Mother of the Bride Murder is a fun new book by Leslie Meier. Lucy Stone's daughter, Elizabeth is finally getting married. But, it is at a chateau in France. Even though the groom's family owns the chateau and is graciously hosting the entire family for the event, international travel is quite expensive. Lucy finally gets the entire family to accompany her to France for the wedding.
Once there, it seems that things are too good to be true. Does Jean-Luc really love Elizabeth or ???? Will Elizabeth be happy living and working at the chateau? What about the mother in law, Marie Laure?
Then a murder takes place that sets Lucy in motion. As a journalist she has so many questions, even though she realizes that in this foreign country she needs to just stay out of it. But can she? Will she be arrested (or worse?)
The seemingly "fairytale" wedding is at jeopardy. Can Lucy help or will she only make things more complicated?
As the story plays out, we realize that there are other forces at play. And why, oh why, is Elizabeth's previous es-boyfriend showing up? Is he there to help or to cause even more chaos?

This is a great cozy mystery. For me, it took a couple of chapters for me to buy into the story. But then the rest of the book was "I can't put it down" good.

Lucy is surprised to learn that her daughter, Elizabeth, who works in a hotel in France, has finally met someone and is about to get married. So the whole family flies to France to assist with the wedding, that will be held in a château owned by her fiancé, Jean-Luc, and his family. But in the days leading up to the ceremony, Lucy worries that Jean-Luc and his family are using Elizabeth. Until she has a body to worry about...
This is a cozy mystery, book 29 in the Lucy Stone series. It was fun to see some of the usual characters, which is why I think you really should read the entire series, but it totally can be read as a standalone. It was definitely a slow burn. Usually, in cozy mysteries, the crime happens fairly early in the story, but it this one, we have to wait until around 40%! I understand that the author had to introduce a brand new setting and a new set of characters, but it took a while to get there. And a lot of things are very convenient in the story. And if you want to put French in your novel, please make sure to have it proofread by a professional French proofreader. I got this one from NetGalley, so maybe the mistakes will get fixed in the final copy, but there were a lot of very annoying one (at least to me, a professional French proofreader lol). Also, and this is totally a me thing, I was really annoyed by Lucy's attitude and inner/outer monologue about wanting her daughters to be happy, because she seems to thing that the only way they will ever be is for them to get married and have children. But it's a touchy subject for me. So, all in all, the story was interesting, but very different from the other books in the series (and from the usual cozy mystery formula). I read the ebook and listened to the audio book, and the narrator did an amazing job (in general, and with the accents!).
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The mother of the bride is Lucy Stone. Readers may know her from the multi-book cozy series often set in Tinker’s Cove. Lucy has been on the case for readers since the early 1990s so there are many titles in the series.

This time, Lucy leaves home behind to go to France where her daughter’s wedding is scheduled to take place. But, will it? Readers know that where Lucy goes, trouble follows. There is murder, the reappearance of an old boyfriend of the bride, a French family (the prospective groom’s) with some tricky history so lots to keep Lucy busy.

I think that this title will most be enjoyed by those who already have read other titles in the series. They will get to spend time with Lucy and a grownup Elizabeth.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for this title. All opinions are my own.

Mother of the Bride Murder is the twenty ninth Lucy Stone mystery. When Lucy finds herself in France for her daughters wedding and murder strikes, Lucy takes it upon herself to try to track down the killer so she and her family can go home.

I have read all of the Lucy Stone mysteries and I know what to expect, the fun cozy mystery and reporter who is an amateur sleuth. Something about this book fell short for me though. Maybe it was the surprise wedding that came out of the blue or the fact that we weren’t in Tinkers Cove, I’m not fully sure. I enjoyed Lucy, as always, and her journey to uncover the killer, but there were parts of her attitude this time that bothered me, like the way she dealt with Toby. Another thing that kept confusing me was Lucy’s difficultly at understanding that crime France isn’t handled the same as in American, which is true, but unless I’m completely misremembering, Lucy was already caught up in a murder investigation in Paris so it shouldn’t be that surprising. Anyway, I’ll get back to the point, this book was full of the typical cozy mystery feeling and I enjoyed seeing Lucy and her whole family together again, but there was something in this book that just didn’t connect like the other books did for me. I look forward to seeing what Lucy gets up to next and hope she’s back in Tinkers Cove!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book!

I have read the entire series and the last few have not been quite as good as the first few. This one, in particular, will be the last I will read in the series. The investigating was almost non-existent, which is understandable because Lucy can’t really do so much in France (although she has in the past). What bothers me so much is 1) how Lucy has managed to raise such bratty children and 2) why there is so many social justice references (yes, sex trafficking and climate change are huge issues but I read to get away from all of this). This is no longer the happy comfort reads I used to love. I cannot recommend this one.

This book is a great addition to the series. Meier is skilled at creating relatable characters that are dealing with real life issues.

Lucy and her family travel to France for the wedding of her oldest daughter, Elizabeth. Upon their arrival, though, things start to go wrong, and Lucy’s misgivings start to accumulate. When a police incident results in the authorities confiscating their passports pending the completion of their investigation, Lucy can’t just sit by and wait, even with her limited command of the French language.

This is the 29th book (!!) in this series, which I really enjoyed when it first started, but the past several books have been hit or miss for me. Unfortunately, this one was more of a miss. Lucy is becoming way too much of an alarmist and a worry-wart, stressing over things that are out of her control, over-reacting to many situations, and worrying too much about other people’s opinions. While Bill is almost single-minded about money, he does talk Lucy down off the edge several times in this book, which is a good thing.

Since Lucy and Bill’s other three children make the trip to France as well, we get to spend more time with them than in the past few books. While Sarah and Zoe seem level-headed and appreciative, Toby and his family were a little hard to take. I appreciate their stance on climate change, but a family wedding is not the time to lecture everyone about it, especially people you’ve just met. The petty squabbles between all of the Stone children were annoying as well.

The mystery here was confusing, and I kept waiting for more to happen. As the story continued, though, solving the puzzles seemed to take a back seat to all the family drama. Nobody had to put clues together to figure out who was behind everything, it was simply announced during one situation that could have ended badly (but of course, it didn’t). The confrontation scene, if you can ever call it that, was disappointing.

I hate to abandon a series I’ve been reading for so long, but I think I’ll wait to see what my reading friends think of the next book in this series before I decided whether to read it or skip it.

After 29 books and numerous novellas, I’ve come to truly love Lucy and I’m always disappointed in how her family treats her. Bill was good to her in this installment, Mother of the Bride Murder, but the rest of her kids were so rude and ungrateful and had the worst attitudes - specifically Toby with his extremist views and all their awkward child-rearing ways (not that concern about climate change and the death of our planet is extreme, but the way he & Molly address the topic and their solutions was a bit much for me, especially while in family vacation to celebrate his sister’s wedding.)
Overall, I like when Lucy travels, but I much prefer her sleuthing in Tinker’s Cove. This book had a few too many things going on for me with the sextrafficking, the Romas, all the travel logging, the chateau drama with Elizabeth’s snotty future in-laws, secret service agent Chris, the global financial crisis affecting just about everyone, and an emphasis on climate change, it felt like the plethora of topics made most everything feel lost and surface level. I’m not even sure what was wrapped up in the end.
Lucy Stone is a cherished series for me and I will forever continue it, but this one is not my favorite and I look forward to Meier’s next installment, hopefully back in Tinker’s Cove.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for approving my request to read an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Mother of the Bride Murder by Leslie Meier. I was thrilled when I learned I was approved as this has become one of my favorite book series. I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review.

This latest installment in the series started off a bit slow for me, but eventually, the pacing picked up, and I ended up enjoying how the story ended. I enjoyed the tidbits of French conversation as I took some French in high school and college, and I was easily able to translate what was being said. Even if readers don't speak French, I think they'll be able to get the gist of what is being said. I disliked some of the negative things said about the French culture . . . an example of this is when Lucy tried to retrieve a piece of mail that the postal worker had already picked up, she went on a diatribe about the Napoleonic Laws, how Napoleon was an awful person, and didn't understand why she couldn't have the letter back.

Something that took me by surprise was that Lucy's husband Bill and their adult son Toby didn't want to fly to France for the wedding. This is hopefully something that is going to only happen once, so why would you want to miss such a monumental milestone in an immediate family member's life? I've never really liked Bill, but this made me dislike the character even more, and it didn't make me like Toby very much either. Yes, I know airplane tickets there are expensive, but they were getting free room and board all but one night as well as getting a family vacation out of it.

Unfortunately, Mother of the Bride Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #29) by Leslie Meier was a bit of a let down for me, and I was so excited to read it. I gave it three out of five stars. There are going to be times where I just don't connect with a novel, and unfortunately, this was one of those times. However, this will not deter me from continuing to read this series as I normally love the author's books.

I enjoy reading the Lucy Stone books, although it is always hit and miss and never, it seems, in order. In this newest book, Elizabeth has been living in France, and she is now getting married to a wealthy Frenchman. Lucy, of course, wants the whole family to attend and is lucky enough to have a lotto jackpot to help them out. No one is thrilled with the arrangments, the soon to be Mother-n-law is too bossy and the groom has an accident. Once the dead girl is found floating in the moat, all bets are off and Lucy is, of course, sticking her nose in it all.

I have to admit that I was not too happy with the first part of the book, finding Lucy to be very pushy, annoying and way too worried about impressing her hosts. Towards the end, I think she started realizing that everyone has secrets and not always who they seem to be. There were several instances of names being interchanged, which was disrupting. That will probably be fixed before the book is published.

All in all, it seems like "there's no place like home." Thanks NetGalley and Kensington Publishers for the early read.

Not my favorite in the series. The ones that take place in a different location aren’t as good. Might be time for the series to come to an end.

NICE TRAVELOGUE, BUT NOT A “COZY”

I have read every book and novella that Leslie Meier has written, so I was anticipating this new chapter in the Lucy Stone murder mystery series (#29).
Unfortunately, I had disliked the way the last couple of novellas had abruptly ended with the murderer revealed very quickly, and in a sort of non-caring way that left me rather perplexed. My book club friends have decided they did not want to read any more books in this series for the same reason.
I dove right into this book, hoping that the pattern of revealing the murderer in a very casual, quick way of getting to the end had been corrected: Not in this book either…
Leslie Meier writes brilliantly; however, this book is definitely not a cozy mystery. It should belong in a travelogue category, since we have to read pages upon pages of descriptions of scenery, types of flowers, types of foods sold at a market or every room in a chateau.
A murder does not occur until you have read 41% of the book in chapter 10, and then the murder was discussed lightly and dropped…I even thought she had been forgotten about the corpse. The murder is picked up again in the last chapters, but we are not told how the murder was committed. There is not much sleuthing that happens, and instead we read about family interactions while in a foreign country, and the police/detective are almost invisible.
The plot was a bit far-fetched, and the ending chapters were interminable, and only in chapter 25 (out of 25 chapters) there is a bit of suspense.
I feel badly that the wonderful cozy elements of the earlier Lucy Stone books that I loved are missing. I was left quite annoyed and unsatisfied with this book.
Thank you, Net Galley and Kensington Cozies, for allowing me to read an ARC version of this book and leave a review.

Thank you Netgalley, Leslie Meier and Kensington Books for the ARC of Mother of the Bride. This is my personal review.
This book is the latest in the Lucy Stone series. I have enjoyed every book in this series. I like the way Lucy helps to solve the mystery but this one for me fell short of what I expected.
The family goes to France for daughter Elizabeth’s wedding. As with all her book there is a mystery to be solved. This book had too many plot lines and was not always a clear line as to what happened and why. It fit together slightly for me at the end.
I will continue reading the Lucy Stone series and I hope the books get back on track.

This one finds the whole Stone family in France for daughter Elizabeth's wedding. Of course, nothing goes as planned and there is both murder and an assassination attempt on the groom! The whole family is suspect and Lucy won't rest until the murder is solved and her family can safely return home. This is a fun, cozy mystery!

The newest entry into the Lucy Stone series sees our titular sleuth heading on a big family trip to France for her daughter's wedding. As always, chaos and crime ensue and throw the special day into chaos. I am a big fan of Leslie Meier's writing, and this book was definitely entertaining. However, it wasn't my favorite entry in the series. From the Stones conveniently winning the lottery to afford their trip to France, to a mystery involving sex trafficking, brothels, and organized crime, this book was just a little too over the top for my tastes, and the mystery wrapped up too quickly. At the same time, I really enjoyed the plotline of Lucy's daughter, Elizabeth, being embroiled in crime. I also thought the France setting was an interesting change of pace from the usual small town Maine. The subject matter was darker than your usual cozy, but I still found this an enjoyable and quick read.

This long-running cozy mystery series (this is the 29th installment) remains a top five series for me. After all this time spent reading all of Leslie Meier's Lucy Stone books, the characters feel like family to me and it's always a pleasure to visit with them again.

One thing I loved about this one is that all of the recurring characters, at least all of Lucy Stone's family members, are present in this book because the entire family ventures off to a chateau in France to attend the wedding of one of Lucy's daughters. It's interesting to see how they all pitch in, though this time to help Lucy out in sleuthing (admittedly, not as much sleuthing in this book).

I missed the usual Maine settings and Lucy's local friends and co-workers but it was fun to see the family in an unfamiliar location and situation.

Really enjoyed this one, even though it seemed a bit odd that Lucy got involved in sleuthing.

Wow there’s been so many Lucy Stone mysteries, and while she seems more aware of social issues now she definitely has not learned when to avoid sticking her nose into other peoples business. Most of the time that’s to solve a murder, which sure valid reason. This time she’s trying to avoid a social issue which she causes but really it is not even close to her fault. It has disastrous consequences. SMH

The story is fun and a nice setting- Paris and nearby areas. Lucy’s eldest daughter is getting married. There’s a lot of tension about the family needing to get to Paris for the wedding, I have to say it’s a lot to expect of people even if room and board is taken care of. There is a lot of talk about how Paris is different from Tinkers Cove (like any Lucy mystery taking place elsewhere.)

I give the book points for stepping out of the box both lately and with this installment.

Another in the Lucy Stone series but this time set in Paris, France instead of Maine!
I feel like I know all of the characters and it is like visiting home when I open a Leslie Meier mystery.
There is nothing but a cozy mystery and some New England charm.
Fans of this series will enjoy this visit to France with the Stone family.

Lucy's eldest daughter is getting married and the entire Stone family travels to France for the wedding. When Elizabeth's fiancé is shot and a death occurs Lucy must put her sleuthing skills to use and solve the mystery. I really enjoy catching up with this series. The characters are always very realistic. I loved the setting and loved that we got to see all the family together.

This was my first Leslie Meier book, and the first of Lucy Stone series. However, I did not feel like the story was confusing even though I did not read the other 28 books.

After reading Mother of the Brider Murder, I might read the other book of the series. The characters are great, especially Lucy, and the family dynamic great. Lucy's daughter lives and France and gets married. As a result, the whole family is going to the fancy château. She soon discovers that the new family-in-law have a lot of skeletons in their closet ...

Cons
- Some characters fell flat, especially the French characters ...
- The end was a little anti-climatic ... There are some information that were missing for me.

Although I am not the biggest cozy mystery fan, I recommend this book. The writing style, the quirkiness of the characters and the setting in France are what makes this book a great, cozy read.

Thanks to Net Galley for an ARC of this book. All the opinions are mine