Haunted House Murder is a novella with three stories by three different authors.
I'm a big fan of all the authors and I was delighted to see them collaborate on this book.

The first story is written by Leslie Meier. I've read every one of her books several times. I consider her my go to author when I'm in need of reading a comfort story.
In this book, Lucy Stone is preparing for Halloween when she gets an unexpected phone call from her son, who needs a sitter for his son. Of course Lucy jumps at the chance.
When new neighbors move in, Lucy becomes suspicious and before long, she is spying on them and she insists there is something nefarious going on.

Normally I would give any Lucy Stone book 5 stars, but this was more of a 3.5-3.75 rating.
Lucy appeared whiney, short tempered and aggravated with all the responsibilities she had.
Her daughter that was home, Sarah, was extremely annoying and her role in the book was weak. While the story itself was good, I found the characters to be difficult to deal with.

In the second book by Lee Hollis, Hayley is a great character, but her husband was absolutely annoying.
I was disappointed that the story focused on a Halloween of the past and not if the present.
It had the same theme as the first story, new neighbors, creepy house and if course, Hayley's husband is suspicious of them and makes a nuisance of himself. This would be the same rating as above.

The third book by Barbara Ross is definitely 5 stars.
Julia and her boyfriend Chris are participating in the Halloween haunted house tour. With the help of family and friends, they are finally ready and when a real murder takes place, Julia is determined to find the answers.
This story was well told and I had no idea who was the murderer until the end.

Thank to to NetGalley and the publisher for approving me to read this book.

This is a fun collection of Halloween mini-mysteries that are part of 3 series I read. They are easily written to be read as stand-alone stories for anyone not familiar with the series, and make excellent companion novellas for fans of these authors. Each story has the perfect feel to get you in the Halloween spirit. Haunted House Murder and Death by Haunted House both involve mysterious and eccentric newcomers to town. Hallowed Out is centered around a haunted house tour offered for Halloween week.

I found many of the characters in Haunted House Murder to be a bit judgemental and rude, but the story is an easy read with an intriguing mystery.

Death by Haunted House takes place before the rest of the series begins, so it's interesting to go back to how life was for Hayley before I got to know her in Death of a Kitchen Diva. It's a great, multi-dimensional story with a mystery that really surprised me at the end.

Hallowed Out takes place in Busman's Harbor and involves the restaurant where protagonist Julia and her boyfriend Chris serve dinner during the off-season. This is a well-written story with a head-scratching mystery that kept me turning the pages.

All in all, I highly recommend this book, especially if you enjoy reading holiday themed cozies. I received an advance copy of this book. This review contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

Kindle Copy for Review from Kensington Books and Net Galley

I received a free, advance copy of this book and this is my unbiased and voluntary review.

Features three stories Haunted House Murder by Leslie Meier, Death by Haunted House by Lee Hollis and Hallowed Out by Barbara Ross. A perfect read for the Halloween season that will get you in the mood.
Leslie Meier gives us another fun Lacy Stone story as she seeks to find a missing lost boy and new owners moved into an old house that people say is haunted by ghosts.

Death by Haunted House has an abandoned house whose previous owner died mysteriously. Suddenly it is bought and the realtor goes missing after an argument. Is there a connection or not?

Hallowed Out about a small town known for haunting and ghosts find themselves with a killer on the loose. When a reenactment of a Prohibition-era gangster’s murder leads to a murder dead actor.

This is a 3 book series by 3 different authors. All 3 authors are my favorite and the stories take place at Halloween.

A great introductions to three popular mystery authors with this trip of novellas set around Halloween. And if you regularly read these authors, a great addition to their stories.

This book is actually a collection of three Halloween-themed novellas. All three are set in small towns in Maine and the characters are preparing for Halloween in a variety of ways. Overall, I would rate the book 4 stars, which is an average of my rating of each individual story. Each story was entertaining and it's a great collection to get in the mood for Halloween.

The first story is "Haunted House Murder" by Leslie Meier which I would rate 4 stars. I have read a few full-length novels featuring Lucy Stone who is a part-time reporter for Tinker Cove's weekly newspaper, the "Pennysaver". I always have mixed emotions about Lucy. I like that she's not perfect, but she sometimes go overboard with her attitude. I understand she is overwhelmed with her work responsibilities and the unexpected responsibility of caring for her grandson. However, I was surprised when she found it "boring" and "ridiculous" that her eight-year-old wasn't catching onto fractions quickly enough. In spite of that, the story of her neighbors Ty and Heather Moon moving into a run-down house that was rumored to be haunted was entertaining. Although Lucy already has her hands full, she takes it upon herself to get to the bottom of that mystery. I guessed part of how things were going to turn out, but I still enjoyed the ending.

The second story in this book is "Death by Haunted House" by Lee Hollis. I would give this story 3.5 stars. Similar to the first story, a family has moved into a house that has remained vacant and is thought to be haunted. Hayley Powell's new neighbors are strange and unfriendly, but she soon begins to worry they may be dangerous. I like Hayley and her children, but her husband acts like a child himself and often makes difficult situations even worse. This story is set in the year 2009. I was unfamiliar with this series so out of curiosity, I looked up some of the full-length novels featuring Hayley and in the first one, it says she is a divorced, single mom so it looks like Hayley may have also got tired of Danny's immaturity! The murder mystery itself drags on a little too long, even in a shorter story, but the solution was unexpected and interesting.

The third story, "Hallowed Out" by Barbara Ross is my favorite of the three and I give it 4.5 stars. Busman's Harbor has a reputation for being haunted which provides local resident, Harley Prendergast, the perfect opportunity to promote a Halloween Haunted House tour. Julia Snowden, her boyfriend, and other family members get talked into helping Harley act out scenes from some of the town's famous ghost stories. This seems like a fairly harmless way to celebrate Halloween until something goes horribly wrong and the town is dealing with an all-too-real death that looks like murder. This story starts out a little slow, but picks up once Julia begins investigating the murder. I never could have guessed the motive behind the murder and the identity of the killer, and I enjoyed seeing Julia get to the solution in this fun cozy.

I received this book from NetGalley through the courtesy of Kensington Books. The book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

Haunted House Murder is a collection of three shorter Halloween-themed novels by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Barbara Ross.

This is my third trio novel that I have read from these amazing authors and I absolutely love it!

I have already read every book that Leslie Meier has ever written over the years and am a huge fan. I have recently been able to read more by Hollis and Ross and have been enjoying those authors immensely as well.

This is the perfect combination of cozy mysteries with a fall/Halloween themed murder/mysteries encompassing our favorite characters from their respective ongoing series.

I love all three female characters. Calling theme “amateur” sleuths would be a significant discredit. Lucy Stone, Hayley Powell, and Julia Snowden are strong, intelligent, hilarious women that get the job done. They are realistic, honest, and relatable. All three authors are brilliant in their creation and portrayal of these women: that solve crimes and take care of their respective families and jobs, and all the while making it look like it is just another day in the park.
Great read. I cannot speak highly enough.

5/5 stars!

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion

The first two stories had husbands that were very irritating. I almost stopped reading the book because of them. The second mystery was very good however. I enjoyed everything about the third story - the characters, setting and mystery.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book from a trip of authors (Meier, Hollis, Ross). I have always loved Leslie Meier’s series, so it was great to get the newest installment of Lucy and her family (including grandkid Patrick who comes to stay with her). I would say that it felt too short, but that is understandable. I enjoyed reading “new to me” authors – Lee Hollis and Barbara Ross. All three stories dealt with Halloween, so it is cute for the upcoming Halloween season!


(Will post to Goodreads/ Amazon once it is released.)

This volume contains three separate and very delightful cozy mysteries:




HAUNTED HOUSE MURDER by Leslie Meier
DEATH BY HAUNTED HOUSE by Lee Hollis
HALLOWED OUT by Barbara Ross.


Each is set at Halloweentide, kind of scary, with endearing characters, twisty plots, combining for hours of fun.

In this trio of short mystery stories by Meier, Lee Hollis and Barbara Ross, each story revolves around Halloween hijinks, haunted houses and things that go bump in the night