters who rushes into danger without thinking. All in all I really enjoyed this story.

MRS. CLAUS AND THE CANDY CORN CAPER by LIZ IRELAND

Celebrating Halloween in Christmastown is a new thing and the residents are going all out including having a candy corn-themed bake-off. But when someone is murdered at one of the bakeries, it is up to Mrs. Claus to solve the mystery before Halloween is ruined.

This is a new series to me and it took me a few minutes to get into the idea of Mrs. Claus solving mysteries (as well as the fact that the elves in the story were really elves!). I enjoyed the mystery quite a bit, loved the setting and the cute names of the elves, but I really think I need to read this series from the very beginning to really get into it.

A TRIPLE LAYER HALLOWEEN MURDER by CAROL J. PERRY
It’s October and Salem, Mass is full of people celebrating Halloween and local businesses are thriving so when a local baker goes missing and his cat is found in WICH-TV’s Lee Barrett’s tree, she can’t help investigating even though she rarely appears on camera these days. Will she be able to solve the crime in time to enjoy Halloween?

I really enjoyed this mystery. I love Salem and loved the fact that this mystery was set there. It has just the right amount of supernatural elements without them overwhelming the story. While there are some twists and turns to the story, the solution to the mystery wasn’t that hard to figure out. Still, I really enjoyed the characters and setting – this is a new to me series but I’ll certainly be reading the other books in the series.

Halloween Cupcake Murder is a nice collection of cozy mysteries set at Halloween.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

I received a free copy of, Halloween Cupcake Murder, by Carlene O"Connor, Liz Ireland, and Carol J. Perry, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book has three short stories in it. First story is the one I liked best, Halloween Cupcake Murder, by Carlene O"Connor, this story is set in Galway, Tara finds herself in a mystery when someone is poisoned by a cupcake. I really liked this story, I wish it was longer.

Second Story is Mrs, Claus and the Candy Corn Caper, by Liz Ireland, I loved the title of this story. Christmastown is all set for the festivities of the season until there is a murder. I enjoyed this town and the story.

The third story is, A triple layer Halloween Murder by, Carol J. Perry. This tale is set in Salem at Halloween. Their is a missing millionaire in Salem, can he be found before Halloween, a delightful read.

A compilation of short stories by three well known cozy writers, Halloween Cupcake Murder can be read for each story separately or all together.
Things are buzzing and Halloween abounds when the mysteries pop up and then you can't wait to finish the story.
A good read for the holiday.

This book contained three halloween novellas by three different authors. I really enjoyed all of them, although the one by Liz Ireland was different than the cozies I am used to and was hard to get into at first. Overall, three good cozies - easy to finish in one day. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for providing me with an advance readers copy to read and review.

HALLOWEEN CUPCAKE MURDER by CARLENE O'CONNOR

MRS. CLAUS AND THE CANDY CORN CAPER by LIZ IRELAND

A TRIPLE LAYER HALLOWEEN MURDER by CAROL J. PERRY

I’m a sucker for Halloween themed books. I wish it was Fall all the time. Collaborations like this are a great way to discover new authors. I will definitely be checking out more by all of them.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

There are 3 stories in this book:
Halloween Cupcake Murder by Charlene O"Conner
The Candy Corn Caper by Liz Ireland.
Triple Layer Halloween Murder by Carol J Perry.
I initially picked up this book to check out because I love The Witch City Mystery series by Carol J Perry.

I can say I was very pleased with Halloween Cupcake Murder, while the story was short it had enough suspense to keep me wanting to read all the way to the end. I felt that the story was well written out and thought out. I was glad to find another series that I would like to check out more of! I will definitely be trying to find more of the series to read. Rating of this book: 4.5/5

The Candy Corn Caper was extremely hard for me to finish. Though I felt as if I could dive right into the book without knowing anything about the series, I just personally found it very difficult to read this type of story, I just didn't care for it. 3.5/5

Now the story I picked up this book for, Triple Layer Halloween Murder. I felt that everything in this book up to like the last two pages was extremely well written and well thought out. However, when you got to the last two pages of the book it was basically just a summary of what happened there was no action, no suspense, there was really no reason given for why the murderer committed the crime. And I was very very disappointed by the end of this book. I would have loved for this to been a full length novel and we got more descriptions and an actual ending to this book. Also I felt absolutely no Halloween theme in this book, and there is quite a few Halloween themed stories within this series that are excellent. If you were kind of torn between reading the rest of the series or not I would definitely recommend reading the series however this story falls flat for me. 3.5/5

Overall actual rating: 3.8/5

This is a set of three novellas all Halloween theme written by three different cozy authors. The Halloween themes are fun and perfectly written. I found them all entertaining,, funny and enjoyable. Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinions are my own.

The three enclosed stories are
Halloween Cupcake Murder by Charlene O"Conner
The Candy Corn Caper by Liz Ireland.
Triple Layer Halloween Murder by Carol Perry.

I recommend this fun set of short stories for all who love Halloween and enjoy cozy mysteries.

Been sick, so this book and others kept me entertained during recovery. Very cute, easy to read short stories for when you are short on time. Candy Corn and Halloween at the North Pole had me laughing along with the buzzard for the Turkey. I'll be picking this one up again.

Super cute and easy to read mystery that most anyone can enjoy. I finished it all in one day and loved it from start to finish. Perfect for anyone that likes a lighter mystery.

This is a fun trio of super-cozy Halloween themed mysteries from three established authors in the genre. This is the perfect book to tuck in your purse for a Fall weekend getaway. I did find I enjoyed the mystery stories by Carlene O’Connor and Carol Perry a bit more than Liz Ireland’s, but Ireland’s Halloween/Christmas mashup was an absolute HOOT!

Favorite authors, Halloween, and spooky short stories!!!! Sign me up and sign me up quick! Great stories.

I got this book for free, in exchange for my honest opinion via NetGalley.

Halloween Cupcake Murder:
This read reminded me of a Father Brown story. It was a quick and enjoyable read.

Mrs. Claus and the Candy Corn Caper:
I didn't care for this story. It took everything in me to finish it.

A Triple Layer Halloween Murder:
This was hands down my favourite story in the book. I feel like this could've been a novel in itself, I know I'd read the full length. The only issue I had was there were characters being called by the wrong name.

Overall, this was a great and quick read, I enjoyed most of the book and I would definitely go back and reread again.

I loved the Liz Ireland story! I read this series and was glad to have a short story to keep me going between books. I should have read the third book before this one (there was one little spoiler in this one), but it didn't take away from the story. It was nice to revisit these characters.

I did read the other two stories and might have to check out the rest of those series as well. I enjoyed them and the writing was well done.

This was my first time reading this kind of 3 book compilation. And I honestly was drawn to it because of the Mrs. Claus (2nd book) entry. I however, was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed the other books and have found new authors to enjoy. I think my favorite thing about this style of book (3 in 1) is that I could easily finish a book in one sitting and feel accomplished without feeling like I did nothing but read all day. The stories pace was perfection. I didn’t read these near Halloween and enjoyed them all the same, but I can assure you that come October I will be revisiting this collection to help me get into the spooky season.
1st book (Halloween cupcake Murder by Carlene O’Connor) 4 STARS: I found this story to be fresh and festive. I loved that I felt as if it was Halloween and I was being immersed not only in the holiday but in the culture of the setting. The story didn’t feel rushed, but the pace was amazing. I wasn’t able to guess who did it, but sometimes that makes it all the more fun. I highly recommend this book for a quick brain break during October.
2nd book (Mrs. Claus and the Candy Corn Caper by Liz Ireland) 5 STARS: Liz Ireland approached this story with the same clever ideas that her other books bring. I couldn’t keep from laughing out loud at the many witty bits sprinkled throughout. I loved exploring Halloween in Christmastown! This was such a well written piece of literature. Even if the other stories weren’t good, this story would be reason enough to get the collection. If you like the other Mrs. Claus books, this one will be a welcome addition to your shelf.
3rd book (A Triple Layer Halloween Murder by Carol J. Perry) 3 STARS: Having previously read a book in this series, I was easily transported into the book. Although there were nods to the Halloween theme, this book didn’t push the Halloween theme quite as much as the other two. This surprised me as this series is set in Salem and there is quite the element of the supernatural and witchcraft. The overall story kept me guessing, but the big reveal and wrap up felt a bit rushed.

Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Halloween Cupcake murder by Charlene O’Connor, Liz Ireland and Carol j Perry is due to be published August 22nd 2023 by Kensington Books. Halloween cupcake murder is and amazing collection of three cozy mystery novels have have a holiday theme.
There was Halloween Cupcake Murder by Charlene, Mrs. Clause and the candy corn caper by Liz Ireland and a Triple Layer Halloween Murder by Carol j Perry. They all followed the theme of Halloween which is one of my favorite holidays along with Christmas. I’ve never read anything from these authors until these stories and I gotta say I’ll definitely be reading more in the future.
My favorite out of the three was definitely Mrs. Clause and the candy corn caper because it had the combination of Halloween and Christmas all into one story. I liked them all for different reasons and I highly recommend this to other cozy mystery lovers.
I’ve just recently started reading cozy mysteries and I’m totally hooked now and definitely can’t wait to read more along the lines of Holiday themed.
Thank you Netgalley and Kensington Books for allowing me the opportunity to read this advanced readers copy and will be sure to post my review to Goodreads and Facebook and all other sites once published.

I love novellas. Even more I love when three of my favorite cozy series are released in one themed novella bundle!

You do not want to miss these if you’re a fan of these three series! And if you’ve not read any of them yet? It’s a great introduction to them. Either way, get your Halloween read on!

I enjoyed this book. There are three stories all about Halloween, each very different. I liked the one by Carol Perry the best although it takes place before Lee & Pete are married. Which has already come out. #HalloweenCupcakeMurder #NetGalley

Halloween Cupcake Murder by Carlene O'Connor; Liz Ireland; Carol J. Perry is a great collection of three cozy mystery novellas that have a holiday-themed connection with a sweet vibe.

There are three novellas included within this book:

HALLOWEEN CUPCAKE MURDER by CARLENE O'CONNOR
MRS. CLAUS AND THE CANDY CORN CAPER by LIZ IRELAND
A TRIPLE LAYER HALLOWEEN MURDER by CAROL J. PERRY

My personal favorite was by Ms. O’Connor. I have read every book that she has written and I have enjoyed the previous books in the Home to Ireland Mystery series.

The other stories were enjoyable as well, but I have not read any of the books in those respective series. I did love the Halloween themes throughout, though.

I love cozy mysteries, anything Halloween, and holiday-themed cozies as well…so this was right up my alley.

4.5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Kensington Books for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 8/22/23.