Lucy is in training for the annual Turkey Trot race, and while running with her dog, she spies something on the nearly frozen pond. The thing turns out to be the body of a young woman, drowned in the pond. When the beautiful daughter of a wealthy businessman who has everything to live for dies, speculation of the cause of death runs rampant, but most lean towards a drug overdose. Some blame the young and very pregnant second wife for coming between the daughter and father. Thrown into the opioid dilemma is the reaction that some of the townsfolk have with a new pub. A Latino restaurateur, wanting to open a restaurant featuring Mexican cuisine, is targeted by some very vocal folks who believe that a certain race is responsible for the drug influx in their town. Tempers run high, and before much time passes, a man is shot and killed while sitting in his car. Lucy, ever the investigative reporter, is determined to find out who is behind the hate crimes and the murder. This is a pretty intense tale for cozy. It deals with some current social issues, and even offers an interesting way to help. The end of the story does seem a bit abrupt, and it leaves a few questions unanswered. Still, it was quite an intriguing tale, and leaves the reader with some interesting points to ponder. ( )

Lucy and Libby the lab (who seriously is one of my favorite characters in the series for the way she’s constantly sitting by while everyone is cooking, waiting for human food) are out for a run one morning when they discover a person has fallen through the thin ice at Blueberry Pond. But was it an accident, a suicide, or did something more insidious occur? Complicating matters is the fact that the deceased father is a wealthy man who wants to assert power over the town council. There’s a drug problem in Tinker’s Cove, a racism problem in Tinker’s Cove, and dead bodies keep appearing. This one had some heavier subject matter and not as much holiday themed material as other holiday books. Still, it had an interesting mystery to solve and I always enjoy the Lucy Stone books.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.
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If you have never read a Lucy Stone Mystery, this one will work as a standalone story. The amateur sleuth in these stories, Lucy Stone, is a wife, mother, and reporter for the 'Pennysaver' newspaper in her home town of Tinker's Cove, Maine. Lucy and her husband are empty-nesters but with it being Thanksgiving, her children and grandson are back for a visit. When there are a couple of murders in town, a young woman and her father, Lucy is tasked by her boss to get the scoop. That, of course, sets Lucy on a course to investigate the crimes.

The plot of this story incorporates two topics prevalent in the news today: immigration and drug use. In the course of her work Lucy observes both of the above issues affecting her community. The one thing that I didn't like about this story was the fact that Lucy's job took precedence over her family and the holidays, which was a bit disconcerting for me. The culprit was a bit unexpected, but understandable. A quick holiday story that is what I have come to expect in this series. ( )

Lucy Stone is back and she finds herself involved with not one, not two, but three mysteries. While out running by Blueberry Pond with her dog, Lucy discovers the body of Alison Franklin under the thin ice. Lucy doesn't believe that her death was drug related as the police would have people believe so she starts looking into Alison's personal life and her family. At the same time a well known Hispanic TV chef Rey Rodriguez moves to Tinker Cove to open a new restaurant on the wharf which has some of the townsfolk turning against the chef and the new restaurant for moving into their space. Shortly after Alison's death her father Ed is found inside his car shot to death during a small group demonstration against Rey for opening a restaurant, The prime suspect for Ed's death is Matt Rey's son. Shortly after Ed's murder Rey's restaurant is firebombed while Lucy's husband Bill is doing construction work inside. Lucy finds herself dealing with this family emergency, while trying to figure out how the three crimes are related and who committed them and why. Leslie Meier writes characters that are so well individualized that they keep you guessing about who the culprits of the crimes are and what their true motives are. I got an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley and Kensington Books. ( )

Turkey Trot Murder is another excellent addition to Meier's Lucy Stone mystery series. Instead of looking forward to a family Thanksgiving this year, Lucy is sad that her children will be unable to be at home for the holiday. To take her mind off matters, Lucy decides to focus on this year's turkey trot. During her training for the trot, she comes across a dead body. Now Lucy and her loved ones inadvertently become involved in not one but two murder mysteries. These mysteries spark a debate about current events as the townspeople of Tinker Cove see how these hot topics hit close to home.

I always love and look forward to Meier's holiday themed books because I always enjoy spending my own holiday with my favorite characters. Turkey Trot Murder is a great holiday themed book because it is all about family, togetherness, and the goodness of people that surrounds us even in dark times. I like how Meier brought current hot topics (immigration and drug addiction) to the small town setting as Lucy herself got to see how these issues effect everyone. I loved seeing all of my favorite secondary characters back for another adventure, and I especially loved seeing Bill get more of a focus as he got caught in the middle of things as well. The book has enough twists and turns to keep the reader turning the pages, and I look forward to reading the next book in this great series.

Received a copy of Turkey Trot Murder through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )