Publisher's Weekly Review
The Great Recession casts its shadow over Meier's engaging 20th Lucy Stone mystery (after Easter Bunny Murder). The day after Thanksgiving, skinflint Jacob Marlowe, who, as a partner in Downeast Mortgage, is responsible for dozens of recent foreclosures, receives a package in the mail marked "Do Not Open Till Christmas." When Jacob tries to open it, the package explodes, killing him and destroying the Victorian mansion where he lived alone in Tinker's Cove, Maine. Lucy Stone, a reporter for the town newspaper, has been interviewing locals in financial trouble, and is soon rehearsing for her role as Mrs. Cratchit in a community theater production of A Christmas Carol, so she hasn't much time for sleuthing. But when a second suspicious package appears outside the Downeast Mortgage office, Lucy knows she must do what she can to stop a desperate killer. Thanks to Lucy, Jacob's Scrooge-like partner has a change of heart at the satisfying conclusion. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A couple of Scrooges threaten to wreck the fragile economy of Tinker's Cove. At Downeast Mortgage, business is business. While Seamen's Bank renegotiates loans with homeowners who find themselves under water, Downeast pushes foreclosure. That's how Harbormaster Harry Crawford loses the last hundred acres of his family's waterfront farm. And how Assistant Building Inspector Phil Watkins loses his LEED-certified green home. And how Lexie and Zach Cunningham, who spend their mortgage money to buy medical coverage for their critically ill daughter, Angie, lose their modest ranch house. Soon, foreclosed properties outnumber occupied ones. So it's no surprise when a package bomb takes out miserly old Jake Marlowe, one of Downeast's two owners. Lucy Stone (Easter Bunny Murder, 2013, etc.), ace reporter for the Pennysaver, must take time from practicing for her role as Mrs. Cratchit in her friend Rachel's production of A Christmas Carol to try to solve the case before Marlowe's partner, Ben Scribner, follows Jake into the great overdraft in the sky. Though there's no dearth of suspects, Lucy focuses on Seth Lesinski, a Che Guevara look-alike who beguiles Lucy's daughter Sara into ditching her college classes to protest Downeast's policies. Will Lucy crack the case before Scribner turns Tinker's Cove into a ghost town whose presiding spirit is Marlowe's ghost? Meier, queen of WASP mayhem, ends by showing mercy to all her characters, even outside agitators with foreign-sounding last names. God bless us, every one.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
The 20th Lucy Stone mystery (after Easter Bunny Murder) finds the town of Tinker's Cove, ME, not faring so well in the economic downturn. Medical bills, layoffs, and cut hours have several of the small town's residents facing foreclosure from the unforgiving Downeast Mortgage, making for plenty of suspects when one of the Scrooge-like owners is killed by a mail bomb. Lucy's job reporting for the local paper gives her plenty of opportunities to talk to potential suspects and find the killer before someone else is hurt. VERDICT Longtime Lucy Stone series readers will be happy to catch up on life in Tinker's Cove in this cozy Christmas mystery. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
