Back To School Murder by Leslie Meier

Genre: Cozy Mystery

It’s another adventure for Leslie Meier’s Lucy Stone. Lucy’s children go back to school in the quaint town of Tinker’s Cove in Maine, where nothing exciting ever happens. This year, however, the elementary school staff and students are shocked when they get a bomb scare. The school is quickly evacuated when the assistant principal, Carol Crane discovers one of the students is still in the building. She races against the clock and saves the child just before the bomb goes off. Carol is Tinker’s Cove’s new heroine and the toast of the town.

The town is stunned when days later Carol is murdered. Lucy Stone is determined to discover who would want to murder a selfless woman such as Carol Crane. As she delves deeper and deeper into Carol’s history, Lucy realizes the woman wasn’t all that she seemed. Lucy’s own life is threatened as she gets closer and closer to the truth. Obviously someone wants Lucy’s mouth to be permanently shut.

I love this series! It’s a fast-paced read with characters you watch grow from book to book. Lucy Stone is a wonderfully strong heroine raising four children and taking care of her husband, who believes a woman should not be working but staying at home with the family. Despite her husband’s feelings, Lucy works part-time at the local newspaper. Readers will find themselves cheering for her and wanting to see her succeed. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this delightful series.

For Reading Challenges: Amateur Sleuth Reading Challenge, Themed Reading Challenge, A to Z Reading Challenge, Read Your Own Book Challenge

Trick or Treat Murder by Leslie Meier

Genre: Cozy Mystery

The citizens of Tinker’s Cove, Maine are getting ready for their annual Halloween celebration. Lucy Stone’s life is moving at a frantic pace – her teenaged son is rebelling, her daughters need Halloween costumes, the baby isn’t feeling well, her husband takes a seat on Tinker Cove’s Historic District Commission where he makes some very unpopular decisions and she agrees to bake twelve dozen cupcakes for the Halloween party.

Chaos breaks loose when the town’s oldest house is burned to the ground and a dear friend is killed in the fire. As more old homes are burned, there’s a growing fear that an arsonist is running around the quiet, quaint little New England town. Lucy begins getting threatening phone calls and she fears for the lives of her family. She decides to investigate the crime on her own. It’s a race against time as Lucy tries to prevent any dangerous Halloween tricks from happening.

I love the Lucy Stone Mystery series. This is the third book in the series and this book is as much fun as the previous two books. It’s a quick read that will keep you guessing who the culprit is as you get to the end of the story. The characters are all well-crafted and quite likeable. Readers will find themselves caring about Lucy and the members of her family. Picking up a Lucy Stone mystery is like re-visiting old friends.