Valentine Murder (Lucy Stone Series #5) »

Leslie Meier is the acclaimed author of thirteen Lucy Stone mysteries and has also written for Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island, where she is currently at work on the next Lucy Stone mystery.

It's Valentine's Day in Tinker's Cove. And while the cupcakes Lucy Stone is baking for her children will have pink frosting and candy hearts, Lucy's thoughts aren't centered on sugary sentiments. She's barely arrived at her first board meeting of the newly-renovated library when Bitsy Howell, the new librarian, is found dead in the basement, shot only minutes before story hour was to start. The agitated board members assume that Bitsy was killed by an outsider, until Detective Lt. Horowitz arrives on the scene and announces that the killer is among them.

Lucy was already aware that Bitsy's uppity big city ways rubbed some people in Tinker's Cove the wrong way. But she has a hunch that motives for the librarian's violent death run a lot deeper. From Hayden Norcross's elegant antique shop to Corney Clark's chic kitchen, Lucy relentlessly snoops into the curious lifestyles and shocking secrets of Tinker's Cove's most solid citizens-secrets that will plunge her into a terrifying confrontation with a conniving killer.

Publishers Weekly

When plucky freelance writer Lucy Stone joins the library board in her small Maine town, she unexpectedly finds herself knee-deep in murder. Right before her first meeting, Lucy discovers librarian Bitsy Howell shot through the heart in a workroom. A state police detective tells Lucy that only board members were present at the time of the unpopular librarian's death; he also warns her to stay away from the investigation. Lucy agrees but, still curious, she decides to find out as much as she can about the other suspects, and learns that each board member was hiding a potentially lethal secret. She also discovers that the library's prized antique tankard, which was recently appraised by antique dealer Hayden Northcross, is a fake. When Hayden dies in what looks like a suicide, it's assumed by the cops--but not by Lucy--that he had killed Bitsy because she'd realized he'd stolen the authentic tankard. Before Lucy can piece together all the clues to reveal the culprit, her children are nearly run over, her car is set afire and her husband is placed in mortal danger. Meier's (Back to School Murder, etc.) inclusion of the domestic details attendant to Lucy's small, close-knit community add charm to this otherwise routine, if lighthearted, cozy. (Feb.)