This was an interesting listen to the story. It was fun and interesting but most of the story was a little obvious so took away some of the fun.

It was a nice fun cozy mystery book. I had fun while reading it, I guessed the plot early one so it was a disappointment when I was right

Lucy Stone takes her family to a fancy French chateau for the wedding of her daughter. Soon Lucy notices that things aren’t quite what they seem at the chateau and fears her daughter is marrying into a criminal family. This entertaining story has a fun twisty plot, well developed characters and is very well written. I listened to an audio version, which was nicely narrated. I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to more from this author. I received a complimentary copy of this book and chose to write a voluntary, unbiased review.

Fans of Leslie Meier’s bestselling Lucy Stone series will welcome the 29th installment, Mother of the Bride Murder, where the Stone’s oldest daughter, Elizabeth, is engaged to a rich and good looking Frenchman. The Stones travel to France to attend the wedding, and are excited, not only for the wedding, but to stay in the beautiful centuries old chateau of Elizabeth’s soon-to-be in-laws. Unfortunately, there is a body found in a moat on the grounds of the chateau, and Lucy is worried that this marriage may not turn out to be the right one for her daughter.

As usual, Meier does an excellent job of developing the characters. Most readers will be familiar with Lucy and her family, and have been reading about them through the years. Her family has actually grown up and readers will remember them as they have *. The supporting characters – especially those in France are also well-developed and readers will be able to form their opinions as to their role in the mystery. The characters, both familiar and new, seem like real people and make the scenarios viable. The story is well-written, and flows easily. There are surprising ups and downs in the story, and also some danger to the protagonist and her family. One thing that is unexpected is that the Stone family imbibes in drinking a large amount of alcohol which doesn’t seem to be in character for the Stone family. It probably is due to them being in France, but isn’t a usual thing for them.

All told, this is another fun, easy-to-read cozy that Lucy Stone fans will enjoy.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I have read most of Leslie Meier's books and enjoy them as a cozy mystery. This one was a miss for me, perhaps because it wasn't set in Tinker's Cove. It seemed a bit far fetched to have the whole family go to Paris for a wedding and get involved in a murder mystery. This is my opinion of the ARC copy from NetGalley.

Lucy Stone is at it again! This time she comes across a murder across the pond. In France! When Lucy and her family visit Paris for Elizabeth's wedding they never dreamed they'd be involved in another murder investigation. True to form, Lucy refuses to leave it up to the authorities and investigates herself. Even the French bad guys are no match for Lucy! Although I prefer reading books in this series set in Tinker's Cove, this was still a solid story,
however, I was saddened to learn that this book was not being read by the previous narrator, Karen White.

Another ARC from NetGalley!

I didn’t jive with the characters in this one at all. The plot was pretty in general slow throughout. Occasionally something would happen and I would think “okay this is it!” and it fizzled very quickly. It got better for the last 10% or so when some twists happened. Overall rating 2 stars. The narrators did a great job with the French accents though!

DNF @ 29%

Had some very different moral/political beliefs. Didn't agree with the comments about 'manly duties', major gender roles and stereotypes and some uncomfortable comments about women's bodies from the FMC. Trying to move past it but little thinks kept being said and I couldn't listen anymore.

I was given a copy of the audiobook of this by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Quite honestly, I don't like any of these characters. Lucy rushes into things without thinking about her family at all, and she doesn't really seem to like her kids much at all. She is in France for her daughter's wedding, and she barely spends any time with her at all. Even if the soon to be mother-in-law is pushy, she could push back in order to be a part of this huge event in her daughter's life. But honestly, none of her children are very nice to her. It sounds like the entire family dislikes everybody else. And I'm pretty sure they said Patrick, her grandson, was a middle schooler, but they treat him like he is 5. Her husband is controlling, and... Ugh. I just didn't like any of them.

The mystery was okay. I mean, I kind of felt like she walked right into a bad situation and took her grandson along for a ride.

I’ve managed to read every book in the Lucy Stone series and I have to say that they still manage to entertain me and keep my interest. This addition to the series is set in France which was a delightful change of pace. You still get a taste of life in Tinker’s Cove and Lucy’s friends. But you really get to experience the family dynamics of both Lucy’s family and her daughter, Elizabeth’s, future in-laws. While each book builds on maturing children, you could read this as a standalone. But if you enjoy a light cozy mystery, I encourage you to start with the first book and experience life with Lucy Stone and Tinker’s Cove.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

For more reviews, please visit my blog at: https://www.msladybugsbookreviews.com/. Over 1000 reviews posted!

In Leslie Meier's latest Lucy Stone Mystery, we see Lucy and her entire family travel to France for Elizabeth's wedding. The groom is handsome, French nobility, and lives in a glorious château functioning as a hotel that will put Elizabeth's skills to use. But from the moment the family touches down in Europe, things seem amiss. After not long, a woman's body is pulled from the moat, making Lucy's fears that things are too good to be true a reality.

While I haven't read this series from the beginning, I think this is perhaps my fourth or so Lucy Stone mystery, so I'm familiar with the essence and really enjoyed all the others I've read. But this one missed the mark for me. It wasn't really a mystery; there are no deaths until about halfway through the book, we essentially know what happened the whole time, and Lucy hardly investigates. It's almost more of a "cozy thriller" which isn't really a category, but perhaps it is now. But I could probably get on board with an out-of-the-box pacing and plot if I loved everything else--but I didn't. I found pretty much every character but Lucy to be annoying, entitled, and bratty. All of her children, her grandson, and her husband seemed like walking stereotypes, perhaps exacerbated by the narrator's overused whining tone. The book also had perhaps too much of reality dose in it, with constant discussions of money struggles and climate change, instead of serving as escapism. And we spend so much time discussing how much Lucy and her husband are struggling financially, only for them to VERY conveniently win a small lottery sum enabling the rest of the book. I could have done without all of that. I'll probably still read the next book, because Meier is obviously a prolific writer, but this one was a swing and a miss.

Thanks to Tantour Audio for my ALC and Kensington Books for my ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3 stars - 6/10

Mother of the Bride is the latest installment of the long running ‘Lucy Stone’ cozy mystery series. Lucy Stone, a local newspaper reporter and the series’ amateur sleuth is whisked off to France for her daughter’s wedding to a mysterious wealthy man. There, her family are shacked up in the in-law’s chateau/hotel where mysterious happenings occur and eventually a body is found.

I enjoyed listening to this audiobook but I found the pacing a bit too slow. The viewpoints of the characters were also a little too political to the point that it felt there was an underlying message trying to sway the reader in a certain way. However, if you set those aside, what you’ll find is a mystery that had me guessing right up until the very end, but it took quite a bit to get to the murder. I feel like a lot of the experiences they had when they first arrived in France was fun to read, but it took up a chunk of the book until it got down to business with the mystery.

The narration was great and capturing the multitude of characters and some with accents was no easy feat; but she captured them very well.

Mother of the Bride Murder is my first Lucy Stone book by Leslie Meier. I absolutely loved the idea of this book and was excited to listen to it on my commute.

I did find the first half of the book very slow - a lot of set up about the family and traveling to France. How the family pays for the trip (which doesn’t come back up later), and then all about the chateau.

However, when Lucy’s son and grandson pull a dead girl out of chateau’s moat, the story picks up. I was invested in the murders and shootings happening at the chateau, but also found that the resolution to be a little too easy. But the resolution, and discussion of The Roma throughout the book felt stereotypical and slightly offensive.

I wish Lucy’s children had been developed more as characters, they feel like important players, especially Elizabeth whose wedding the family is attending, but are every one-dimensional on the page.

That sounds like a lot of complaints about this book, but I did enjoy the audiobook. The narrator, Coleen Marlo, was enjoyable to listen to; and while I wanted more, I did like Lucy’s amateur sleuthing.

While this is the 29th book in the Lucy Stone Mysteries series, it can absolutely be read as a stand-alone, so feel free to jump in with both feet here!

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the audio review copy!

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

I had no idea this was one of a rather large series (20 something I think?) but you don't necessarily need to have read the others. I didn't feel like I was getting the full picture obviously but enough that I wasn't lost. Either way, it was an ok read overall. I wasn't completely drawn in but just enough at times that it wasn't a total loss. The narrator did a good job.

I had not enjoyed some of the more recent books of this series, but this one was pretty good. The parts that were off the mark were those that were far fetched, like them winning the lottery. The mystery was enjoyable.

Lucy Stone's daughter Elizabeth has finally found someone to marry and much to Lucy's surprise, he's a member of the French nobility. A lottery ticket win is enough for Lucy to fly the whole family out to Paris for the nuptials. When a girl turns up dead in the actual moat surrounding the Chateau where the wedding will take place, Lucy's on the trail to find out the truth. It's a cozy mystery, but I personally struggled to care about the characters. They all seemed superficial and I couldn't get a read on how old Lucy's grandson is supposed to be. I'm not sure if that's due to the narrator or the author. This book is part of the Lucy Stone series and anyone who's enjoyed the other books will no doubt like this one as well.

The latest installment of the Lucy Stone murder series. This one takes us to France for the impending nuptials of Lucy's oldest daughter, Elizabeth. Elizabeth has lived in France for a while now working at a lovely hotel. After much discussion, budgeting and even a little lottery winning the family decides to all travel to France for the big day. Toby and his family from Alaska fly over as well the girls from their respective homes. They arrive and are transported to the French chateau that Elizabeth's fiance's family owns and operates as a resort. Lucy has to admit she has some reservations about the situation and isn't sure about the wedding. In true Lucy style a dead body turns up. Does Elizabeth's soon to be new family somehow involved? Are they trying to cover up something? Will there be a wedding? Oh and did I mention that her former boyfriend shows up? There's enough there to make you run to the bookstore to acquire this edition.

A nice addition to the series that can be read as a standalone. As always, a fun listen, even with a murder involved! Lucy is excited for the quick surprise wedding of her eldest daughter Elizabeth who is about to marry the man of her dreams. Is he really or is it all pomp and circumstances and is she blinded by the beautiful life she believes she will have? A body is found, her ex shows up, tensions from all sides all make for an read. I enjoyed the story, but wasn’t a big fan of the narration. Maybe read this one as its a lovely story and worthy of your time.

Mother of the Bride Murder wasn’t the best murder mystery I have read. It felt like the murder was an after thought.

Such a fun and entertaining who done it! I did realize that this is a book in a big series but you don’t need to read the other ones to enjoy this. Loved Lucy’s character and her pension for getting into trouble. The whole wedding theme was cute and made for a great listen!