A Giveaway–Advance Reader Copies of Yule Log Murder

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by Barb, rushing to go on vacation next week

Yes, it’s that time of year–advance reader copies of Yule Log Murder are here, and I’m giving away two copies, one each to a lucky commenter below.

Yule Log Murder is a holiday novella collection with stories by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and me, each one centering around a Bûche de Noël, the traditional Christmas Yule log cake. I had a blast writing mine, which focuses on an eccentric neighbor, a glorious, light-filled Christmas display at the Botanical Garden, and an incredibly complicated recipe.

Here’s the full description:

Fresh-baked cookies, pies, and cakes can warm even the frostiest Christmases in coastal Maine. But there’s little room for holiday cheer when murder is the new seasonal tradition . . . 

YULE LOG MURDER by LESLIE MEIER
Lucy Stone is thrilled to be cast as an extra in a festive period film—until the set becomes a murder scene decorated in blood and buttercream icing. Returning to her role as sleuth, Lucy dashes to restore peace to Tinker’s Cove, unwrap a cold-hearted criminal’s MO, and reveal how one ornate Yule log cake could possibly cause so much drama.

DEATH BY YULE LOG by LEE HOLLIS
Hayley Powell’s holidays aren’t off to a very merry start. Not only has her daughter brought Conner—an infuriatingly perfect new beau—home to Bar Harbor, but a local troublemaker has been found dead with traces of her signature Yule log cake on his body. As Conner becomes the prime murder suspect, Hayley must put aside her mixed feelings to identify the real killjoy.

LOGGED ON by BARBARA ROSS
Realizing she can’t make a decent Bûche de Noël to save her life, Julia Snowden enlists the help of her eccentric neighbor, Mrs. St. Onge, in hopes of mastering the dessert for Christmas. With everyone in the old woman’s circle missing or deceased, however, it’s up to Julia to stop the deadly tidings before she’s the next Busman’s Harbor resident to meet a not-so-jolly fate.

Kick back with something sweet and indulge in three bite-sized Yuletide tales too good to resist!

Readers: Do you have a holiday recipe you particularly treasure? Comment below for a chance to win.

Published by Barbara Ross

Barbara Ross is the author of the Maine Clambake Mysteries. Her books have been nominated for multiple Agatha Awards for Best Contemporary Novel and have won the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction. She lives in Portland, Maine. Readers can visit her website at www.maineclambakemysteries.com

161 Thoughts

  3. Our treasured holiday recipe is Buttered Tarts. It’s a very Canadian goodie.

  4. It’s not a treasured family recipe, in fact, I think it came from the Good Housekeeping cookbook, but every year, beginning right after Thanksgiving, I make and freeze butter cutout cookies. I always say I’m going to frost them this year, so far, that year has never come! Anyone else think I should just throw in the towel and face the unfrosted music?

    1. Sprinkle red and green colored sugars on them before baking, Kait. It makes them look festive and is SO much easier than frosting (and not as sweet).

      1. I’m on board for the colored sugar – sounds like something I can handle especially as I can do it before I bake it – all part of the same process! Thanks, ladies – Marla – I agree – 100% especially at holiday time.

  5. I love to make my great grandmother’s recipe for cut-out cookies. It brings back so many wonderful memories from my childhood.

  6. These all sound so fun, Barb. I made a Buche a couple of years ago – tons of work and the presentation was, shall we say, not photo-ready! But it was delicious, at least.

    1. They are so difficult. And to give more story time to bake (so to speak) I picked the most difficult version of cake, filling, frosting, and decorations I could find.

  7. Italian anise Christmas cookies.. a long time family tradition.. besides making enough for my family to eat.. extras are made for gifts and office parties… thank you for the chance to win

  9. We make my grandmother’s ginger cookies and Scottish shortbread every year!

  11. Pineapple cookies….. recipe from a Betty Crocker cookie cookbook that is 58 years old!!!
    Still a terrific recipe & makes 5 dozen cookies!! Yum!

  12. A little odd but my Mom makes Brides Rice. It has pineapple, coconut, small marshmalloes mixed with cool whip and lime jello. So cold and refreshing and yummy. Skip the nuts-there’s enough at our holiday table already.

  13. I love to make no-bake chocolate cookies. My mother always made them at Christmas, and they remind me of her.

  15. I’m so excited for this book to come out!

    My mom’s shortbread cookies are a recipe that I treasure. It never tastes the same when I make it, though, there’s something special that happens when its made by her.

    1. I know. My cookies are never as good as my mother’s and she thought her cookies were never as good a her mother’s. But my kids love them, so I am setting a new benchmark.

  17. My favorite holiday recipe is the fruitcake my sister makes us every year for Christmas, I’m looking forward to this book, thanks
    Penney

  18. I found this book on the library website and put it on my list. Let someone else vie for the giveaways. Sweet potato casserole is what gets cleaned up every year at this house.

  20. My favorite holiday items to make are fudge and divinity. I always made them with my daddy as I was growing up. It is a wonderful memory!
    Thank you for giving us a chance to wing the book! I love the cover!

  21. My favorite recipe is for sour cream almond sugar cookies that you roll out and cut with cookie cutters. I remember making them with mom as a kid. We would roll out and cut dozens of cookies to bake and then frost with icing. 😋

  22. I have a recipe for almond crescent cookies that was given to me by the mother of my older brother’s girlfriend at the time
    in 1967. It is an old recipe that she always made and I love them, and enjoy making them each year for friends and family.

    1. I love these kinds of stories. I make all kinds of recipes that the original person who gave it to me would be surprised I am still making.

  23. My mother always makes a delicious dessert that’s chocolate on chocolate. It’s so bad for you, but so good!

  24. We all love my Granny’s old recipe for tea cakes so at Christmas we sprinkle with green and red sugar to make them festive. One recipe that we had as a kid growing up was my Mom’s fresh grated coconut cake. We only had it at Christmas and maybe Easter. it was time consuming because back then you couldn’t buy the fresh frozen coconut so Mom had to really break, peel and grate a whole coconut. It was so moist and fluffy a cake that the memories still makes me almost taste it.

    One recipe that I make only at Christmas is my Mom’s recipe for no bake fruitcake. Now I know most go aaargh when you mention fruitcake, but these are little muffin shaped bits of nothing but deliciousness. Basically it’s nothing but candied cherries and pineapple with a LOT of chopped pecans mixed with melted marshmallows and butter along with some ground vanilla wafers. It’s all mixed up and pressing into pans. What’s not to like in that! Some make it in the typical loaf pan, but Mom always took the time to make it into muffin pans calling it portion control. 🙂 Besides it looks so much prettier on a dessert buffet.

    Growing up I helped Mom make 15 different kinds of candy for the Christmas holiday. Being just hubby and I now, I make that through the year – one kind at a time. So I have the memory of Christmas all year long when I make a batch of one of Mom’s candies.

    “Yule Log Murder ” sounds absolutely wonderful! So many wonderful stories by great authors. Love the cover with just the right mixture of Christmas with hint of murder or misfortune. I’d really love to be one of the fortunate two selected. Thanks for the chance!
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

  25. I really love mincemeat pie, or mincemeat crisp. I like making it as I can make as sweet as I want or not so sweet.

  26. My daughter swears she won’t come home for Christmas if I don’t make my pumpkin pie. Great excuse to make something so yummy. After all, I don’t want to miss a chance to see my daughter!

    Looking forward to reading the latest of this series. Sure would be nice to get it for free! Thanks for the offer, Barb.

  27. Woo hoo! Three of my fave authors together again! My favorite holiday recipe is one from my great grandmother. She made a cookie called the “Cliffor Tea” cookie. She brought the recipe over from Hungary and the cookie is crispy and chewy at the same time. It’s heavy on walnuts and spice and I imagine ladies would dunk the cookie in tea and enjoy a sweet treat. I have the recipe now and make them every Christmas. The cookie is a nice change up from all the sweet items that I also make at Christmas.

  28. My niece and nephews and I get together and make gingerbread cutout cookies, sugar cutout cookies, and spritz cookies – all family recipes.

  29. I make six different cookies at Christmas – the most popular being black and whites. But perhaps my most treasured treat I make at Christmas is my grandmother’s fudge. I have fond memories of grabbing those delicious pieces of chocolaty goodness out of her candy dish each year. It’s not soft like most fudge – more of a solid consistency. I always mentally ask my grandmother, who died many years ago, for her special touch when I make it – nothing like it. I can taste it right now!

  30. One key recipe I love to make at Christmas is one that my mother use to make. It is balish. If I have the time I enjoy making nut rolls which my mother also made each year. They were always the best present she gave to us each year.

  31. I do! Meltway cookies, Mud Balls, and Sticky Toffee Pudding….great, I want some now. Lol

  32. Yes my mother’s recipe for Mexican wedding cake cookies , it’s been my favorite since I was young! Now that my moms gone it’s nice to make them during* the holidays to have a part of her with us . kathambre@yahoo.com

  33. Pfferneuse which look like tiny snowballs. Joy of Cooking version. Delicious and keep well. Have a great vacation!!

  34. My Mom’s Poor Mans Fruitcake. It is a spicy cake with raisins. Fantastic

  35. I always try to make a variety of recipes, both sweets and dinners that are special for the holidays, or try a new recipe or dig out an old one that I haven’t made in awhile, but the all time favorite always still seems to be sugar cookies.

  36. Every year I make buckeyes to give away at Christmas. It’s my mom’s recipe and I’m thankful she shared it with me before she passed away. Making them every year always makes me feel a bit closer to her.

  37. Oh Yes! My mother’s Cherry Delight recipe! We had it every year, then I made it when I grew up & married, and now my daughter makes it too!

  39. I don’t have a recipe, but my brother and sisnlaw make several types of cookies, cut-out sugar, eggnog cookies and a few others. (will tell them about putting the sprinkles in the dough by the way, thanks). My sister makes a chocolate truffle recipe that I found in a vampire book I was reading years ago. Now everyone makes them and there are tons of varieties. If you ever need a recipe that is pretty easy and everyone loves (even me and I dont like chocolate), this is the one. One package oreos (crumbled), one package of cream cheese (softened) and one package of chocolate chips (melted). mix the oreos and cream cheese form balls and dip in chocolate. Easy Peasy, lol. Oh and my sisnlaw makes something we all just call the pink stuff, lol. Sounds like the Bride stuff someone else mentioned. Thanks for the chance to win!

  40. I have a couple. One is peanut brittle and the other is pumpkin/chocolate chip cookies.

  42. My family loves a dish that is layered sweet potatoes, apples, and then raisins, cinnamon, and a sprinkle of lemon juice. It’s a must have.

    Looking forward to reading the ARC I got a couple weeks ago of the book.

  43. I make Scotcheroos every year. I can’t think of a Christmas that we haven’t had them. My mom made them when I was younger but then that task got passed over to me. I can’t eat as many as I used to (so much sugar!) but I look forward to them every year. I love that the new holiday book is centered on the Buche de Noel. I took French in high school for 3 years, and one year we had to make one as an assignment. My mom had to help me as it’s a particularly tricky recipe, but if you can pull it off it is so delicious! I keep saying that I’m going to try making one again….maybe this will be the year.

  49. Chocolate fruit cake. Even people who don’t like fruit cake love it! Barb, so looking forward to seeing you at Bouchercon!

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