CANR
WORK TITLE: Mrs. Claus and the Nightmare before New Year’s
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://lizireland.wordpress.com/
CITY: Vancouver Island
STATE:
COUNTRY: Canada
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: CA 276
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born November 22, 1965; married; husband’s name Joe (a computer software engineer).
EDUCATION:Southern Methodist University, B.F.A. (theater), 1987.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, editor. Also worked a variety of jobs in New York, NY, including in book stores, in publishing, and as a substitute teacher.
AVOCATIONS:Reading, old movies, dogs and cats, antiquing, collecting old jazz music albums.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Romance writer Liz Ireland spent her early childhood in Martins Mill in eastern Texas and her high school years in San Antonio. For college, she studied theater at Southern Methodist University, where she completed a B.F.A. in 1987. Curious about life in a big city, she moved to New York City, where she spent time working in book stores, for a publishing house, and as a substitute teacher. In her spare time, Ireland practiced writing. She had caught the writing bug while in college, where she tried her hand at composing plays. As she recalled for a Chick Lit Books interviewer: “I started writing in college, when I was involved in theater. I took a playwriting course and was hooked on writing at once. After college, when I realized getting a play produced was about as easy as winning the lottery, I started writing prose and found it suited me better. I like being the sole creator—playwright, director, and actors all rolled into one. It was another five years before I got anything published, though.” After some effort, she published her first book, Man Trap, in 1993. The romance novel won the Romance Times‘s Choice Award for Best Silhouette Romance, and Ireland was on her way.
Deciding New York was really not the place for her, Ireland moved back to Texas, got married, and eventually settled in Oregon. Like many authors new to romance writing who are contracted by the publisher Harlequin, Ireland began by writing the short romance series novels popular with many fans of the genre. Then, beginning with Cecilia and the Stranger in 1995, she moved on to western romances. She would later add contemporary and even paranormal romances to her oeuvre. Reporting that this book about a romance between an unscrupulous sheriff and a school teacher marks a “smooth transition” for the author into westerns, Romantic Times Online critic Frances L. Trainor wrote that “its small town hominess and subtle humor … [make it] a heart warming, thoroughly enjoyable read.”
Ireland followed Cecilia and the Stranger with many other western romances, including Millie and the Fugitive, Prim and Improper, The Hijacked Bride, A Cowboy’s Heart, The Outlaw’s Bride, Trouble in Paradise, and Blissful, Texas.
Millie and the Fugitive is about Sam, an escaped convict trying to keep his brother from being hanged by clearing his name, and Millie, a spoiled, rich young woman who witnesses Sam’s escape and is therefore taken hostage. “Ireland’s frivolous, feisty Millie, with her string of eleven discarded fiances, keeps the reader smiling through this lively western romance,” remarked Cindy Royce in the Romantic Times Online. Prim and Improper is a tale of mixed-up romance as one woman, deeming a rancher unfit for her sister, tries to thwart their romance and ends up falling in love instead. Although Romantic Times Online contributor Cyndie Dennis-Greer felt there was “not much action,” she called it “a good story, filled with banter.”
As she continued to publish, Ireland gained a reputation for writing light-hearted romances in whatever genre she chose. A Cowboy’s Heart is one example. In this story, Sheriff Will Brockett comes home after a long trip where he provided testimony at a trial; once back home, he finds that the woman he loved, Mary Ann, is not only married but apparently has been kidnapped. He forms a rescue mission that includes Mary Ann’s husband, a tomboy saloon owner named Paulie, and her employee, Trip. Paulie is secretly in love with Will, and she makes awkward attempts to become more feminine and attractive, often to the confusion of Will. “While far from earth shattering, I enjoyed reading A Cowboy’s Heart for pure pleasure,” wrote Romance Reader critic Ann McGuire. “Here’s a romance that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and treats its readers to a nice, disarming blend of true romance and lighthearted Western silliness.”
The Outlaw’s Bride is another tale about unexpected love between a sheriff and a spinster woman, while Trouble in Paradise is about a shamed woman who poses as a wealthy New York lady, attracting the attention of three men in the same family. “In spite of some bumpy prose and misunderstandings that last just a bit too long, Liz Ireland writes an appealing love story,” commented Gerry Benninger in his Romantic Times Online assessment. Blissful, Texas is a tale about the ups and downs of a brothel posing as a boarding house that Benninger, writing again in Romantic Times Online, called “frothy” and “fun,” although he observed that Ireland makes the issue of prostitution “a lot lighter and more romantic than it probably was.”
Ireland is also the author of a number of contemporary romances. When I Think of You, for example, is about a Portland, Oregon, journalist named Celia who is invited to her friend’s wedding and asked to help with the preparations. Celia is surprised by this development, because her friend met her fiancé over the Internet and has never seen him in person. Celia’s coworker Davis goes along, and as Celia puzzles over the strange wedding and thinks more about relationships, she begins to see that there may be someone for her, too, whom she had taken for granted. “Ireland delivers slightly offbeat humor and wisdom in this fun read,” reported Jill Smith in the Romantic Times Online.
Three Bedrooms in Chelsea was inspired by an old movie, according to the author. Ireland told the Chick Lit Books interviewer: “The idea for that book came to me when I was sitting in front of a cheesy but incredibly watchable sixties movie called ‘The Pleasure Seekers,’ which is a remake of ‘Three Coins in a Fountain,’ the classic three-girls-in- an-apartment movie of all time. And I realized that I simply had to write a three girls in an apartment book.” Setting her tale in New York City, Ireland follows the career and love adventures of three very different women sharing living quarters. “The three characters are intelligent, intriguing individuals whose contrasts make for a fine character study,” reported Harriet Klausner in AllReaders.com. “Often amusing and filled with angst,” Klausner added, “readers will appreciate Jill Ireland’s homage to Manhattan, rent and all.”
How I Stole Her Husband is a humorous tale about a young woman named Alison who desires a job in New York City. At her interview, however, she finds the woman on the other side of the desk is an old rival from high school; furthermore, this potential new boss married the man Alison once loved. The book is “an entertaining read, especially for twenty- and thirtysomethings,” observed Kristine Huntley in a Booklist review. The Pink Ghetto, published in 2006, is about the career and romance misadventures of a woman working at a romance publishing house. Booklist critic Diane Tixier Herald declared that this “laugh-out-loud-funny novel gives readers an insider’s view of romance publishing.”
Admitting in her Chick Lit Books interview that her chosen genre of books gets little respect, Ireland commented: “As for people who put down chick lit, I’ve spent ten years writing romances, the Rodney Dangerfield of book genres, so I’m used to getting no respect. I can still climb up on my soap box when it comes to the issue, though, which I think boils down to snobbery, or sexism. Entertainment marketed to women usually gets second-class treatment. It happens with movies, too. I don’t know a remedy, except to vote my taste with my wallet and not care what other people think.”
In 2010 Ireland released her first book under her real name, Elizabeth Bass. Miss You Most of All, which tells the story of two sisters whose lives are interrupted when a onetime stepsister comes back on the scene. Rue Anderson and Laura Rafferty have taken their childhood Texas homestead and turned it into a tourist destination called Sassy Spinster Farm, which they run with the help of former military man Webb Saunders. Guests pay for the experience of living on a farm, where they can get their hands dirty and eat fresh food from the garden. The project is going well despite Rue recovering from a battle with cancer. She is also sharing custody of her eleven-year-old daughter with her now remarried husband. Then Heidi Dawn Bogue, their onetime stepsister, reappears. Laura has always disliked Heidi, and it soon becomes apparent that Heidi is hiding something. It turns out that a psychotic mobster is after her. “With bountiful grace and a real feeling for her characters, Bass creates a three- hanky delight,” wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor.
The next Elizabeth Bass book, Wherever Grace Is Needed, presents “an incredibly touching story,” according to a Chick Lit Plus Web site contributor. The novel revolves around Grace Oliver who leaves her business and boyfriend in Portland to go to Austin, Texas, and help care for her father, Lou, who was injured in a car accident. Grace sees the trip to Texas as an opportunity to reconnect with the Oliver family, including her half-brothers. She had moved to Portland with her mother many years earlier when her parents were divorced. However, once back in Texas, she and the rest of her family learn that her father is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s.
Although Grace is busy with her father, she soon takes pity on her father’s next-door neighbor, Ray West. Ray is grieving over the death of his wife and a young daughter while caring for his three young children. He can barely cope, and his children are often left to fend for themselves. The situation is especially hazardous for sixteen-year-old Jordan, who blames himself for the deaths of his mother and sister. Grace steps in and tries to help the family and finds, for perhaps the first time in her life, that there is a place where she is needed and belongs.
“The story is entertaining and heartfelt, and may tug on the reader’s emotions more than a little bit,” wrote S. Krishna wrote for the S. Krishna’s Books Web site, adding: “But it’s because the characters are so real that readers become emotionally invested in the story.” A Publishers Weekly contributor remarked: “Bass draws her characters, particularly the adolescents, very well.”
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Ireland launched the quirky “Mrs. Claus Mysteries” with Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings. April runs her bed-and-breakfast in Cloudberry Bay, Oregon, for four months during the busy season. The rest of the year she spends at Castle Kringle at the North Pole as wife of Nick Claus, who after the death of his older brother, Chris, is now the acting Santa Claus. When the detestable elf Giblet Hollyberry is killed by a black widow spider in his stocking, Constable Crinkles and detective Jake Frost are on the case. Nick, who argued with the elf, is a suspect in not only Giblet’s death but also his brother’s. To clear her husband’s name, April becomes an impromptu sleuth to find the real killer. She also tangles with the extended Claus family: Chris’s son Christopher and widow Tiffany; Nick’s sister Lucia and brother Martin; and dowager Mrs. Claus, Pamela.
In an interview online at Read This and Steep, Ireland explained that her editor suggested she write a new Christmas series about a Mrs. Claus character. She said: “I immediately jumped on the idea of setting a series in Santaland, with Christmastown as the ultimate cozy village. I loved the idea of building an entire fictional world that was both slightly familiar to readers and yet all my own.” Lamenting not enough backstory of how April and Nick fell in love, or how he convinced her Santa Claus is real, a writer in Kirkus Reviews admitted: “Readers who want to know what it’s like to get frisky with Santa will have to wait for the sequel.” However a Publishers Weekly reviewer found the quirks of family life at the North Pole exceptional, saying: “This fun, well-plotted mystery is the perfect holiday entertainment.”
In the next book in the series Mrs. Claus and the Halloween Homicide, April misses the traditions of her home in Oregon and convinces Castle Kringle to celebrate Halloween. But the North Pole isn’t so keen on carved pumpkins, costumes, and scary goings on. In fact, the mysterious Pumpkin Slayer disrupts the festivities and disembowels the jack o’lanterns. Even cobbler elf Tiny Sparkletoe circulates a petition to ban the holiday. Then April’s life is threatened when her cable car is sabotaged, and Tiny is found crushed to death inside a giant monster footprint in the snow. Constable Crinkles and detective Jack Frost look for the killer.
A Kirkus Reviews critic revealed: “Brings the Christmas cozy to dizzying new heights of cuteness,” while a Publishers Weekly writer called the series entertaining, adding: “Ireland makes suspending disbelief surprisingly easy. Fans of offbeat, humorous cozies will clamor for more.” Booklist contributor Sue O’Brien praised the story’s “Multiple plot twists, quirky characters, plenty of humor, and the lovingly described, magical Santaland.”
Continuing the series, Mrs. Claus and the Trouble with Turkeys brings the North Pole its first Thanksgiving feast. After two years married to Santa, a.k.a. Nick Claus, Oregonian April suggests another custom Castle Kringle can try—Thanksgiving. While Gobbles, a live turkey, is being shipped North for the dinner, citizens dress in Pilgrim costumes, and the Thanksgiving parade plays Christmas songs, Nick is too busy worrying about Christmas. Then Gobbles is kidnapped, a jewel-thief elf is on the loose, and Nick’s cousin Elspeth falls dead in her mashed potatoes. April’s deviled eggs are blamed for Elspeth’s death. The book is “an absurd cozy for those who enjoy Tamara Berry’s books or holiday mysteries,” according to Lesa Holstine in Library Journal. “Holidays are a special challenge when you’re married to Santa,” noted a Kirkus Reviews critic, who concluded: “A bonanza for whimsy fans everywhere.”
In the last book of the series, Mrs. Claus and the Nightmare Before New Year’s, Santa is stranded in Greenland after his race around the world on Christmas, so April is spending New Year’s without him. Three human survivors of a scientific expedition stranded in the snow are rescued and brought unconscious to the infirmary for medical attention. April is afraid that when they wake up and see Santaland, they’ll exploit it for a tourist attraction, so she convinces everyone to act normal. No flying reindeer, no talking snowmen, and elves must cover their pointy ears with hats. When one of the humans is murdered, April and a donut-loving witch search for the killer. The book “is another delightful mystery filled with humor and mishaps,” according to Lesa Holstine in Library Journal. A writer in Kirkus Reviews lamented that Santaland becoming normal is less fun, so “Here’s hoping Ireland’s next outing restores the most wonderful time of the year to all its glory.”
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BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, July 1, 2002, Alexandra Shrake, review of When I Think of You, p. 1830; March 15, 2005, Kristine Huntley, review of How I Stole Her Husband, p. 1274; April 15, 2006, Diana Tixier Herald, review of The Pink Ghetto, p. 32; October 1, 2021, Sue O’Brien, review of Mrs. Claus and the Halloween Homicide, p. 30.
Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2020, review of Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings; July 15, 2021, review of Mrs. Claus and the Halloween Homicide; August 1, 2023, review of Mrs. Claus and the Trouble with Turkeys; September 1, 2024, review of Mrs. Claus and the Nightmare Before New Year’s.
Library Journal, June 1, 2011, Lesa Holstine, review of Wherever Grace Is Needed, p. 88; July 2023, Lesa Holstine, review of Mrs. Claus and the Trouble with Turkeys, p. 52; September 2024, Lesa Holstine, review of Mrs. Claus and the Nightmare Before New Year’s, p. 65.
Publishers Weekly, March 1, 2010, review of Miss You Most of All, p. 36; April 25, 2011, review of Wherever Grace Is Needed, p. 115; August 29, 2011, “Holiday Heartwarmers,” p. 44; August 31, 2020, review of Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings, p. 38; August 30, 2021, review of Mrs. Claus and the Halloween Homicide, p. 44.
Voice of Youth Advocates, June 1, 2002, review of The Sheriff and the E-mail Bride/Stray Hearts, p. 91.
ONLINE
AllReaders.com, http:// www.allreaders.com/ (June 18, 2008), Harriet Klausner, reviews of Three Bedrooms in Chelsea and Husband Material.
Best Reviews, http:// thebestreviews.com/ (November 10, 2001), Linda Hurst, “Country Christmas Joy,” review of A Western Family Christmas.
Bookreporter.com, http:// www.bookreporter.com/ (February 7, 2012), brief author biography.
Chick Lit Books, http:// chicklitbooks.com/ (June 18, 2008), interview with Liz Ireland.
Chick Lit Plus, http:// chicklitplus.com/ (May 30, 2011), review of Wherever Grace Is Needed.
eHarlequin Web site, http:// www.eharlequin.com/ (June 18, 2008), brief biography of Liz Ireland.
Elizabeth Bass Home Page, http:// elizabeth-bass.com (February 7, 2012).
Fresh Fiction, http:// freshfiction.com/ (June 18, 2008), Janmarie Anello, biography of Liz Ireland.
Mrs. Giggle’s Reviews, http:/ /www.mrsgiggles.com/ (June 18, 2008), review of How I Stole Her Husband.
Read This and Steep, https://www.readthisandsteep.com/ (September 23, 2024), “Author Q & A with Liz Ireland!”
Romance Reader, http:// www.theromancereader.com/ (June 18, 2008), Ann McGuire, review of A Cowboy’s Heart.
Romantic Times Online, http:// romantictimes.com/ (June 18, 2008), Sheri Melnick, review of Charmed, I’m Sure, Jill M. Smith, reviews of When I Think of You and Husband Material, Gerry Benninger, reviews of Blissful, Texas and Trouble in Paradise, Maria C. Ferrer, review of The Outlaw’s Bride, Cyndie Dennis-Greer, review of Prim and Improper, Frances L. Trainor, review of Cecilia and the Stranger, Debbie Richardson, reviews of The Hijacked Bride and The Groom Forgets, Cindy Royce, review of Millie and the Fugitive, Shannon Short, review of Downhome Darlin’/The Best Man Switch. *
S. Krishna’s Books, http:// www.skrishnasbooks.com/ (February 7, 2012), S. Krishna, review of Wherever Grace Is Needed.*
No bio.
readthisandsteep
Sep 23
4 min read
Author Q & A with Liz Ireland!
The author of the charming Mrs. Claus cozy mysteries is with us to discuss the series!
We are grateful to Liz Ireland for participating in our Cozy Scenes and Themes Author Chat. We are delighted to have you with us, along with Colleen from @ILikeOldBooks1213
What inspired the premise of this series?
Big credit goes to my editor at Kensington, the wonderful John Scognamiglio, for sparking my imagination when he said he wanted a new Christmas series...with some kind of Mrs. Claus-like character. I immediately jumped on the idea of setting a series in Santaland, with Christmastown as the ultimate cozy village. I loved the idea of building an entire fictional world that was both slightly familiar to readers and yet all my own.
Did you take anything from your personal experiences or interests?
I did inject a little of myself in April Claus. We’re both amateur musicians, and we both moved from temperate Oregon to more frigid climates. In my case, I moved to Montreal, which isn’t quite the North Pole. But it was still quite an adjustment.
What can we expect in the future for the Mrs. Claus series?
In an upcoming novella, “Mrs. Claus and the Sinister Soda Bread Man,” (which will appear in the Kensington anthology Irish Soda Bread Murder) April will get to take a short jaunt back to Oregon—with a few elf stowaways. And I’m currently working on the sixth full-length Mrs. Claus book, Mrs. Claus and the Very Vicious Valentine. There’s going to be a wedding in Santaland, along with the usual mix of murder and merriment.
You include humor, mystery, holiday-related shenanigans, and even some romance in this series. How do you balance it all?
It’s a juggling act, but it helps to focus on characters. One of the great things about writing the Mrs. Claus series is that I get to spend so much time with this ever-expanding cast of fun characters rattling around in my head. At the same time, I don’t want the book weighted down with too many superfluous character arcs and subplots. It’s hard sometimes to decide which secondary characters will get spotlighted in a book and who will need to take a backseat for a while.
When I’m outlining stories, I start with a check list: What are the reindeer doing? What are the Clauses up to? What’s distracting Constable Crinkles? And I remind myself periodically to check in on everyone involved in the story. It’s always a fist-pumping moment when various plot threads come together.
How many books or series are you currently working on? How do you juggle multiple projects?
I’m strictly a one-book-at-a-time writer. I wish this weren’t the case. I so admire writers who can juggle multiple projects and manage to keep all the plates spinning. Though I haven’t had time to get a new series up on its legs recently, in between Mrs. Claus stories I’ve been plotting out ideas for future non-Claus books.
What are the biggest lessons you learned thus far in your writing career?
I started writing romance novels thirty years ago and have seen so many trends come and go—and occasionally come back again! (Looking at you, chick lit...er, upmarket trade paperback romantic comedy.) No matter where your career takes you, you have to enjoy the writing itself. Publishing will break your heart—projects get rejected, some books don’t meet with the success you wanted for them, and there’s always the temptation to compare yourself to that writer who seems to have crossed over the rainbow into the sparkly world of bestseller lists and six-figure contracts. The most important thing is to keep focusing on the stories that compel you back to the keyboard every morning.
Every once in a while someone asks me if I ever want to retire from writing. My usual answer is, “Maybe someday, and then I can work on that book I always wanted to write but I’ve never had time to research.” So basically I dream of retiring from writing so I can write more.
If you could discuss the writing process with any author, living or dead, who would you choose and why?
I’m in awe of prolific writers like Anthony Horowitz and Elly Griffiths, who not only manage to write multiple series simultaneously, but keep making each individual series better with each book. I would love to soak up any advice or special knowledge that they have.
And I would love to be able to talk to Agatha Christie and figure out how she plotted such perfect mysteries. Unfortunately, from what I’ve read of Christie, she was always very close-lipped about her process. In Dead Man’s Folly, her fictional stand-in, the crime writer Ariadne Oliver, says something to the effect that she just thinks of a plot and then writes it. Easy-peasy, right? I’m sure there was more to it than that for Agatha Christie!
Mrs. Claus and The Nightmare Before New Year's is out September 24, 2024!
Also pictured is the cover of A Letter To Three Witches, the first book in the Cupcake Coven Romance series that Ireland writes under the pen name Elizabeth Bass. Perfect for spooky season!
Liz Ireland
USA flag
Liz grew up in a little bitty town in East Texas called Martins Mill. As a child she loved animals, so she raised rabbits and didn't think all that much of reading until her third grade teacher, Mrs. Sides, read The Yearling aloud in class. Books about animals! She was hooked.
She attended high school in San Antonio and after graduation attended Southern Methodist University, where she earned a BFA in theater in 1987. Her last year of college, she won a playwriting award that allowed her to follow her dream of foolishly running away to New York City.
In New York, Liz worked in bookstores, in schools as a substitute teacher, and in publishing. A longtime victim of the writing bug, she spent nights and weekends scribbling away. One of these efforts, Man Trap, was published by Silhouette Books in 1993. Throughout the nineties, Liz wrote many contemporary and western historical romances for both Silhouette and Harlequin. In 2001, Kensington Books published Liz's first long contemporary, Husband Material.
In the meantime, Liz moved from New York City to Austin, Texas, where she continued to write and also picked up a husband, Joe, who is a computer software engineer. They subsequently moved to beautiful Oregon, where they presently live in a houseful of geriatric pets.
In her spare time, Liz loves to read and hunts for old jazz and early popular music 78s at estate sales. She also spends way too much time parked in front of her television watching old movies.
Genres: Cozy Mystery, Romance, Historical Romance, Young Adult Romance
New and upcoming books
September 2024
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Mrs. Claus and the Nightmare Before New Year's
(Mrs. Claus, book 5)December 2024
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Irish Soda Bread Murder
Series
Mrs. Claus
1. Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings (2020)
2. Mrs. Claus and the Halloween Homicide (2021)
3. Mrs. Claus and the Evil Elves (2022)
4. Mrs. Claus and the Trouble with Turkeys (2023)
5. Mrs. Claus and the Nightmare Before New Year's (2024)
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Novels
Man Trap (1993)
Cecilia and the Stranger (1995)
Mom for a Week (1995)
Heaven-Sent Husband (1996)
The Groom Forgets (1997)
Prim and Improper (1998)
The Hijacked Bride (1998)
Baby for Hire (1999)
A Cowboy's Heart (1999)
The Outlaws Bride (2000)
Trouble in Paradise (2000)
Husband Material (2001)
When I Think of You (2002)
Charmed, I'm Sure (2003)
Blissful, Texas (2003)
Three Bedrooms in Chelsea (2004)
How I Stole Her Husband (2005)
The Pink Ghetto (2006)
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Collections
Halloween Cupcake Murder (2023) (with Carlene O'Connor and Carol J Perry)
Irish Soda Bread Murder (2024) (with Peggy Ehrhart and Carlene O'Connor)
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Series contributed to
Fabulous Fathers
The Birds and the Bees (1994)
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Loop
8. Getting Away With It: Jojo (1995)
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Greatest Texas Love Stories of all Time
28. Millie and the Fugitive (1996)
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Trueblood Dynasty
5. Her Protector (2004)
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Omnibus editions hide
Downhome Darlin' / The Best Man Switch (1999) (with Victoria Pade)
Sex and the Single Cowpoke and Lovestruck (1999) (with Susan MacLand)
The Love Police / Rough and Rugged (2000) (with Colleen Collins)
The Sheriff and the E-mail Bride / Stray Hearts (2000) (with Jane Sullivan (Jane Graves))
The Deputy's Bride / Sitting Pretty (2000) (with Cheryl Anne Porter)
The Cash-Strapped Cutie / Keepsake Cowboy (2000) (with Carrie Alexander)
A Western Family Christmas (2001) (with Millie Criswell and Mary McBride)
Her Protector / Hero for Hire (2004) (with Jill Shalvis)
This Christmas (2005) (with Jennifer Coburn and Jane Green)
aka The Holiday
Irish Milkshake Murder (2023) (with Peggy Ehrhart and Carlene O'Connor)
Halloween Night Murder (2025) (with Lee Hollis and Leslie Meier)
Liz Ireland, author of the Mrs. Claus cozy mystery series, has written over forty works of romance, women's fiction, and mystery. She also publishes under the names Elizabeth Bass and Liz Freeland. Originally from the United States, she now lives on beautiful Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
A Word With Liz Ireland
Sep 23, 2023 | A Word With The Author
Why do you write the genre that you write?
I’ve loved mysteries since my older sister introduced me to Agatha Christie when I was still in grade school. And I write cozy mysteries because I love their humor and hopefulness—I love rom-coms for the same reason.
What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?
Quasar, a misfit reindeer who lives in Castle Kringle with the Claus family, is from the Rudolph herd but his nose is undependable and tends to fizzle when Quasar is feeling anxious, which is often.
How did you come up with your pseudonym?
On the day my agent called to say that I needed to come up with a pseudonym, stat, I was looking up at a poster that my sister had just brought me as a souvenir from her trip to Ireland. I said the name Liz Ireland aloud and that was that.
Tell us how you got into writing?
I started writing seriously in college, where I studied playwriting. After I graduated, I began a novel and I fell in love with writing stories in prose. It was like getting to be the director, the set designer, and the entire cast of characters without having to worry about stage fright.
What jobs have you held before, during and/or after you became a writer?
I’ve worked as a bookstore clerk, a substitute teacher, a fiction editor, an essay grader for state standardized tests, and various temp positions. My most boring (and archaic) job was typing mailing labels for a Manhattan public relations firm. I was the world’s pokiest professional typist.
Where do you write?
I mostly work in an office in my house, but I have several work stations that I can move between—my cluttery desk where my computer is; a small writing desk in a spare bedroom where I write out the first drafts of chapters by hand; and a chair that I like to sit in while I read and edit.
What is your favorite deadline snack?
Popcorn with either garlic salt or dill pickle spice.
Who is an author you admire?
There are so many! I really admire Elly Griffiths for creating three great series, including her Magic Men series, which is one of my favorites. Until recently she was working on all three series at once, which is an amazing creative juggling act and my hat is off to all authors who manage it. (Looking at you, Ellen Byron, Julie Ann Lindsey, Lynn Cahoon and so many others!)
What’s your favorite genre to read?
I love cozies but I probably read an equal number of suspense books and police procedurals. I especially love authors who can combine both, like Val McDermid.
What are you reading now?
Physical book: This Lovely City by Louise Hare, a great mystery about Jamaican immigrants in postwar England. Ebook: The Secrets We Share by Edwin Hill. Audiobook: The Detective Up Late by Adrian McKinty.
What is your favorite beverage to end the day?
Lemon ginger tea.
What is next for you?
I’m currently writing my next full-length Mrs. Claus mystery, and there are also several Mrs. Claus novellas in the queue. The next one is “Mrs. Claus and the Luckless Leprechaun,” in Kensington’s Irish Milkshake Murder anthology, which will be available in December.
Where can we find you?
On Facebook, Instagram, and my website at lizireland.wordpress.com.
Now to have some fun . . .
Chocolate or vanilla
Chocolate.
Cake or ice cream
Cake!
Fruits or vegetables
Fruits
Breakfast, lunch, or dinner
Breakfast
Dining in or dining out
Dining in—my husband’s a great cook.
City life or country living
City—I grew up in the country and experienced enough snakes and bugs for a lifetime.
Beach or mountain
My instinct is to say mountain, but I live in a seaside town and love it, so…
Summer or winter
Summer
Short story or full-length novel
Full-length novel
Extrovert or introvert
Introvert
Early bird or night owl
Night owl
And even more fun . . .
What’s your favorite movie?
I love classic movies and I have about a hundred favorites. One of the ones I’ve watched most is The Apartment.
You are stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?
My clarinet, an audiobook device, and an instruction manual on how to make practical appliances out of coconut shells and bamboo, like the Professor on Gilligan’s Island.
My bio:
Liz Ireland grew up in Texas, where she experienced nothing but green Christmases for most of her life—until she moved to Canada. In addition to the Mrs. Claus mysteries, she writes the Cupcake Coven series of rom-coms under the name Elizabeth Bass. Liz is a member of Crime Writers of Canada, Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime. She currently lives on beautiful Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
Ireland, Liz MRS. CLAUS AND THE SANTALAND SLAYINGS Kensington (Fiction None) $15.95 9, 29 ISBN: 978-1-4967-2658-2
An Oregon innkeeper marries Santa Claus and probes killings at the North Pole.
After a whirlwind three-month courtship, April Claus finds herself in the frozen expanses with her husband, Nick, who recently replaced his older brother as the world’s one-and-only Santa after Chris died in a hunting accident. Since Santaland is a monarchy, Nick will serve as Santa only until Chris’ son Christopher turns 18; then Nick and April will be free to retire to Cloudberry Bay and run her hotel, the Coast Inn, full-time. In the meantime, they must live in Santaland’s castle with Nick's older sister, Lucia; his younger brother, Martin; Chris’ widow, Tiffany; and Pamela, the dowager Mrs. Claus, during the six-month run-up to Christmas before returning to the Coast Inn for April’s busy tourist season. While in Santaland, the Claus family is attended by a host of scurrying elves and talking reindeer whose job is to meet their every need. Irascible elf Giblet Hollyberry is killed early on, leaving April a mystery to solve. Aside from chronicling her heroine’s quest for Giblet’s killer, Ireland spends most of her time describing April’s myriad duties as Mrs. Claus, from presiding over the annual Reindeer Bell Choir concert to helping Pamela create a croquembouche replica of the castle. What she ignores, though, is exactly what would pique most readers’ curiosity most. How did April and Nick fall in love? How did he persuade her he was really Santa? Ireland doesn’t even give many physical details. Nick has a beard, but is he tall, dark, handsome? Does he shake when he laughs like a bowl full of jelly?
Readers who want to know what it’s like to get frisky with Santa will have to wait for the sequel.
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"Ireland, Liz: MRS. CLAUS AND THE SANTALAND SLAYINGS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2020. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A630892416/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=2e89a0c8. Accessed 7 Dec. 2024.
Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings
Liz Ireland. Kensington, $15.95 trade paper (304p) ISBN 978-1-4967-2658-2
Set at the North Pole, this exceptional series launch from Ireland (Three Bedrooms in Chelsea) features such delightful characters asOld Charlie, a snowman; Blitzen, a reindeer descended from the Blitzen of "The Night Before Christmas" fame; and Jingles, the elf steward at frigid Castle Kringle. All of them are potential perps in the murder of Giblet Hollyberry, a notoriously unpleasant elf, but the chief suspect is Nick Claus, the acting Santa of Santaland. Constable Crinkles is soon on the case, along with detective Jake Frost, but it's going to be up to April Claus, Nick's wife, to cleat her husband's name. Rumors have circulated since the death of Nick's older brother, Chris Claus, that Nick had something to do with it, because he coveted Chris's job as Santa, and now an elf is dead. April has only a few days to find the killer before Christmas. Meanwhile, she must cope with the quirks of the extended Claus family. This fun, well-plotted mystery is the perfect holiday entertainment. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Oct.)
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"Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings." Publishers Weekly, vol. 267, no. 35, 31 Aug. 2020, p. 38. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A635645499/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=a28f37f6. Accessed 7 Dec. 2024.
Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings
Liz Ireland (Kensington)
ISBN 978-1-4967-2658-2, $15.95
* Set at the North Pole, this exceptional series launch features such delightful characters as Old Charlie, a snowman; Blitzen, a reindeer descended from the Blitzen of "The Night Before Christmas" fame; and Jingles, the elf steward at frigid Castle Kringle. All of them are potential perps in the murder of Giblet Hollyberry, a notoriously unpleasant elf, but the chief suspect is Nick Claus, the acting Santa of Santaland. Constable Crinkles is soon on the case, along with detective Jake Frost, but it's going to be up to April Claus, Nick's wife, to clear her husband's name. April has only a few days to find the killer before Christmas. Meanwhile, she must cope with the quirks of the extended Claus family. This fun, well-plotted mystery is the perfect holiday entertainment.
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"Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings." Publishers Weekly, vol. 267, no. 40, 5 Oct. 2020, p. 49. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A639840691/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=7e44fb56. Accessed 7 Dec. 2024.
Ireland, Liz MRS. CLAUS AND THE HALLOWEEN HOMICIDE Kensington (Fiction None) $15.95 9, 28 ISBN: 978-1-4967-2661-2
Ghosties and goblins invade the North Pole.
Only in Santaland would April Claus, wife of the big man himself, be considered a Southerner. The owner of a bed-and-breakfast in Cloudberry Bay, April has an agreement with Nick to spend four months of each year in Oregon. Now, as October rolls around, the tourist season in the Pacific Northwest is winding down. So the couple returns to their northern home, Castle Kringle, to prepare for the upcoming holiday season—which in Santaland means nothing but Christmas. April, who misses her hometown traditions, persuades Salty, the palace gardener, to grow pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns in the royal greenhouse. She gets her friend Juniper, Christmastown’s librarian, to read scary stories to the local children. She plans a costume parade and even trick-or-treating. Not everyone is happy with April’s innovations. Juniper gets threatening messages on the library’s Elfbook page. Cobbler Tiny Sparkletoe circulates a petition to ban April’s Southern festivities. And someone smashes every one of Salty’s Pumpkins. The protests escalate until Tiny is found flattened facedown inside a giant snow monster footprint. Constable Crinkles and his deputy, Ollie, are flummoxed. It isn’t until Nick calls on snowshoe gumshoe Jake Frost that Tiny’s killer is brought to justice.
Brings the Christmas cozy to dizzying new heights of cuteness.
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"Ireland, Liz: MRS. CLAUS AND THE HALLOWEEN HOMICIDE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2021, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A668237882/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6cf2a11f. Accessed 7 Dec. 2024.
Mrs. Claus and the Halloween Homicide
Liz Ireland. Kensington, $15.95 trade paper (304p) ISBN 978-1-4967-2661-2
In Ireland's entertaining sequel to 2020's Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings, April Claus, a recent arrival in Santaland (from Oregon, where she still runs an inn during the summer months), gets permission to celebrate a holiday other than Christmas in her new home--Halloween. That prompts the self-styled Pumpkin Slayer to targer a greenhouse full of gourds, leaving behind "jagged chunks of pumpkin flesh and streams of seedy entrails." Later, a post evidently from the Slayer appears on the equivalent of Santa-land's Facebook: "STOP HALLOWEEN IN CHRISTMASTOWN OR ELSE!!!" Though the local representative of the law, Constable Crinkles, doesn't take the threat seriously, April does, after someone attempts to kill her by sabotaging the workings of the funicular car she was riding in. That narrow escape is followed by the murder of a Santaland business owner, who was apparently squashed to death by an abominable snow monster. Ireland makes suspending disbelief surprisingly easy. Fans of offbeat, humorous cozies will clamor for more. Agent: Meg Ruley.Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Oct.)
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"Mrs. Claus and the Halloween Homicide." Publishers Weekly, vol. 268, no. 35, 30 Aug. 2021, pp. 44+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A675461590/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=1a35633e. Accessed 7 Dec. 2024.
Mrs. Claus and the Halloween Homicide. By Liz Ireland. Oct. 2021.304p. Kensington, paper, $15.95 (9781496726612); e-book, $13.50 (9781496726636).
April Claus, wife of the acting Santa Claus, is determined to bring one of her favorite holidays, Halloween, to Santaland. Decorations are up, pumpkins are ripening in a greenhouse, and excited elf children are waiting to don their costumes and collect candy. Unfortunately, the pumpkins are smashed, the library receives a threatening message, and a prominent elf is collecting signatures on a petition against the holiday. Things become more serious with the attempted murder of Mrs. Claus, and the killing of an elf, who was apparently crushed by an Abominable, a snow monster from the Farthest Frozen Reaches, leading panicked residents to prepare for an attack. Due to the ineptitude of the bumbling local constable, April and private detective Jake Frost investigate. Complicating matters, April alienates a good friend when she warns her about her overattentive boyfriend. Multiple plot twists, quirky characters, plenty of humor, and the lovingly described, magical Santaland distinguish this entertaining cozy. --Sue O'Brien
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O'Brien, Sue. "Mrs. Claus and the Halloween Homicide." Booklist, vol. 118, no. 3, 1 Oct. 2021, p. 30. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A695507078/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=a0c583f1. Accessed 7 Dec. 2024.
Liz Ireland. Kensington, $16.95 trade paper (304p) ISBN 978-1-4967-3781-6
Ireland's funny, well-paced third Mrs. Claus's mystery (after 2021 's Mrs. Claus and the Halloween Homicide) finds Santa's wife, April, excited that her best friend from Oregon, Claire Emerson, will be visiting Santaland. April, Santa, and Claire travel from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Santaland in a flying sleigh pulled by a scab reindeer, since most reindeer have walked off the job to protest the introduction of drone-deer, which they fear "would prove the final nail in the coffin of reindeer usefulness." Tensions ratchet up when a deer-drone bearing the message "THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING!" crashes into a display at an ice-sculpting contest. April, who's tasked with investigating the incident, hopes to exonerate the obvious suspects for sabotaging the drone--the striking reindeer. When a Sanraland resident is beaten to death with a poker, the plot takes a darker turn. Ireland's bizarre series conceit works, a tribute to her deft juggling of sleuthing and satire. Fans of Leigh Perry's Family Skeleton mysteries will be tickled. Agent: Christina Hogrebe, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Oct.)
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"Mrs. Claus and the Evil Elves: A Mrs. Claus Mystery." Publishers Weekly, vol. 269, no. 34, 15 Aug. 2022, p. 53. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A715674458/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=dab441d8. Accessed 7 Dec. 2024.
Ireland, Liz. Mrs. Claus and the Trouble with Turkeys. Kensington. (Mrs. Claus Mystery, Bk. 4). Sept. 2023. 304p. ISBN 9781496737830. pap. $16.95. M
April Claus has been married and living at the North Pole with Nick Claus (a.k.a. Santa Claus) for over two years, but there are times she's still nostalgic for her Oregon home and U.S. customs, which leads to Santa-land celebrating its first Thanksgiving with a parade, the seasonal arrival of Santa Claus, pilgrim costumes, and food. When Gobbles, the live turkey who's going to be eaten for dinner at Casde Kringle, is stolen from his cage, April puts up posters and looks for a birdnapper. That's still important but put on the back burner when Nick's cousin Elspeth falls face-first in the mashed potatoes during the pre-Thanksgiving dinner and utters two words, "April" and "look." Now some blame April for Elspeth's death, and she's even put in comfortable custody until the coroner says it wasn't her dish that poisoned the woman. Once she's released, April has her hands full, with a jewel-thief elf on the loose and Gobbles still missing--and April is beginning to suspect that Nick's tightwad brother killed Elspeth. VERDICT With a chaotic chase scene set in the middle of the Thanksgiving parade, the sequel to MB. Claus and the Evil Elves is an absurd cozy for those who enjoy Tamara Berry's books or holiday mysteries.--Lesa Holstine
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Holstine, Lesa. "Mrs. Claus and the Trouble with Turkeys." Library Journal, vol. 148, no. 7, July 2023, p. 52. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A755555583/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9222488f. Accessed 7 Dec. 2024.
Ireland, Liz MRS. CLAUS AND THE TROUBLE WITH TURKEYS Kensington (Fiction None) $16.95 9, 26 ISBN: 9781496737830
Holidays are a special challenge when you're married to Santa.
April Claus had to put up with a lot when she agreed to marry Nick, the current incumbent in a long line of Santa Clauses. Winters at the North Pole are brutal, and the wrangling among the elves, snowmen, and reindeer can get on anyone's nerves. So when elves Jingles and Butterbean suggest bringing a Thanksgiving festival to Santaland, April looks forward to a little touch of home. Of course, she encounters one challenge after another getting Santalanders with the program. For Sparkletoe's Thanksgiving Parade to march down Festival Boulevard in Christmastown, there has to be a marching band, but the only Thanksgiving song she can think to teach its members is "Over the River and Through the Woods," which they play on repeat but not always on key. The reindeer quarrel over who'll get to pull Santa's sleigh, with patricians Comet and Dasher locking horns with humbler deer, like April's sister-in-law Lucia's pet Quasar. The local grocery can't get enough frozen turkeys, creating long waiting lists on which April, never the most organized of housekeepers, finds herself at the very end. And to top it off, Gobbles, who was supposed be the main course at the festive meal at Castle Kringle, has now vanished. But these holiday hassles fade into the background when Nick's cousin, Elspeth Claus, is poisoned at a family dinner and April's deviled eggs seem to be to blame. Constable Crinkles is reluctant to arrest Mrs. Claus, and to be fair, there's no place to put her, since the constabulary is filled to the brim with papier-mâché doughnut holes destined for the police department's parade float. But if April doesn't find the real culprit soon, she fears she will never be able to play bass drum in the Santaland orchestra again.
A bonanza for whimsy fans everywhere.
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"Ireland, Liz: MRS. CLAUS AND THE TROUBLE WITH TURKEYS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2023, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A758849176/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=88cd6aaa. Accessed 7 Dec. 2024.
Ireland, Liz. Mrs. Claus and the Nightmare Before New Year's. Kensington. (Mrs. Claus Mystery, Bk. 5). Sept. 2024. 304p.
ISBN 9781496748935. pap. $17.95. M It's bad enough that Nick Claus is missing after his round-the-world trip, and April Claus is worried. Then she gets word that three strangers, humans, have been found unconscious and injured and brought to Santaland. Although they're hospitalized, Mrs. Claus worries that they'll realize the land is different and will want to capitalize on Santaland. She asks everyone to cooperate and hide the town's identity: no singing snowmen, no racing reindeer. The elves dress as humans, which causes all kinds of trouble when they slip wearing unfamiliar shoes. An even bigger issue arises when one of the humans dies in the hospital. April and the doctor know he was murdered. April tries to keep the remaining humans under observation by moving them to Castle Kringle, but it's hard to juggle that while investigating the murder and worrying about Santa, who is stranded in Greenland with ill reindeer. It's up to April, the elves, and a doughnut-loving witch to find a killer and protect the secrets of Santaland. VERDICT The sequel to Mrs. Claus and the Trouble with Turkeys is another delightful mystery filled with humor and mishaps.--Lesa Holstine
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Holstine, Lesa. "Ireland, Liz. Mrs. Claus and the Nightmare Before New Year's." Library Journal, vol. 149, no. 9, Sept. 2024, p. 65. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A808228659/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=4bce07c5. Accessed 7 Dec. 2024.
Ireland, Liz MRS. CLAUS AND THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE NEW YEAR'S Kensington (Fiction None) $17.95 9, 24 ISBN: 9781496748935
Bad weather and unwelcome guests pose unexpected challenges for the redoubtable Mrs. Claus.
The Christmas Eve launch of Santa's sleigh always provokes a frenzy of merriment as it rises into the skies above Santaland. But unpredictable weather and the constant threat of reindeer flu have made this year's trip especially worrisome for April Claus. Although she's shown increasing poise in her role as Santa's wife, there are some things her Oregon upbringing just hasn't prepared her for. So when a rogue sleigh crashes in front of Christmastown Municipal Hall, she and Constable Crinkles need to think fast. They transport the three unconscious passengers to the hospital knowing that when the patients come to, they'll discover the secret of Santaland's existence. That discovery would almost certainly lead hordes of tourists to descend, robbing the hidden spot of its unique character. April's efforts to protect Santaland's secret by pretending the magic place is actually part of Canada--for example, camouflaging the elves' pointy ears with a variety of scarves and hats and playing Anne Murray and Celine Dion songs instead of the usual Christmas tunes--have a certain zany charm. But ultimately, the dodges become so comprehensive they get tedious. There's a murder mystery that feels like an afterthought, and the problem of how to return the stranded travelers home turns out to be easy to solve. But the real problem here is that the charm of the franchise lies in its dedication to all Christmas, all the time. Making its inhabitants less Christmassy makes Santaland less fun.
Here's hoping Ireland's next outing restores the most wonderful time of the year to all its glory.
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"Ireland, Liz: MRS. CLAUS AND THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE NEW YEAR'S." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Sept. 2024, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A806452807/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9984d3cb. Accessed 7 Dec. 2024.