Sunday, February 24, 2013

Mail-Order Murder by Leslie Meier

I have seen  Lucy Stone mysteries on several friends' Goodreads list, so decided I needed to check them out. This is book 1 in a long series of books by Meier featuring Lucy Stone as sort of a younger Jessica Fletcher.

In Mail-Order, Lucy (who live in Maine) is married to Bill and has 3 young children. She works part time taking telephone orders at Country Cousins where people all over the world order items ranging from hand-knit sweaters to orthopedic back cushions and every thing in between. The pay isn't great, but the hours work into the Stone's schedule allowing Lucy to be home with her kids in the day and Bill there at night.

Christmas is fast approaching and Lucy is busy buying gifts and preparing for the onslaught of family, so finding a dead body is the last thing on her mind.  But find one she does... her boss, Sam Miller, has evidently committed suicide by carbon monoxide in his car. But the police soon learn that it is not suicide, but murder and Lucy's love of mysteries and natural curiosity take over.

Mail-Order is a neat and tidy little cozy mystery with a bit of a twist at the end, but one that the reader begins to see before it hits... but not too early on. There is a bit of language throughout the book, not as much as a typical sitcom these days (keep in mind this was written in 1991). I enjoyed it, but cannot say I am hooked. In some odd way it was a downer.. the town, the people, their lives seem so depressing.. dismal and while life is not all roses and sunshine, a bit of light and hope would be nice.


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