Trick or Treat Murder

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From Publishers WeeklyThe serenity of Tinker's Cove, Maine, is shattered when an arsonist creates havoc and sends amateur sleuth Lucy Stone, introduced in [Mistletoe Murder], on her [third] adventure. After several historic buildings are damaged or destroyed by fire, the stakes escalate when the body of socialite Monica Mayes is found inside the charred wreckage of her summer home. Lucy, mother of four, including new baby Zoe, casts a suspicious eye on Roland Mayes, Monica's unfaithful husband, and decides to do a little investigating of her own. Lucy's husband, Bill, a restoration carpenter, has reluctantly joined the local historic commission, which has recently denied the plans submitted by unsavory Randy Lenk to remodel his gas station. Another suspicious fire coincides with Halloween trickery and leads to a red hot finale. Although the plot is thin, the charming setting and likable cast, including crotchety old Miss Tilley, former librarian and head of the historic council, and Lucy herself, juggling motherhood and murder, make for enjoyable reading. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus ReviewsNot content with a flickering jack-o'-lantern for Halloween, somebody has torched the old Hopkins Homestead. It's the fourth case of arson Tinker's Cove has seen in five months, and the most deadly, since Homesteader Monica Mayes, enjoying a rare off- season overnight stay at her summer house, was killed in the flames. Whodunit? The obvious suspect for Lucy Stone (Tippy-Toe Murder, 1994, etc.) is the widower, Dr. Roland Mayes, who's been extending his gynecological research to bodybuilding bimbo Krissy Wright. But would Mayes really go to the trouble of burning down all those other buildings in preparation for offing his inconvenient wife? Forget the mystery; the burning questions here (and the only time the tale flickers to life) concern the commercialization of rural Maine, the need of older drivers to turn in their licenses, and the breast-feeding of Zoe, the latest among fecund Lucy's progeny. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.