I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book is three stories by three different authors.

The first two weren't my thing as they featured doormat wives, terrible husband's, and intrusive neighbors.

But the third one was great. It featured a haunted house tour and a reenactment of a murder and the couple involved actually seemed to like each other!

Don't get me wrong the first two weren't badly written, just not my cup of tea!

Come on, now. You can't have 'murder' in the title and then not have a murder. That's just not okay, period.

I've read several of Leslie Meier's previous books, usually around the target holiday to help capture the mood of the season. Picking up one of her books is like going out for tea with a good friend you've haven't seen for a while. And her titular story in this book was the same way--until it suddenly ended while I was still waiting for the murder. Then, it felt like my old friend had stood me up and my tea had gone cold.

If I'd purchased this book rather than received this as an ARC, I would have put it right into the donations box without reading another word, and I certainly would never spend my money on another title by the author(s). For a few reasons, but primarily because if I can't trust you to tell me the truth about whether or not there is a murder in the story I'm reading, I certainly can't trust you to abide by the fair-play rules I expect when reading a mystery. And I also have to wonder--why are you so ashamed of the content of the book that you feel you have to lie about what's in it to get me to read/buy it?

But I did read the other two stories, which delivered what their titles promised. Both stories were enjoyable and charming and took me where I expect cozies like this to take me. Worlds that are pleasant even when unpleasant things happen, and where everything is wrapped up and stasis is returned by the end of the story. I'd give the Lee Hollis story 4 stars and Barbara Ross's story 5 stars.

Even the Lucy Stone story was enjoyable to a point, if I hadn't been waiting, waiting, waiting for a murder that seemed to take an annoyingly long time to arrive (because, of course, it wasn't going to arrive). If the title had been called "Haunted House Scare' or 'Haunted House Mystery', I wouldn't have had that expectation, and had that expectation dashed--and I suspect I would have settled in happily to soak up the snippet of Lucy's time with her grandson. As it was, rather than walking away charmed and happy, I walked away angry and feeling like I'd been duped.

Ms. Meier's contribution is 'Hunted House Murder'.
Lucy Stone is glad the 'haunted house' in the neighborhood had been sold, but the new owners are not friendly at all. Gossip runs rampant about strange goings on there and she becomes concerned for the wife. Is she abused? No way to tell, but the husband has been rude to everyone he comes into contact with.
When her grandson disappears during soccer practice, she goes into full blown panic mode. When the police arrive and enter the house, everything becomes clear.
Not ruining the ending for you.
Death By Haunted House by Lee Hollis
Hayley and Danny Powell love all things Halloween, but this Halloween, they find a body. Who killed local realtor, Wendy Jo Willis? The new neighbors who he had had a loud confrontation with...or someone else? It all seems to point to the neighbors or an ex. When both are proven innocent, Hayley continues to nose around ...and puts herself right in the killer's sight.
Hallowed Out by Barbara Ross
In Busman's Harbor, Harley Prendergast's annual Halloween Tour has become a pain in the derriere for the Snowden family. To keep him from harassing her mother to add her house to his tour, Julia gets her restaurant partners to allow him to add the restaurant. Harley hires an actor and on the first day, there's a murder. No one sees who-dun-it in the darkened room, but they know it was someone in the small group present. Who had reason? It seems more than one did, but the evidence pointed at the one Julia was sure was innocent. So she continues to snoop and almost gets herself killed by not being careful enough.
All three talented cozy writers have penned installments for their series for this Halloween book. This is a not to miss if you read any one of the series involved.
I requested and received a NetGalley ARC to peruse.

I truly enjoyed reading this book, set during my favorite time of the year, Halloween. I want to express my gratitude to both Kensington books and NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Leslie Meier's story was very good and interesting, as always. I like how it was anchored in everyday life, and how the characters are normal people. I appreciated the interactions between Lucy and her grandson, and I really wanted to understand who the new people in town were. The characters are very relatable, and I just love how the author addresses difficult issues (child disappearance, illness). For readers who are not familiar with the Lucy Stone series, the story can be a great introduction, as it is not necessary to have read the previous books (although it will make the story more interesting).

Lee Hollis' story was fast-paced and funny. I just loved how Hayley, the main character, reacted to some of the things Danny (her husband) said. The haunted house aspects of the story were well exploited, and the family moving in next door was creepy. I don't think anyone would want them as neighbors. A nice touch was the horror movie inspired names for the neighbors. Finding out who the culprit was at the end was very satisfying, and the author had me guessing for a very long time.

Finally, Barbara Ross' story was an interesting one. The haunted house theme was nicely used, and in more than one setting. The carpet moving on its own was different, and the conclusion for that specific aspect made me smile. It took me a while to find out who killed the actor, and as I read, I thought he was a truly despicable character. Julia is a solid main character, and I look forward to reading the next installment in the series.

Haunted House Murder was a great Halloween-themed book, with stories that are different and refreshing, considering that the haunted house theme has been around for a very long time. Even if a reader has not read the previous books featuring the main characters, the stories are very accessible and easy to follow. I think Haunted House Murder can spark an interest for all three cozy mystery series. Highly recommended!

So begins the 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓭𝓮 of 🅷🅰🅻🅻🅾🆆🅴🅴🅽 cozy mystery releases. 🎃👻 I seriously 🅛🅞🅥🅔 holiday themed cozy mysteries, so to say I was 𝕖𝕩𝕔𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕕 to dive into this one would be an υη∂εяsтαтεмεηт! 🙌


ℍ𝔸𝕌ℕ𝕋𝔼𝔻 ℍ𝕆𝕌𝕊𝔼 𝕄𝕌ℝ𝔻𝔼ℝ by 𝓛𝓮𝓼𝓵𝓲𝓮 𝓜𝓮𝓲𝓮𝓻 👻

🌟🌟 - I think I only read one other 🅜🅨🅢🅣🅔🅡🅨 by this author and I had the sᴀᴍᴇ ɪssᴜᴇ with that one as I did with this one. 👎 🅻🆄🅲🆈 😈 She is a seriously Ʉ₦Ⱡł₭₳฿ⱠɆ character. 😠 Nosey. Judgmental. B!tchy. In fact, this 𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖗𝖊 𝖙𝖔𝖜𝖓 is the reason I will never live in a small town again. 🔪 The other issue I had with this one is that it had NOTHING to do with a haunted house OR a murder!!! 👀 Considering the 🅣🅘🅣🅛🅔 🅞🅕 🅣🅗🅘🅢 🅢🅣🅞🅡🅨, it left me scratching my head...😳


𝔻𝔼𝔸𝕋ℍ 𝔹𝕐 ℍ𝔸𝕌ℕ𝕋𝔼𝔻 ℍ𝕆𝕌𝕊𝔼 by 𝓛𝓮𝓮 𝓗𝓸𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓼 👻

🌟🌟🌟 - I 🅔🅝🅙🅞🅨🅔🅓 this story more than the previous. 🙌 Although, again, we got a rather Ʉ₦Ⱡł₭₳฿ⱠɆ main female character. 😠 🅷🅰🆈🅻🅴🆈 was a complete harpy and b҉u҉z҉z҉k҉i҉l҉l҉ (IMO). 🔪 However, I LOVED 🅳🅰🅽🅽🆈. 😂 He didn't walk around with a 𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓴 𝓾𝓹 𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓪$$ like 🅷🅰🆈🅻🅴🆈. 🌂 The story itself was also єиנσуαвℓє. 👍 It reminded me a little of that 1̲9̲8̲0̲s̲ move ŤĤĔ βÚŔβŚ. 👀 Also, as a bonus we get ⓣⓗⓡⓔⓔ yummy sounding recipes. 🍴


ℍ𝔸𝕃𝕃𝕆𝕎𝔼𝔻 𝕆𝕌𝕋 by 𝓑𝓪𝓻𝓫𝓪𝓻𝓪 𝓡𝓸𝓼𝓼 🎃

🌟🌟🌟🌟 - This was my 🅵🅰🆅🅾🆁🅸🆃🅴 story out of the three. 🙌 A haunted ₲ⱧØ₴₮ tour setting. 👻 A good "𝖜𝖍𝖔 𝖉𝖔𝖓𝖊 𝖎𝖙" mystery. 😲 A 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓪𝓫𝓵𝓮 cast of characters. 👤👤👤 Plus a bonus recipe for 🅟🅤🅜🅟🅚🅘🅝 🅑🅡🅔🅐🅓 (yum). 🎃 What more can you ask for? 👍👍

Every year on our Maine vacation I put aside at least one book set in Maine. One of this year's books is Haunted House Murder, a compilation of short works from three writers who have well-established series set in small-town Maine.

Leslie Meier's Haunted House Murder features Lucy Stone, part-time reporter and mom (now grandmom) in Tinker's Cove, Maine. A long-abandoned house, reputed to be haunted, has new occupants. Ty and Heather Moon. The Moons are unfriendly and eccentric, to say the least, but Lucy is occupied with having her grandchild visit for two months. She is delighted to have him but finding childcare more of a challenge than she remembers from raising her own four children. But when a child goes missing, Lucy's sleuthing instincts kick in.

Lee Hollis' Hayley Powell of Bar Harbor in Death by Haunted House also has eccentric new neighbors: a family who strongly resembles the Addams family. Hayley is willing to let well enough alone until a local realtor goes missing after a violent confrontation with the father of the new family, Damien Salinger. Hayley, with the help of her new puppy, finds the realtor's body but lots of people in Bar Harbor didn't like the victim.

The people of Busman's Cove are always looking for ways to extend the tourist season and this year have planned a Ghost Tour in Hallowed Out. Julia Snowden throws herself into participating, but she thinks that the ghosts of the town are much more imagined than real. But when an actor from New Jersey is murdered during a reenactment of a Prohibition-era incident and innocents are suspected, Julia finds herself in the thick of things.

Haunted House Murder is an entertaining compilation for Halloween. I was a little disappointed in the longest of the three, Haunted House Murder, which was heavy on Lucy's childcare woes. The other two shorts introduced me to two new amateur sleuths I plan to read more about in the future. Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an advance digital copy. The opinions are my own.

RATING- 3.5 Rounded up to 4

This is a fun trio of cozy mystery Halloween stories. I thought this was a fun way to read about Halloween in Maine. Three very different stories, but they all had elements of the small town feel. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Halloween and a quick cozy mystery.

This book was very well written. Nice and easy to read and flowed well. Had me on the edge of my seat. Wondering which way it was going to go. Great mystery can’t beat it.

This was the strangest book I've ever gotten from Netgalley. Three books in one, and all of them pretty plain and ordinary short stories. The writing in all three stories is very matter-of-fact, with very little imagination, almost as if these were pitches for bigger, longer books. And that's where I'm left. I think there are three solid kernels of stories here, but they need development. They don't work as short stories or novellas because they are just not that interesting. However, if the authors fleshed them out, they could be enjoyable cozy mysteries.

These are 3 short novellas centered around Halloween and spooky business. I made the mistake of thinking it’s horror and it’s not haha it’s cozy mystery a genre I absolutely love so I wasn’t put off by it at all! The stories were heartwarming and a bit too kitschy for my taste but all in all this is a great collection to curl up in a chair to and just unwind with.

I was disappointed in this book. I liked the Lee Hollis story, but was bored by Barbara Ross’ story, and disappointed by Leslie Meier’s story. For a book called Haunted House Murder, there really wasn’t enough murder or mystery in it.

Three halloween short stories to get you in the mood for the big day. The first two were a bit similar in that they involved a suspected haunted house with new residents that were not very friendly. Both stories seemed to drag on longer than necessary. But it is the third story that was the best and enjoyable.

If you’re ready to start the Fall and Halloween reading, then be sure to get this book and enjoy the third story, because it is quite enjoyable and a true cozy mystery!

I picked up this terrific collection of three Halloween stories because Leslie Meier is one of my favorite cozy authors. I've read all of her books and, while I enjoyed her story in this collection, sleuth Lucy Stone seemed to be out of sorts and not her usual self.

I've never read anything by Lee Hollis but, after reading her interesting story, I'll probably track down her books.

The final story, by Barbara Ross, was probably the best of the lot and I plan to look for, and soon read, her Maine Clambake books, starting with Clammed Up.

Overall, this was an excellent holiday collection.

I always love a compilation of stories with different authors and this book was everything I hoped for and more. Each author’s story was so different yet flowed together so wonderfully it seemed like a seamless transition even though they were totally different. A fun filled read.

I requested Haunted House Murder because I'm a massive fan of anything Halloween themed. Plus, there's just something about cozy mysteries that seems to perfectly match the quirky, slightly kooky, Halloween mood.

If you've seen previous reviews on my blog, you'll know that Leslie Meyer and I have had a slightly rocky history (here and here). I think though, with this book -- the first story of which is hers -- we might finally have found or groove. That's not to say that I particularly liked the protagonist, Lucy, any more than I have in the past. But I think I found the headspace that I need to be in, to settle down and really enjoyed the series for what they are.

There is not really a massive mystery component and the story revolves far more around Lucy's home life -- disrupted as it's been by the arrival of her grandson. Instead of complaining about the characterization, I simply accepted that Lucy is a terrible grandparent, and Bill is an awful human being, and I was able to enjoy the slice-of life story for what it was: and I really did enjoy it!

The other two studies in the volume are new-to-me authors and I found both enjoyable.

Personally, I preferred the middle story in this trilogy: Death by Haunted House by Lee Hollis. I really enjoyed Hayley, her family and the creepy new neighbours next door. There's actually a brief Interlude right in the middle, where the traditional cosy mystery recipe is inserted. I didn't realise this was an insert at first and thought that the story had ended. I was absolutely furious! I felt completely betrayed, because I wanted to know more about the case and read more about the Powell family. I think this is a really good sign of how invested I was in the mystery and in the characters.

The final story -- Hollowed Out by Barbara Ross -- wasn't quite as good for me as Hollis' but it was still a really intriguing mystery. I actually felt that the story in Hollowed Out had probably the most prevalent mystery and investigation process of the three stories.

Overall, Haunted House Murder is a perfect cozy read for a pre-Halloween evening and a great way to try out some new authors.

This was a great fall seasonable anthology with all kinds of murder and mayhem and the occasional haunted house. All 3 stories are entertaining and well written with characters I want to read more of. I am now in the Halloween spirit! Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

Perfect for the fall season. The stories were light but fun to read. Perfect for a crisp autumn day.

This collection is easy to review, since I liked the stories in the order they appeared. Haunted House murder ( which didn’t actually have a murder, but whatever ha) was the best. I am familiar with Lucy Stone, having read some of her stories before. It bothers me a lot that no one ever seems to help her and she is always let down by her family, however, the story of neighbors that seem like a lot of weird things happening is realistic and fun.

Death by Haunted House was a bit weird. Similar idea of neighbors which strange goings on. But really the main characters pester them so much that they move again, wow. I mean, just wow! They even break into their neighbors home ( but they don’t press charges. This is odd. You are willing to move shortly after moving because your neighbors are so awful, but you don’t call the police on them?) The murder is made to seem like the neighbors did it, along with a local legend about the house.

Hallowed our had a good murder and well planned out, but the story didn’t interest me much. I have no desire to go any further with these characters. The planning of a murder, and all that went into it to make multiple suspects despite there being many people in the room was really good however.

Fun Halloween collection, perfect for when you need a short break and want to get into a haunting mood. Strong female characters that are hilarious, intelligent and can get whatever the job is done and well written story lines to go with them. Very enjoyable.

Absolutely fantastic had me gripped!!! Loved it! Can't wait for more from.this author. Storyline was great, characters were easy to.connect with

Thank you for the advanced copy