The Running Bibliophile

It's the Christmas season in Tinker's Cove, Maine, and Lucy Stone is looking forward to hosting the annual cookie exchange that Sue normally hosts. When  Tucker, one of the guests, is found murdered the next day, the entire town is in shock, and the local dentist is arrested for it. Lucy decides to investigate on her own in Christmas Cookie Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #6) by Leslie Meier. This is the perfect book to put me in the mood for Christmas, and it's in one of my favorite genres . . . a mystery. Who would ever think a murder mystery would put a person in a holiday mood? But, with the cookie exchange, the holiday shopping, and Santa Claus visiting the elementary school during the Christmas play, it's easy to get excited about the holidays. As far as the suspects go, the obvious one is the dentist because he's the boyfriend of Tucker, but I dismissed him right away. I did consider Lee, the wife of the dentist for most of the book because I thought she had m...

In the Hall with the Knife (Clue Mystery, #1) by Diana Peterfreund is a novel in the Young Adult genre based on the famous board game and movie Clue . Several students, their headmaster, a janitor, and a proctor are stranded at Blackbrook Academy in Maine when a winter storm comes early. The next morning, Headmaster Boddy is found dead with a knife in his chest. Did one of the students murder him, or was it a looter? When I received an email recommendation from BookBub.com for In the Hall with the Knife (Clue Mystery, #1) by Diana Peterfreund, I knew I had to purchase the book as the board game Clue is one of my all time favorite board games. I knew absolutely nothing about the book other than it was based on the board game, and I was pleasantly surprised with the storyline. The story is told from the different students stranded at the school . . . Orchid McKee, Scarlet Mistry, Beth "Peacock" Picach, Finn Plum, Samuel "Mustard" Maestor, and Vaughn Green. I love t...

Trick or Treat Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #3) by Leslie Meier is set in Tinker's Cove, Maine, and the entire town is preparing a party in a dilapidated mansion to celebrate Halloween. However, everyone is on edge because there has been a rash of fires thought to be the work of an arsonist. The latest one killing a summer resident. Who will be the latest victim? Is anyone else a fan of Halloween like I am? This was the perfect book to put me in the mood for the holiday, and this is a must read if you do like Halloween. It brought back so many memories of my childhood of trick or treating and the Halloween parties that my parents and the rest of the parents in the neighborhood put on for us kids that were similar to the one in Trick or Treat Murder . Having an arsonist setting fires in the book only made it creepier, but not scary. There were quite a few red herrings in the book. With that being said, there were clues to who it really was, and I dismissed those clues much to my c...

In Tinker's Cove, Maine, the dead body of grizzled barkeep, Dan Malone, is found in the town's harbor. Reporter Lucy Stone takes it upon herself to learn more about Malone and who might want him dead and suspects local musician Dave Reilly and local contractor Brian Donohue. While the gossip mill going wild, Dylan Malone, Dan's younger brother, arrives in town to help direct the local church's St. Patrick's Day annual play, which compounds everything in Leslie Meier's St. Patrick's Day Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #14) . What can I say about this novel? I love it! Leslie Meier has definitely hooked me on this series, and I can't wait to read the other books in the series. The characters are likable, with a few exceptions of course, and the storyline is engaging. And, I honestly have to say, I didn't figure out the murderer. I had quite a few wrong guesses! I've been reading this series out of order, but that hasn't really detracted from anyt...

Valentine Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #5) by Leslie Meier is the fifth book in the Lucy Stone Mystery book series.  In this cozy mystery, Lucy Stone attends her first board meeting for the newly renovated library in Tinker's Cove, Maine. The evening takes a shocking turn when she discovers fellow board member Bitsy Howell in the library basement, dead from a gunshot wound.  Not knowing what to expect since this was my first time reading a novel by Leslie Meier, I was pleasantly surprised by this cozy mystery. It has everything I look for in this genre ... good writing, an interesting storyline, characters that are both likable and unlikable, and a plot that feels believable. It doesn't hurt that the murder takes place in a library. As a book lover, I always enjoy mysteries that revolve around books and libraries.  One of the most believable aspects of the novel was the dynamic among the library board members. their cliques, personalities, and interactions felt incredi...