Generally cozies aren’t exactly high quality literature, but these 2 novels were a tremendous disappointment. The main character was arrogant and obnoxious and there were inconsistencies that made the writing amateurish.

A good book. Well written with great characters and a good plot. The storyline flows and the mystery is enjoyable. I highly recommend.,

This is really two books in one. Lucy Stone has been around for several years and this is book 3 and 16 in her series. Tinker's Cove is getting ready to celebrate halloween and the local witch's coven is making plans for a human sacrifice in Wicked Witch Murder. Trick or treat murder is an arson investigation that turns to murder. Both are good cozy's with great cast of characters. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A couple of Halloween murder mysteries with Lucy Stone on the case. Enjoy this series a lot, and would highly recommend this book and the author. I like the bundle for the holiday. Fun book.

I had read Trick or Treat Murder, the first mystery in this book, about 12 years ago. Of course, this takes you back to a different time in Lucy's life with younger children, and then the second mystery, Wicked Witch Murder, takes place after Lucy's children are older.

The mystery was still entertaining and had me guessing until the very end. There were the typical disagreements among the people in Tinker's Cove, but for the most part there is a sense of community in the end.

I though the author did a great job of showing how people make judgments about individuals and get others drawn into their drama, but there is hope, because some people are not influenced by preconceived notions and can make their own judgments.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book has 2 books in 1. Both are Lucy Stone series.
Trick Or Treat Murder is set at Halloween time and there is an arsonist on the loose. I read this a long time ago so don't really remember to much about it.

Wicked Witch Murder I just read. Tinker's Cove has a witch in town and she owns a store. Diana Ravenscroft seems really nice but a family moves into town and the husband wants to drive her out. A friend of Diana's is found dead and Lucy wants to find out what happened. Lucy works as the local newspaper reporter and she always finds out things to put her in harm's way. Diana tries to teach some recipes that are like spells to Lucy's daughters. Then we find out that the new family has religious reasons why they don't want her there and the daughter starts hanging out with Diana.

I love Leslie Meier's books. Her plots, well predictable, are well written. I love watching the development of the characters, especially of the children of the main character.

I enjoy my visits to Tinker's Cove to see the Stone family. I can't wait to visit with them again!

I had never read any of the Lucy Stone Mysteries before. My mom loves to read them, so I figured why not give it a try. I have read other cozy mysteries in the past. Overall the book was ok! It was an easy, fast read but the characters were not my favorite compared to other cozy mysteries that I have read before. I would recommend it still, especially during Halloween time. Be warned thought, they are two stories that were previously released. I showed my mom these and she commented that she had already read them both.

Halloween Murder by Leslie Meier, consists of two of Meier’s novellas, Trick or Treat Murder and Wicked Witch Murder, both featuring Lucy Stone, who is a reporter for her small town newspaper, as well as a mom. Readers of Meier’s cozies will feel like they are being updated on a mutual friend. Lucy seems like a real person that readers know well. She just happens to be good at sticking her nose into murders she runs across in her small town of Tinker’s Cove.

These cozies are easy to read, and they are also fast reads. Many of the books in the series are about holidays throughout the year, and this one is perfect to read during October. There is some suspense in both novellas, and a surprise ending. This is a book that is perfect for mystery lovers who like down-to-earth characters that they can relate to.

Another excellent edition to a wonderful series! Full of twists and turns that leaves you wanting more and enjoying each moment until the end when the killer is caught.

In this edition, we have featuring two Lucy Stone's mysteries for Halloween.
Cozy mystery that is easy to follow and intriguing, with a strong plot and unique characters.

Halloween Murder by Leslie Meier is a book which contains two separate stories.
One story is about witches and covens, death, murder and judgement. The townspeople want to kill the witches and end the coven, but they claim they are innocent. One of the townspeople, races in when the town is ready to burn the witches at the stake and helps solve the murder.
The second story is about Monica, a townsperson, who is arguing with her husband about their historic home. He is considering burning the house to rebuild a house of his dreams. She stays at the historic house and is killed when the house is burned to the ground. The story revolves around the investigation and motives of the arsonist.
Both stories are well written. A light fast paced book with well developed characters. Perfect timing for Halloween. Thanks to Net Galley for an advanced reader’s copy.

This is a 3 star review because while the stories are good I did not like thinking I was going to read a New Lucy Stone Holiday Cozy only to find this book contains two older cozies. I was really hoping to read a new Halloween story so I was disappointed. The cover should really have the two titles written on it. Trick or Treat Murder is an early Lucy Stone book and is better than Wicked Witch Murder. While Wicked Witch Murder ends during Halloween it does not really have much of a Halloween theme and the mystery is pretty weak. I was hoping for a new visit to Tinker's Cove not a return visit.

This is the first time I have read anything by Leslie Meier and this book is two of her previous novellas. I found the stories enjoyable, with Lucy Stone being an amateur sleuth while she raises her 4 kids with her husband Bill. Most of the cozy mysteries I read feature a single heroine, so this offered a change of pace. This series is long-running, but I did like the main characters and the solving of the murders. I will have to revisit with a full length story soon.

There had to be one dud in this Halloween reads collection, and unfortunately, this was it. Halloween Murder by Leslie Meier combines two previously released Lucy Stone series books into one collection and really wasn’t my thing at all.

The first of the pair is Trick or Treat Murder which was originally published in 1996. The town of Tinker’s Cove, Maine, is preparing for Halloween but there’s an arsonist on the loose burning down many of the town’s beautiful historic buildings, and the latest attack has led to a death. Housewife and budding sleuth Lucy Stone decides to investigate between nursing her newborn baby and whipping up cupcakes for the big Halloween party but, naturally, she finds her own life is under threat when she gets too close to the truth.

The instantly forgettable plot (I finished the book last night and am struggling to remember enough for this review) would almost be forgivable if the writing was good, but instead, the book is filled with dull small talk, pointless filler – almost two pages are devoted to Lucy listing off her various bills as she writes cheques to pay them – and endless references to breastfeeding that add nothing to the plot. Sadly, all this story did for me was to remind me why I never read Cozy Mysteries!

Story number two is Wicked Witch Murder, which was originally published in 2010. It’s immediately obvious that Meier has improved over 14 years of writing, with this story flowing far better than the previous one. Lucy and her family have grown up, with her eldest child (aged 11 in Trick or Treat Murder) now married with his own baby son, and Lucy working as a reporter for the town paper when she discovers a body that has been horrifically burned and tied to a tree in the woods.

New to town are Diana Ravenscroft, a self-proclaimed witch who runs an occult supplies store and a prominent member of the local Wiccan coven, and Ike Stoughton, a devout Christian who runs his home like his kingdom and condemns Diana and everything about her as the work of the devil. Soon, the two are at odds with Ike accusing Diana of causing everything wrong in town, from a devastating flood to his failed pumpkin crop, and whipping up increasingly violent support from his worried neighbors. As Lucy investigates the body in the woods, she discovers that both Ike and Diana are linked to the dead man and she has to decide who to trust, and whether or not to believe in magic.

I enjoyed this second Lucy Stone story much more. Gone is much of the endless drivel, replaced by a much neater and better-flowing story that had me drawn in by the end. The ending was fairly predictable, but that is to be expected from the genre, and while I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone who isn’t a fan of Cozy Mysteries, the second story in this volume was a nice enough read for anyone looking for a non-scary Halloween tale.

This is two previously published books in one volume. I'd read them both before but it was nice to revisit them.
The first book is Trick or Treat Murder, one of the earliest Lucy Stone books. Her kids are little and she's a "novice" investigator but she gets the job done.

The second book is Wicked Witch Murder and her kids are grown up. Again she solves the mystery, this book was more interesting.

It was a nice cozy read and I recommend it. Thanks to Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Halloween Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery) by Leslie Meier actually contains two previously released books. In the first, Trick or Treat Murder, Tinker's Cove is being terrorized by an arsonist. When one of her friends is found dead in one of the burned houses, Lucy is determined to investigate despite dealing with her newborn daughter.

In the second book, Wicked Witch Murder, a Wiccan named Diana Ravenscroft moves to Tinker's Cove and opens a new shop that has many of the locals upset. While out on a walk, Lucy stumbles upon a body. When it turns out to be murder and the victim is a member of Diana's Coven, Lucy and her daughters find themselves pulled into the investigation.

I haven't read either of these stories before so, unlike many of the other reviewers who I read online, I didn't feel like it was a bit of a cheat making it seem like a new entry into the series. Overall, I enjoyed these two stories but I have to say I liked the first quite a bit better than the second. Cosies, by their very definition, are far-fetched which is why they make for such great escapism but Wicked Witch Murder stretched my willing suspension of disbelief just a tad too far. But that's just me - if you are a fan of cosies and Leslie Meier and you haven't read these two books, they would make a nice Halloween treat.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review</i>

Halloween Murder by Leslie Meier is actually 2 wonderful stories in one book. As usual Ms Meier keeps you guessing right along with the part time reporter/amateur sleuth Lucy Stone. Both stories are set around Halloween and will get you right in the holiday spirit. Each are truly terrific reads.

This book has 2 Halloween stories. I found both stories to be very enjoyable, however, the first one was my favorite. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

Halloween Murder includes two previously published books in the Lucy Stone series. The first one, Trick or Treat Murder, is an early book in the series. The second, Wicked Witch Murder, came much later. It was interesting to re-visit the books (I have been an avid reader of the series for years) since several years had elapsed between the books, and I could see how the series had progressed. In the first book, Lucy is a young mother, drawn into a mysterious arson who is plying his/her work in Tinker’s Cove. When arson turns to murder, Lucy gets really involved, using her skills to discover the murder and solve the crime. Lucy’s need to solve this mystery is great because the town is worried and upset and because the woman killed was a friend. In the second, a killing leads to many in the town pointing fingers at the not-so-well-liked new witch in town, Diana Ravenscroft, and her new store. In fact, echoes of a witch hunt crop up throughout the town, spurred on by some overly zealous bible thumping folks. Lucy knows it is important to figure out what is really going on before things get really out of hand.

Before I opened the book, I thought this was a new Lucy Stone mystery, and was a tad bit disappointed that it was just a reprint of earlier books. However, it was good to re-visit the earlier books and see how the series had progressed. I thoroughly enjoyed the first one, but I enjoyed it the first time around. As for the second, I am not so sure. There was a lot in the book about Wicca, which was okay but not really something I choose to read about. Still, the plot did rely on a lot of Wiccan information. In both books, we find the same old Lucy, ever vigilant, willing to look into odd occurrences and crimes that occur in Tinker’s Cove. The time frame of the books was really different. In the first, Lucy is a young mother, early on in her motherhood career. In the second, years later, her once young family is just about grown up and gone from the family nest. The contrast was interesting to see, as I said. It was also interesting to see how the series had progressed, as I tend to read, read, read whatever comes my way, especially books in series I truly enjoy, and tend to forget how things were at the start of a series once I move on to a new addition to the series. Having the two books together in one book did make for a bit long of a read, but I did not mind because I am a true fan, especially in the case of the first story. This is a must for all Lucy Stone fans. Even if you may have read the books previously, they will rekindle you love of the series and enjoyment of the quirky characters and fascinatingly, humorous dialogue and encounters throughout. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.