Smitten by Books

Release Date: Aug 31, 2021
Publisher: Kensington
Imprint: Kensington Cozies
Price: $6.99

This book is actually a collection of three novellas:  Halloween Party Murder by Leslie Meier, Death of a Halloween Party Monster by Lee Hollis and Scared Off by Barbara Ross. The three stories go well together. All three are set in a small town in Maine and involve a Halloween party. All can be considered cozy stories with the crimes solved by a female, amateur sleuth. I enjoyed all three stories and overall, this is an excellent collection of short mysteries.

I’m most familiar with Leslie Meier’s Lucy Stone series and really liked Halloween Party Murder. Lucy is a part-time reporter for a local newspaper and her husband is in construction. Their neighbors own a large old house they want to have renovated, but offer their home for a charity Halloween party before the upgrades are made since it looks like a haunted house. There is a lot of fake blood and gore for the party in several rooms as part of the haunted house displays to add to the party atmosphere. Then Lucy comes across a real-life scene that is anything but fun and learns you can’t really judge situations by appearances. There are a lot of serious subject packed into the novella, including drug dealing, drug addiction, abuse of women, and local politics, but at the heart it is a murder mystery with enough clues to help the reader solve the case right along with Lucy.

I have read a few novellas by Lee Hollis, but am not that familiar with the characters in Death of a Halloween Party Monster. Hayley Powell is hosting a Halloween party at the restaurant she recently opened. It’s a costume party with guests dressing like fictional movie monsters. As the party is wrapping up, one of Hailey’s best friends discovers a dead body. The solution was satisfying but not very surprising. Hayley also writes humorous columns about her life and includes recipes. The articles for her column tend to be somewhat rambling and don’t add much to the main plot. However, they are entertaining and the recipes sound good enough that I want to try a couple of them.

My favorite story of the three is Scared Off. Julia Snowden gets a call on Halloween night from her niece Page. Page goes to what she thought would be a quiet sleepover with a couple friends, but it turns into a rowdy party. The girls claim to have seen the ghost of an upstairs tenant, shortly before the woman’s body is found. Unlike in some cozies, Julia works well with the officers who are officially assigned to the case. This story is very engaging with an intricate and interesting plot, especially considering this is a novella and not a full-length book. I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next and I was kept guessing as to the identity of the murderer. After reading this story, I am definitely interested in reading more by Barbara Ross.

~ Christine