Bridal Shower Murder by Leslie Meier has Lucy Stone’s youngest daughter, Zoe getting engaged to a baseball player. While Lucy is happy for her daughter, she is less thrilled with the groom’s domineering mother. Lucy is going to need patience if she is going to make it through this wedding. Bridal Shower Murder is the thirty-first A Lucy Stone Mystery. I have read every book (and novella) in this series, but this story can be read as a standalone. The series, though, has changed since the beginning. Over the last few years, the author features a hot button topic (i.e. she gets on her soapbox) which overshadows the mystery. I like the main characters in this series (Lucy and her family, Sue, Pam, Ted, etc.). I like that the author has continued to age the characters as the series progresses. I could not stand Penny, Zoe’s mother-in-law to be (which is the point). I felt for Lucy for having to deal with this overbearing woman. I would not have been okay with this woman trying to take over every aspect of the wedding (reminded me of a steamroller). The story is easy to read, but the pacing was a little slow in places. The whodunit was simple, but it was interesting. Lucy uncovered town secrets during her sleuthing. I wish it were more difficult to identify the responsible party (I identified the guilty party before the murder took place). I did enjoy catching up with Lucy, Bill, and the rest of the Stone family. Bridal Shower Murder is bridal brouhaha with a joyful family declaration, wedding shower woes, historic society protest, an alarming murder, exposing surprising secrets, and navigating family dynamics for a cheerful resolution.

Leslie Meier is a prolific author of cozy mysteries who consistently gives her readers an entertaining read where we recognize many of the personalities the characters are famous for. This is book 30something in the Lucy Stone series. I lost count but that's on me, not the books. Lucy Stone is a reporter for the Tinker's Cove newspaper but more importantly to Lucy, she's Zoe's mom. As Zoe introduces her new fiance to everyone and meets his parents, emotions get stirred and tempers rise just a little bit. The mother in law to be is a textbook example of what an evil mother in law should be. But to Zoe and Lucy's credit, they don't kill her. But someone does get killed and Lucy will investigate to keep Zoe's special days from becoming memorable for murder. As always Meier's stories are quick reads because they are so good. If you love cozy mysteries, you probably are familiar with Leslie Meier and have been waiting for this new title. If you haven't read her books before, you now have an excellent author to follow and a series to binge.

I enjoyed this book, it has a nice balance between the emotional & mystery. Just to be clear, the murder does not occur at the bridal shower. The characters are well done, I found myself frustrated with how everyone let Penny and Janice roll over they. The person I thought was the murderer isn’t, but close. #BridalShowerMurderb#NetGalley

Bridal Shower Murder by Leslie Meier

This was one of my favorite Lucy Stone mysteries in recent years. As usual, the mystery was great, and I didn’t know who the murderer was until the very end. But, the main reason that I enjoyed it was that we got to catch up with the whole family! I have been reading these books for so long that Lucy’s family feels like my own. Don’t hesitate to buy this book!

Lucy Stone is a very dedicated part-time reporter for the Courier newspaper in Tinker's Cove Maine. When Hetty Furness, the chairperson of the historical society, is  found dead, Lucy questions the motive and people who may be behind her murder. While all this is happening, her daughter Zoe has announced that she will be marrying Chad, the grandson of one of the most prominent men in Tinker's Cove, Zebulon Logue. But when Lucy begins to suspect that the Logue family has a long lost history of theft of indigenous lands, racism and perhaps even murder, things start to turn ugly in this little cozy town.

Bridal Shower Murder is packed with mystery, deadly hidden secrets, lies and even murder.

Thank you Netgalley and Kensington Publishing for this jam packed loaded murder mystery with a twist.

A nice cozy mystery in Tinker’s Cove, Maine. I really enjoy the Lucy Stone series and like revisiting the town. Always fun..

Being that there are 31 books in the Lucy Stone Mystery series, one would think that books would start to fall off. However, not the case with this series. I have thoroughly enjoyed each book. In the latest, Lucy is thrilled that her youngest daughter is getting married. She is not thrilled with the future in-laws though. When Hettie Furnes, head of the historical society, goes missing and then is found dead, Lucy races against time to find out the true reason she died and who did it. Will she be able to navigate all of the obstacles? Will she see her youngest daughter walk down the aisle? One of the reason I so enjoy these mysteries is that the reader has basically watched this family grow and mature. We have seen the kids from young to teen to adulthood. While I may not always agree with some of the messages in the book, I do enjoy seeing the progression of the characters. Hoping for a 32nd. I received a copy through Netgalley. A review was not required.

If there's a wedding, there's going to be trouble, especially when Lucy is involved. This latest in the very long running series, sees Lucy's youngest daughter, Zoe, engaged to Chad. In this universe, it isn't Zoe who is the bridezilla, it's Penny, the mother-in-law to be. And she's awful. Even as Lucy is dealing with this, Hetty is murdered and, well, we're off on another cozy mystery. As always,. Lucy is intrepid. there are red herrings, and there's some humor. This series has sagged occasionally but this one sees Meier back in good form. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A good cozy read.

This is a series I have read for about 30 years. This has always been a solid cozy mystery. Through the years it sometimes drifted away, but this book is a good solid mystery. Zoe the youngest daughter is getting married. The fiancé Chad is handsome, from a wealthy family, and very pleasant. Chad also has a half brother in town that Chad is anxious to meet. Chad’s mother Penny has moved into a local rental for the summer. Penny is anxious to get this wedding on the move. Penny although not the bride is the ultimate bridezilla. Unfortunately, a local is historian in killed just before the bridal shower. Now Lucy has a wedding and a murder to deal with. I really enjoyed another episode of Lucy and her family. #NetGalley

Get ready for a cozy mystery, written to keep you reading. Lucy's daughter is gets engaged and her future mother in law is taking over the wedding/shower planning. She is overbearing with a back story. Mixed in with a murder, when a local resident in murdered. Lucy investigates and ends up in a dangerous situation. Great series. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book, for an honest review.

I was lucky to get the free ARC from #NetGalley and #LeslieMeier. I have always loved Leslie's cozy mysteries and this one was really fun. It involved a secondary main charcter and a semipro baseball player and his extended family. I loved the humor throughout the story and the mystery was engaging as hers always are.

This one reminded me why I love this series. The family, the town, the people! So much like the earlier books in that way.

I love that we have gotten to watch Lucy and Bill age and the children grow up. This time, Zoe is engaged and this engagement brings with it all the usual excitement and then some.

Chad, Zoe’s fiancé, and his family added a layer of intrigue, aggravation, and entertainment to this one. It will be interesting to see if we see them again.

And of course, the mystery in this one. I was convinced I knew who killed Hetty, but as is often the case. I was wrong.

Fans of this series will enjoy this one. While Meier touched on issues related very much to current events. It wove into the story so well and didn’t feel as thrown in as in previous books.

Thank you to Kensington Books for the copy of this book. All views are my own.

Another solid installment of the Lucy Stone series, which finds her youngest daughter engaged and two deaths. After so many books in the series, not too hard to predict what sort of things might happen. I do appreciate that lately Lucy is becoming more aware of social issues this time Native American mistreatment, and the tiniest bit of LGBTQIA, along with drug addiction as well.

Bridal Shower Murder is a cozy mystery filled with some actual tragedy, but also a nice happy ending.

I felt that Bridal Shower Murder was a little slow to start, but once the murder took place, the book really got going. The murder itself was pretty brutal, nobody would have expected poor Hetty of getting murdered! Lucy Stone puts on her sleuthing hat and starts researching a local family that has been around for hundreds of years, and starts to uncover some very dirty secrets that have been hidden from the town. When a man is arrested for Hetty's murder, Lucy makes her it mission to prove his innocence, and find the true killer.

I have to say, I really disliked the mother in law to be, Penny (which I know was the point, so she was written well!), she really got on my nerves, and I really felt the pain that Lucy was dealing with, because I know exactly how hard it can be to have to try and keep the peace with family when you really, really want to say something! If that was my wedding, that my mother in law to be just decided to hijack and do as she pleased, I would have been extremely mad! I was a little surprised how Zoe even allowed it at first, granted the bridal shower itself did sound very nice. I enjoyed Lucy's sleuthing, and reading about all the town secrets she was able to uncover. I don't agree with some of Lucy's "wifely" duties that she feels are the norm or expected, but I think her and her husband just have a more old school relationship.

Overall, I recommend Bridal Shower Murder, especially to anyone who enjoys uncovering dirty secrets that have been covered up for many years!

I've read every single Lucy stone novel and this was a great addition to the series.
While you don't need to read these in order I think you get more if you do we've seen Lucy's children grow up from littles to adults and it's so worth it to read them all
A fantastic cozy series

This book is many books into this series and I was pleased with it. Some of the last few books of the series haven’t been as good. In this book Lucy continues as a part time reporter and sleuth. Her daughter Zoe has just announced her engagement and Lucy reaches out to the future in-laws, finding the mother to be very selfish and the father very bigoted. One of the residents is found dead at the museum and Lucy sets out to find the real murderer when she doesn’t believe the person arrested is responsible. I love how this story came together and I suggest anyone who likes cozy mysteries would enjoy this series. This book can be a stand alone but it would be more fun to start at the beginning of the series and find out about Lucy’s children when they were younger. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Bridal Shower Murder is part of the Lucy Stone Mystery Series. Lucy is a reporter for a small town newspaper. Lucy’s daughter gets engaged to Chad. Lucy is having a hard time with Chad’s mother who wants to control all the wedding plans.
When a friend is found murdered, Lucy investigates.
This is my first Lucy Stone mystery and I had no trouble following the story line. Some series you have to read in order but this is not one of them. I enjoyed it and will read more of the series.

This was fabulous! The author continued her trend of featuring the social issue du jour. Actually, several were woven into the story but not in a way that detracted from the plot. There were a lot of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end. I absolutely love how relatable Lucy’s family is. The author does a great job of providing just enough background to those new to her series. They can easily be read out of order or as a stand alone. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for review.

Many thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy of this cozy mystery.

Lucy is surprised to hear that her youngest daughter is engaged to be married to a ball player from the team Zoe works for. But the pressure to plan a big, elaborate wedding is getting on Zoe's nerves, as she's just started a high pressure job for the team. Lucy has to step in and get her girlfriends' help to calm the situation down.

Lucy's interviewed the manager of the local museum and there's been complaints from the local native indians about the logging display. Hetty is quick to listen to them, and vows to make changes. On the day of Zoe's bridal shower, Hetty doesn't show up, and Lucy is surprised as she knew that Hetty was looking forward to the event. When she drops by the museum, the police have closed it due to a gruesome death - Hetty been killed with a peavey, a spike used by loggers in the past as they rode the logs to the mill.

Lots of topical things in this book - fentanyl, repatriation and racism. I enjoyed this story - and I'm sure that Lucy can now called herself a full time employee of the Courier.

In Bridal Shower Murder by Leslie Meier, Lucy’s youngest, Zoe gets engaged to Chad. Lucy is thrilled for them. However, trouble starts when Zoe’s future mother-in-law insists on taking over the planning and paying for the wedding along with throwing a lavished bridal shower. While at the shower, Lucy becomes worried when one of the guests, Hetty Furness, does not show up. It turns out that she is murdered. Now Lucy has her hands full with trying to solve a murder and helping Zoe deal with her meddling future mother-in-law!

Bridal Shower Murder is one of the best books in the Lucy Stone series. The story includes humor and mystery along with the drama of preparing for a wedding. Also, the continued prejudices against different types of groups and ethnicities is part of the plot.