Bridal Shower Murder is the thirty-first cozy mystery in the Lucy Stone series. When Lucy’s daughter, Zoe, gets engaged the planning the wedding is on everyone’s mind, but when a bridal shower guest turns up dead Lucy is on the case. What happened to the guest and how does it connect back to the family? Lucy will stop at nothing to learn the truth.

The mystery in this book was good and it kept me guessing, but the political views and issues raised in this book distracted from the story. I’ve had this complaint about many of the later books in this series and it only seems to get worse. I don’t want to be force fed political views or social issues in my cozy mysteries. I want to enjoy the mystery and escape reality. This book brings everything in the world into focus and distracts from the actual mystery. This very well could have been a five star read if it was just the mystery, but the rants about political and social issues are too much for me. I’m willing to give the next book, if there is one, a try, but I have a feeling I’m going to be cutting ties with this series before long.

When a nosy busybody named Janice gets the best of Lucy, the mother of the bride blurts out Zoe's secret. Chaos ensues with a murder and an overdose.

NetGalley, thank you for approving me to receive an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Bridal Shower Murder. I've come to love Leslie Meier's Lucy Stone cozy mystery series and know that I will automatically read any book in this series without reading the synopsis.

I have to say that this was one of the best stories in the series for multiple reasons. The first reason is that Lucy's husband isn't quite so sexist, which is refreshing for a change. I dislike it when he acts like a caveman who expects Lucy to be a housewife and wait on him hand and foot. What really surprised me was how he reacted to Sara's news. I didn't expect him to be so accepting based on his attitude in previous books. On the other hand, I didn't expect Lucy to be so blindsided by the news and have trouble accepting it. I suspected this about Sara for a few books now and don't understand how a mother can be so oblivious to this, especially when the rest of the town and her other children knew.

Additionally, I couldn't stand Chad's parents. His mother is a despicable, overbearing woman who is super fake and spoiled on top of it all. I wouldn't have let her take over the way she did. Chad's father is a piece of work to put it mildly, and I wanted to tell him off. I wouldn't have put up with his comments or attitude.

With this series, it's a given that there will be a murder to solve, but what I didn't expect was another death to happen. For most of the book, I suspected one character to be the killer and was surprised when that character was ruled out. However, I quickly figured out who the killer was after that.

I loved all the different controversies and drama because it actually gave the story more depth and realism. It also really brought to life that there are still injustices in the world that need to be righted and that there are still bigots everywhere, no matter where you live.

Five out of five stars is what I gave Bridal Shower Murder (Lucy Stone, #31) by Leslie Meier. I can't wait for the next installment!

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I enjoyed the beginning and the end. However, the middle of the book contains a lot of information. The book had a part about the Native Americans and a crazy mother-in-law. And then there was one of Lucy‘s daughters coming out as a lesbian. This book has many plot lines.

Lucy’s youngest daughter Zoe has it all. She has a job she loves and she is engaged to a wonderful guy. He is even someone who has family roots in Tinker’s Cove and that is where the problems begin. There are some very serious skeletons in his family’s past that some would do anything to keep hidden. Plus, he has a mother who literally hijacks the entire wedding planning to the dismay of both Zoe and Lucy who knows the suggested plans are not even close to what Zoe wants.

But things start to unravel when the estranged member of his mother’s family reunite. There is a lot hurt in the history and when one member is suspected of being responsible for a horrific murder, it gets even worse. A second murder confuses the issues even farther and by the time Lucy has figured out who is behind both of the murders, it is questionable whether things will end with more bloodshed or not. While it is not life or death, there is some concern about whether the nuptials will take place and if they do how will they be able to have all the people in the same room. I hope Zoe is prepared for a rocky marriage as she tries to straddle family feuds and the mother-in-law from Hell.

Four purrs and two paws up.

When Lucy's daughter gets engaged, what should be a happy occasion turns deadly, as Lucy soon has to deal with her future in-laws trying to control the occasion and the discovery of a grizzly town murder. Lucy puts all of her reporter instincts to use as she sets out to smooth things over with her family and catch a cold-blooded killer.

I was liking this book, but got bored with the Native Americans storyline. It might be time for Lucy to retire.

This was such a quick and fun read. I really enjoyed the characters and the story line for this one!
Would recommend for a quick read

Leslie Meier is a must read when it comes to classic cozy mystery and this is a very entertaining to this series.
I was glad to catch up with the characters, had fun, and appreciated the twists and the solution
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

BRIDAL SHOWER MURDER by Leslie Meier is book 31 in the mystery series featuring Lucy Stone, a local newspaper reporter in Tinker’s Cove, Maine. This time, Lucy's daughter Zoe is getting married to a baseball player and her future mother-in-law causes conflict by hijacking the wedding planning and throwing a lavish shower. Unfortunately, there were not too many likeable new characters here. Despite being older (and hopefully wiser), Lucy is still struggling with a demanding boss, home responsibilities, and the need to be a better role model for her daughter. As the party preparations go forward, Lucy learns about past history related to a local indigenous tribe and the founding of a company belonging to the family of her son-in-law to be. Secrets, misunderstandings, and racism contribute to a brutal murder – with Lucy once again on the hunt for clues and a story! Regular readers will enjoy another light and entertaining cozy featuring Lucy Stone.

I absolutely love the long-running Lucy Stone cozy mystery series, set in Maine. This is the 31st book in the series and is the best one of them all!!

Here, one of Lucy's daughters is engaged to a minor league baseball player and the wedding planning quickly gets out of control. Too big. Too elaborate.

It was interesting to see how the bridal shower activities and the murder of an apparently unrelated victim tied together. I did not see the whodunnit coming.

When people ask me for cozy mystery series recommendations, Leslie Meier's Lucy Stone series is one I always suggest. Very highly recommended!!

In this installment of the Lucy Stone mysteries, Lucy's youngest daughter, Zoe, is newly engaged. It turns out Zoe's fiance has ties to Tinkers Cove. Zoe's soon to be in laws want to plan the wedding and throw Zoe a bridal shower. When a murder occurs, Lucy puts on her sleuthing hat and starts investigating. I really enjoyed this book. Some of the later books in this series have been hit or miss but this one was really good. I liked that we saw more of Lucy's kids in this book. The mystery was well done and it kept me guessing until the end.

This is the 31st book in the Lucy Stone cozy mystery series and I've read every single one. I've enjoyed all of them to varying degrees. But this one, this one I think was the most interesting, the most well-written, most diverse of all and the one I think I have enjoyed the most! The primary focus of this book is not, as the title indicates, a bridal shower. That is really just the side story and that's exactly how it should be. The more important storylines, and there are several, really take center stage and shine! Wonderful and realistic family Dynamics, a fabulous supporting cast that really steps it up and shines in this book, and highlighting important and relevant topics. So much more than I expected, loved it!

Poor Lucy just wanted to enjoy Zoe’s happiness at having a new job and being engaged, but all her so-called friend with a wedding planner daughter wanted to do was cash in on the rich in-laws who said they’d pay for the kids’ wedding. What a crazy mess! I was surprised Zoe and Chad didn’t just elope one weekend to get rid of all the stress.

Then murder struck Tinker’s Cove again and a nice woman from the historical society was found dead, so now there was a killer on the loose to worry about. I wasn’t too surprised at whodunit and the showdown was a tense one, but never underestimate the power of a ticked off homeowner when someone threatens his place and his friend.

Lucy came up with a good compromise at the end and they had some fun surprises show for the wedding as well. I bet Lucy’s gonna sleep for a week!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by Kensington Cozies via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

Lucy Stone is in the middle again of another who dun-nit, not the first time as a reporter for the local newspaper. Her daughter Zoe is engaged and Chad seems very nice, but his family is a different story. As Chad’s mother starts to take over the wedding plans and basically giving the bride to be not much say or giving Lucy any of the mother of the bride honors. She throws a very fancy bridal shower and the ladies of Tinkers Cove are all invited. But surprisingly Hetty, a local town historian, who was so looking forward to it is a no show. When a couple days later Lucy sees the police taping off the building that Hetty works in she knew it was Hetty. To hear she was brutally murdered was a shock!
This was one of the best mysteries from LM. Maybe because Penny, Chad mother reminded me of my mother in law. Start a little slow with the build up and of course the obvious guilty person isn’t the one. Kept me turning pages and guessing who. Thank you #NetGallery and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions expressed are my own. #BridalShowerMurder

Zoe is engaged and boy as her future mother-in-law, a class example of a “monster in law “. While the woman drives, Zoe and Lucy crazy, she apparently drove someone even crazier. Crazy enough to kill her and Lucy will do whatever it takes to find out who dunit.

It’s great to be back in Tinker Cove for book 31 in this series. I have read every single one of the books in this series and they never get old. If you’re looking for a new series and haven’t read one yet, you can read this one just fine as a stand-alone. Though the best part of all is that you will have 30 more books to binge on once you’re done.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Bridal Shower Murder is book #31 in the Lucy Stone Mystery series. Admittedly, this series is best read in order because you get to read about the characters' progression in a way that is easy to understand. Nevertheless, Bridal Shower Murder can easily be enjoyed on its own. In this book, Lucy, the main character, is writing an article that requires her to get information from the Historical Society. Also, Lucy's daughter, Zoe, is getting engaged to a young man whose background has something to do with Tinker's Cove area. To add to it all, the head of the Historical Society is found dead. Lucy investigates to uncover the reason behind the murder.

Bridal Shower Murder brings us once more to Tinker's Cove for a murder investigation. Lucy is a very likeable main character and amateur sleuth. Her strong ties to her community makes her investigation all the more interesting. There is a nice blend of daily life and sleuthing, which brings a good balance to the story. The characters are multi dimensional, which makes the storyline all the more interesting. It also creates a mystery that is more vivid and does not fall flat. As a long-time reader of the Lucy Stone Mystery series, Bridal Shower Murder is a strong entry. I definitely recommend both Bridal Shower Murder and the series. It is one of my favorite cozy mystery series, and it was an absolute delight to read the latest book.

Bridal Shower Murder by Leslie Meier is one of her more complicated stories. Of course, how many murders can there be in a small Maine town before things get out of hand? Lucy Stone is a reporter for the Courier. It used to be the Pennysaver until her boss bought the newspaper in Gilead, a nearby community. It also used to be entirely print but now had an online edition that he expected to be updated the moment something of note happened. The big news in Tinker’s Cove right now was Lucy’s daughter, Zoe’s, engagement. Lucy had inadvertently spilled the beans to the town’s biggest gossip and now things were getting out of hand. Zoe was stressed because of her new job and this was one more thing she didn’t need. Her future mother-in-law had even chosen the wedding date for her. It was out of control. Lucy didn’t know how to help so she turned to her other daughter, Sara, to talk with her sister. Lucy had only recently found out that Sara was gay, a fact that apparently everyone in town had known except her.

The murder was a grisly one and the police were trying to hang it on a young Native American man, saying it was race-based. It got complicated fast and Lucy, as always, was in the thick of it. This is a fun series and this book was a terrific read. There was a lot of backstory involved, which I always find intriguing. Lucy had plenty going on outside of Zoe’s problems. The mystery was a good one and there were plenty of red herrings and misdirection to satisfy any avid reader, plus a lot of history. Lucy is a lovable and ordinary woman, living an ordinary life in an ordinary town. That’s what makes her so appealing. Meier managed to weave in some issues that are very contemporary but do it in an inoffensive way. Good book.

I was invited to read Bridal Shower Murder by Kensington Publishing. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #KensingtonPublishing #LeslieMeier #BridalShowerMurder

Bridal Shower Murder is book #31 in the Lucy Stone Mystery series by Leslie Meier.

I can’t believe this is book #31 in the series. It’s been fun seeing Lucy and her family’s growth throughout the series. In this book, Lucy‘s daughter, Zoe, is engaged and her future mother-in-law is an absolute nightmare. As if that wasn’t enough to deal with, there’s a gruesome murder and Lucy has to get to the bottom of it to save her daughter’s day. I really enjoyed this book.

Lucy is excited that her youngest daughter Zoey is now engaged to Chad a rising star in minor league baseball. Things kind of get turned upside down when Lucy meets the soon to be in-laws. Chad's mother Penny seems to want to take over everything from the bridal shower to the wedding. She has even arranged the bridal shower before Zoey has even announced the upcoming wedding. Even with her involvement the shower goes well but everyone is shocked when Hetty Furness, head of Tinker Coves Historical Society, goes missing and eventually turns up dead. Lucy doesn't want anything to go wrong with the upcoming wedding so she dives into investigate. Will she figure out who the killer is and live to see her daughter get married?

Y’all. This one left me blinking at the page like, “Ma’am, are we okay??” I picked up "Bridal Shower Murder" fully expecting what this series usually serves: Lucy Stone doing her classic juggling act — part mom, part nosy local reporter, part murder-solving MVP — all while dealing with family chaos and small-town weirdos. But this time? I got way more than I signed up for.

Here’s the setup: Lucy’s youngest daughter, Zoe, just got engaged to Chad — a minor league baseball player with Southern charm dialed up to eleven and just enough shady family backstory to make Lucy’s investigative reporter radar start beeping. Enter Chad’s parents, Penny and Nate Nettleton. Penny is the kind of in-law who will “graciously help” and actually bulldoze everything. She hijacks the wedding plans, throws a surprise bridal shower before Zoe even publicly announces the engagement (rude!), and honestly, I wanted to throw a canapé at her.

Shockingly, the bridal shower doesn’t implode. But then, plot twist: Hetty Furness — the head of the Tinker’s Cove Historical Society, known for knowing everyone’s skeletons and where they’re buried — goes missing. And of course, turns up dead. Brutally murdered. And suddenly, Lucy’s not just balancing wedding chaos and murder; she’s knee-deep in long-buried secrets about the town’s treatment of Indigenous people, racial tensions politely dusted under Tinker’s Cove’s antique rug, and the kind of historical cover-ups that make you side-eye every plaque in the local museum.

And while Lucy’s out here connecting dots like a pro, back at home? She’s missing something big — and not because the clues were obvious (they weren’t), but because she never quite created the space for that truth to land safely. There’s a moment where one of her daughters questions whether Lucy would’ve been supportive, and that hurt. I wasn’t shocked by the revelation; I was sad her daughter ever had to wonder. For someone so intuitive and community-minded, it felt like a blind spot. I wanted to hug her and say, “You could have made this easier.”

The supporting cast — bless them — shows up more than they have in recent installments, but mostly to shuttle plot points around. The dialogue sometimes sparkles, sometimes clunks. And the pacing? Some chapters drag like a never-ending wedding toast, while others sprint by so fast I had to flip back and check if I’d missed a paragraph.

I do love that Leslie Meier is swinging for the fences here, tackling bigger conversations about family, community, and who gets to decide what stories we tell — even if the execution occasionally feels like trying to frost three cakes while the kitchen’s on fire. It’s messy. It’s bold. It’s well-intentioned. And it left me both intrigued and a little anxious about where Lucy’s headed next.

Three and a half stars. If you’re here for small-town murder, complicated families, and a plot that swings between cozy comfort and “Oh wow, we’re really going there,” buckle up. Lucy Stone’s world is changing — and she might be the last one to realize it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the ARC.