Back to School Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #4) by Leslie Meier

Back to School Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #4) Reviews

• 
  James

  Back to School Murder is the 4th Lucy Stone Mystery written by Leslie Meier, a cozy amateur sleuth author with ~30+ books in the series. Protagonist Lucy is temporarily working at the Pennysaver when her daughter's school has a bomb threat. Thankfully no one is hurt during the mini explosion, yet it rocks the town. But what's even bigger news is when the savior who carried a kid to safety is later found strangled, the most liked teacher is accused of the crime. What's really going on? Lucy and her night instructor team up to solve the crime, though there seems to be more going on with him than Lucy expected. What would her husband Bill think? Meier includes a lot of background in these installments, focusing on married life, parent responsibilities, etc. The language feels real, meaning we see marital spats and the not-so-nice stuff which is usually avoided in books. It helps create a more well-rounded story, but it also takes a bit away from the mystery. In the end, I enjoy it... and the series is getting better. Still a few small-town mindsets and seemingly derogatory language toward more liberal, open-minded views but it's becoming more balanced. I'm curious where it will end up. Will keep reading more in the series for a while.
• 
  Kat

  Lucy Stone is juggling the demands of managing a household with four children and getting them off to a new school year, plus working her part-time job at the Pennysaver, Tinker Cove’s weekly newspaper, when a shocking announcement comes over the police scanner. Lucy rushes to the scene of a potential bombing in time to witness the action. As usual, where Lucy goes, murder follows. But can she catch the culprit before they strike again? As always, this series provides a quaint look at small-town Maine life and a spunky mom solving crime in between getting all those lasagnas in the oven. Enjoyed the school/education theme in this one.
  
  
• 
  Mandy

  Probably the best Lucy Stone novel I've read. Great storyline, the cast of characters was spectacular, and it was a real mystery. I was actually stumped until the very end. Would highly recommend!
• 
  Sharla

  This book started out pretty good but the prejudices and generalizations just got to be too much for me. Basically, everyone that wasn't a liberal was a complete idiot. I can't stand it when books push a certain way of thinking. Won't be picking up this author again which is too bad, because I really liked the character at first.
• 
  Readaholic Jenn

  A good book but not one of my favorites in the series. I enjoyed seeing Lucy's start at the newspaper.
• 
  Stephanie ((Strazzybooks))

  DNF @17%. I can’t handle any more of her dickhead, sexist husband and her pandering to him.
  ((she gets a new job and he thinks it’s “unacceptable” because dinner was at 630 and not 6))
  
  no thanks.
  
  I think "cozy" mysteries are not for me, but we know i'll keep trying them anyway.
• 
  Mystereity Reviews

  This was the Cozy Mystery Discord server book club selection for September and the first one I've read in this series. Cute, charming and very cozy, I really enjoyed it.
  
  Although the characters were likeable, they didn't have a lot of dimension, especially Lucy's husband and kids who weren't much more than convenient plot distractions. I don't know if that evolves as the series goes on (this one is fairly early in the series) but I felt that all the family activities bogged it down a bit in the middle, along with the constant rehashing. Still, I liked the writing style and the plot was absorbing; although there were a couple of dropped threads, I liked how Lucy set out to investigate and everything she found.
  
  Overall, I enjoyed this one and I'll be reading the other books in the series as I can get to them.
• 
  Melissa (Take Joy)

  Only 1 star because I had to give it a rating
  Lucy is enjoying herself immensely filling in for someone at the Tinker's Cove newspaper. Investigative journalism is right up her alley and it isn't long before she has something to investigate after a bomb goes off at the elementary school. The new vice principal, Carol Crane saves the day by rescuing a student still in the school and everyone hails her a hero. However there is more than meets the eye with Carol and when she is found murdered there is no shortage of suspects as she wasn't quite as heroic as one would think.
  
  I hated this book. I rarely have such strong negative words to say but I just can't hold back. Below is a partial list of some of the things that bothered me the most.
  
  - Before I start ranting about my personal opinions I will say that this book felt greatly unfocused. Lucy would have a revelation and would seemingly forget about it until a chapter or two later. There were a few loose ends, and things that didn't always make sense. There are some spelling and grammar issues so if that is a big button for you, proceed with caution. The mystery itself is weak but one of her better ones so far. Lucy working at the newspaper does make it so the book is more about mysteries than her personal life.
  - I originally started this series looking for a cozy where the sleuth is married in a good relationship. Quickly, I found this wasn't that series but still enjoyed the brief glance into Lucy and Bill's life together. This book found Lucy interested in another man and she even went as far to go to his apartment 'in the name of investigation' and kiss him, I am absolutely disgusted by her behavior. I don't care how long you are married, adultery is never OK or justifiable. On top of that she doesn't tell her husband, she just makes it right in her own twisted little mind and that seems to be enough for her. In the end of the book the man she kisses and is attracted to are together when they solve the murder thus bringing their bond closer. So she cheats on her husband with him, yes kissing is cheating! Then he is painted to be some sort of white knight. You have got to be kidding me. The author did more of a job developing the character that Lucy found sooooo attractive than she has done Lucy's husband in the past 4 books!
  - I go back and forth on whether or not I like Lucy in each book, I am firmly in camp do not like her one bit in this book. She has a reliable, loving husband, 4 amazing kids, a house, and lives in a quaint town where she has lots of friends. This isn't enough for her and she whines the entire book about how no one appreciates her, how her husband doesn't tell her that she's attractive anymore- yet she doesn't express any appreciation for any of the things she has NOR does she tell her husband she still finds him attractive. She complains about having to cook for him, even going to the point of swearing up and down that she will never make any tomato sauce again because it is too much work. What is wrong with a woman who wants to be a housewife and take care of her kids? Why is it always that she has to want more? She acts like the kids are old enough to be on their own but Zoe is only two years old and she just throws her in daycare all day while she goes about her business. Her child is being raised by daycare. A drastic contrast from the last book when she couldn't stand to be apart from her 'precious'. She is selfish, spoiled, and doesn't deserve the life she has.
  

  Tasha Tudor
  “I enjoy doing housework, ironing, washing, cooking, dishwashing. Whenever I get one of those questionnaires and they ask what is your profession, I always put down housewife. It's an admirable profession, why apologize for it. You aren't stupid because you're a housewife. When you're stirring the jam you can read Shakespeare." - Tasha Tudor Amen!

  
  - Excuse me Leslie Meier, I resent you shoving your political and religious views down my throat in your books. When I picked up your series I did not sign up to be subjected to someone using their books as a venue for their own personal agenda. Yes, I recognize that these are your books and you may write whatever you want, it is still not something I want to read about. Back to School Murder isn't the first book you did it in but this was definitely the one that I noticed it the most. In the first Lucy Stone novel, Mistletoe Murder you made it so the Reverend was the killer and in this book you made it so that the Reverend was a lech, seducing women, and cheating on his wife. On top of that he was a fanatic who acted over the top in his interpretation of the bible. You don't have to be religious or believe in God but you also don't have to depict them as horrible people in your books. Not to mention your many shots at conservatives and the fact it is made extremely clear you are a liberal. Ugh!
  
  I had high hopes for this book after enjoying the last one more than the previous in the series but no. I have up to book ten on my Kindle and am not sure I want to read that many. In fact I will read ONE more and if there is not a significant improvement I will be leaving this series behind in search of greener pastures.
  
  My thoughts on other books in the Lucy Stone series:
  1.
  Mistletoe Murder Also known as Mail-Order Murder
  2.
  Tippy Toe Murder
  3.
  Trick or Treat Murder
• 
  Janet

  I really have to confess, although I like the series, this particular one was very off-putting for me. As much as I tried to ignore it and concentrate on the story itself, the author's choice of bias in some situations became glaringly obvious. I don't want to scream "liberal" or "feminist" but it was there in big bold descriptions. The main character, Lucy, is working full time at the local paper temporarily. As do most working mothers she struggles to balance work, home and childcare. Fine. I don't mind the author outlining that part of Lucy's experience within the mystery. But, she also deals with a husband who expects his dinner on the table immediately when he comes home, a clean house and quiet obedient children or he sulks. Lucy bends over backwards to accommodate him. Now the author can't have it both ways. Is Lucy an independent woman (feminist) or is she a parody of a Donna Reed housewife? The other thing that stuck out was when Lucy went to the Republican candidate's coffee (making great pains to let us know she's a Democrat!). The author describes the women as Stepford-type wives. They wear pastel dresses ("Lucy had not seen so much pastel since her last roll of Necco wafers") and sit up straighter, acting excited when the MEN come in. Throughout the book the words "Christian values" seem to be an anathema which also irritated me. Yes, the character of the preacher wasn't the best but not all Christians are like that and not all Christian preachers are insincere or hypocritical. But, apparently, the oh so accommodating Congregational Church, which Lucy only attends infrequently, is so much better. Bah. I won't even begin to tackle the diatribe the author includes from the mouth of the elementary school principle that makes it seem as if questioning the competence of teachers or curricula by parents is a worse sin than murder! No, it is a wholly unappealing list of opinions I abhor wrapped in a lukewarm mystery.
• 
  Stephanie

  Not a very successful mystery. The twists didn't ring true, and I was maddened by the character's relationship (which takes up a good part of the story). I kept flipping back to see if perhaps I had missed something, and the book was actually set in the 60s. (Main personal conflict is that she wants to go to work, and the husband expects her to be at home cooking his dinner and taking care of the kids--though the husband, when he gets home early, sits around drinking beer and feeling sorry for himself and wondering where his dinner might be.)
• 
  Luffy

  Understanding the vagaries of a book is tricky. Both this book and Trick or Treat Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery #3) have weak villains. But herein the guilty party's entrance, speech and threat dug him his own grave, both figuratively and prosaically. In the third book, the invisible arsonist drew alarm and concern from the reader. Here's not the case.
  
  At first glance the book started mildly. The story unfolded, taking its own time, narrating a story that in lesser hands would be over in 200 pages. There were attempts at the endless debate of secularism versus religion. Those themes are not dominant throughout the book. For those who want to look in the right places, they will find what they want to. Some other people will dig, not necessarily deeper, but will find other things. E.g the role of the working mum, the role of the housewife, the status of women in and out of marriage. Honesty and clairvoyance. There's plenty that occupied my mind reading this nice, good book.
  
  The kids in this book speak at their very age. There's no nonsense like in Joanne Fluke's books - I've forgotten that brat's name. The numerous activities of the Stone family aren't eccentric. The family is pretty normal. What this book does is give you the feeling of immersion in these folk, making you believe that you know all about them; then they'll surprise you with something (E.g the asthma attack of Lizzie, and the lovemaking of Mr and Mrs Stone). You also feel that every single thing has been reported to you in the book. It's only an illusion. There are still many books left in this collection. I'm looking forward to every single one of them.
• 
  Jonathan

  A good addition to an okay series so far, Back to School Murder was an engrossing book that I devoured.
  
  As I've stated before I absolutely love Lucy. She's strong, independent, funny, and yet she's not so perfect that it's unrealistic. Sue reappeared in this book, however she took a lesser role, which I was slightly disappointed about, but it worked out. Ted, the newspaper editor, also reappeared in this book, but he played a bigger role and he was hilarious.
  
  However, Bill was back to his egotistical, annoying self, but maybe it's because of his egotistical annoying self that I found that he is actually a really interesting character. I rolled my eyes through most of the scenes he was in, but he was a good dad. I just wish he would've shown more of that side of him, versus the egomaniac side.
  
  The setting was wonderful as always. The mystery was good. I did not see that killer until it was revealed, and I was extremely surprised. It still was on the far side of cozy mystery, but it was fine.
  
  Overall a good book, not quite as good as the last one, but better than the one before that. This was a perfect quick read that would be perfect for a day at the beach, a day by the pool, or a day stuck inside. I will be reading the next one.
• 
  Karol

  I enjoy this series, despite Lucy's rather unlovable mate. I wonder where this relationship will go as I read further into the series? Lucy herself is likable, and this mystery was interesting. So far I have found the books in this series to be fun, quick reads.
• 
  Nicole

  Another Lucy Stone re-read for me, and I had forgotten the ending so that was a plus! Excellent story with a clever mystery. A+
• 
  Sunshine✰✰✰

  I liked this story. Lucy is trying to branch out into the world to be something more than a stay-at-home mom. She has been working as a temp at the local newspaper office and I think it suits her perfectly. She has also been going back to school to get her teaching degree. This leads to trouble as the professor is a gorgeous man who finds her attractive. I disagree with some reviews that Bill is an ass. He just has a hard time with change and adjusting to his wife wanting a job after being a stay-at-home mom for their 4 children for well over a decade. By the end he seems to be coming around.
  
  I think Lucy being out of the house as a professional snoop instead of just a snoop is really going to make this series more interesting.
• 
  Sarah Sammis

  Although the book is twenty-five years old, there are parts of it that ring remarkably and unfortunately true. There is a school board in the grips of some ultra conservatives. There are the willfully ignorant parents who hate anyone and anything different. Lucy, while she slowly comes around does more times than I'm comfortable with, parrot the bigotry of those around her.
  
  
  http://pussreboots.com/blog/2022/comm...
  
  A lot of this book felt dated — and would have felt dated even if I'd read it new.
  
• 
  Andrea Taylor

  Leslie Meier knows how to write an entertaining and intelligent cozy mystery. She deals sensitively with modern day concerns and social issues. Lucy Stone amateur sleuth and mother of four is facing her own challenges in her various roles as wife, mother, an evening class student and a temporary job at the newspaper. All that and an investigation too! Once again she is bound and determined to solve the case. I am looking forward to more of this series.
• 
  Karen

  It’s back to school time in the peaceful Maine town of Tinker’s Cove, and for mother-of-four Lucy Stone it isn’t a moment too soon. But trouble at the local elementary school soon has the sometime crime-solver juggling family, job, and night classes with another mystery to solve.
  Re-reading the Lucy Stone series, and enjoying them - I have number 5 to read next.
• 
  Laura

  Once again another great mystery!
• 
  Vicki Gooding

  Love these Lucy Stone mysteries
• 
  Chloe (Always Booked)

  2.5 stars. I was really enjoying this book at first but then it got really unfocused with too many subplots and I got distracted and uninterested.
  In this one, there is a bombing at the local elementary school. It ends up not being a very big one but the new asst principal becomes a town hero for going into the building and saving a young disabled boy who had gotten trapped. Then the principal winds up murdered and the story is trying to figure out whodunnit.
  The other major plot line is Lucy’s marriage and attempt at self discovery. She’s got a temp job at the newspaper and she loves it but her husband is mad she doesn’t have dinner on the table at 6pm every night so he wants her to quit. He’s so chauvinistic and archaic in his beliefs. Lucy does what he wants but complains about it and even starts to have an affair. At one point in this book I was confused- she’s still married, right? She also taking a night class about literature because its something she loves, but it's also a way to introduce one of our suspects.
  The suspects are Lucy's professor who used to work at the university Carol Crane (the dead asst principal went to) because he had an affair with her and she was threatening to expose it, the reverend because he was super weird and Carol had naked pics of him that she threatened to expose, and the guy they arrested- beloved teacher Josh Cunningham, because he was from the same small town and carol hated him therefore framed him. In the last 10% of the book, Carols estranged husband comes back and I guess it was him that did it and he raped her first. Why is that a necessary part of the story?
  I didn’t like how the author demonized the reverend and the Christian faith. Yes, this man has very conservative views, but I felt very much like Meier is not a Christian and was making a statement about people of faith.
  Overall I don’t really like this series and won’t be continuing.
• 
  Amber

  Lucy Stone was filling in at the local newspaper when Lucy hears on the radio that there was a bomb at the school. Rushing over to the school Lucy realizes that all the kids are all out of the school but when she sees Carol (the new vice-principal) rushing in and as she is running out of the school she has one of the kids in her arm then the bomb goes off. While Carol is praised as the savior of the school, and the principal is expecting her to go after her job. However, just days later Carol is found dead in her apartment. While the community is convinced that they have found the killer a new coach that the preacher is convinced this new coach is bad news. Lucy however is not convinced that the coach is guilty. However, the deeper Lucy gets into the story she realizes that she is playing with fire. Carol is not the savior that the people thought, and it seems that her past has caught up with her, and Lucy Stone is right in the middle of everything. If you love cozy mysteries with a great few twists then you will love this one! 
• 
  Amy D.

  Despite this being #4 in the series, I have read more than four of these (I started somewhere in the middle and bounced around a bit to match the seasons). This one has been my least favorite thus far. I always appreciate the mystery that mom and part-time journalist Lucy Stone finds herself trying to solve - and actually liked this mystery more than others - but this one had too much drama in it. A lot of time (and repetition) was spent on Lucy reflected on her underappreciated role as wife and mother; it seemed like the mystery took a back seat as Lucy daydreamed about a possible new romance. So many cozy mystery series encompass too much drama and romance for me, which is one thing that I usually appreciate more about these. I thought the mystery could have stood on its own. That said, I'm sure a lot of readers appreciate and can relate to Lucy's feelings and struggles.
  
  I did about 75% audio book and 25% ebook for this reading.
• 
  Aaron

  Lucy Stone is back for another case, though we have seen a couple of years pass since the last book in the series. The heat of summer still seems to be holding on to Tinkers Cove, Maine, but that is not preventing the start of the school day. The summer heat is not the only thing hot as the students head back to school. The town's elementary school is targeted with a bomb threat. Thankfully, everyone is able to get out and emergency services arrive in time to prevent anyone from getting hurt when the bomb goes off. That is not the last of the excitement to hit this small town.
  
  The school's vice principal, Carol Crane was able to save a special needs student who had gotten trapped in the school. Not surprisingly, most of the residents of the town look to her as a hero. Things take a surprising twist, when Carol is found strangled to death in her bed. Lucy finds herself with the inside scoop for both cases because she has taken on a temporary position in the office of the local, small-town newspaper. As with most small papers, Lucy finds herself picking up more than the expected responsibilities. Of course, our amateur detective finds herself speaking with all of the involved characters.
  
  Getting a job is not the first big change Lucy finds herself exploring. With the extra money coming in from the newspaper, she decides to take a Victorian literature course at the local college. She definitely enjoys it, but she can't help but notice that he is definitely flirting with her. She is not sure how she feels about that, but she definitely knows what her husband will think about it.
  
  i really enjoyed this one. I like Lucy. While the books are a little older, they definitely seem to hold up quite nicely. As I have mentioned with some of the earlier books in the series, some of the background characters do seem to continue to not be really developed. The townspeople who make regular cameos in the books are not always truly memorable from book to book, but that seemed to be something that was a little less obvious with this book. I will definitely be picking up the next one in the series.
• 
  Elizabeth

  This had some unexpected twists, turns and connections. I enjoyed it.
• 
  Marc Raygoza

  It’s a contemporary “Mayberry” that meets “Murder She Wrote”.
  
• 
  Gale Wilkinson

  This is a great series. I love the characters and the mystery keeps me guessing until the end.
• 
  Julie

  Lucy should tell Bill to boil his head and should develop better taste in crushes, but this was otherwise enjoyable.
• 
  Ashleigh Stevens

  It's the first day of school in a peaceful little Maine town. For Lucy Stone, this means a few childless hours to work at the local newspaper and contemplate night classes. However, when she gets reports of a bomb in her children's school, Lucy starts to wonder who put it there. When her prime suspect ends up dead and an innocent man is arrested, Lucy becomes determined to clear his name and discover the truth.
  
  This book jumped out of me because Lucy Stone is a mother of four--three girls and a boy, just like me--who lives in a small New England town. I really wanted to like this book and, although it was a little dated, I must say, I did enjoy it.
  
  This is an older story, written in an era before 9-11 and the Columbine school shootings. The story opens with a bomb in the elementary school. In case readers find such a scenario disturbing, I will put this spoiler: No one is killed in the explosion and there is only one minor injury. While I understand how this topic may be a difficult subject for some readers, I think the author handles it tactfully.
  
  This story takes place in the late 1990s and one of the influential characters in the book holds some very dated, sexist ideas. Lucy struggles to find balance as a new working mother while her husband expects her to "handle the children" and have dinner on the table when he gets home. Though some of the views do feel a little dated (yet relevant to that time period), I feel this is an issue with which many families still struggle and I could sympathize, even empathize, with her plight.
  
  My only real complaint about this story was that there was a fair amount of head-hopping. Although the story is primarily in Lucy's point of view, it occasionally changes to other characters for only part of a scene. I would have liked to have seen a little more consistency there.
  
  Otherwise, this book was very engaging. There was no shortage of suspects. While I figured out early who was responsible for the school bomb, and even knew why long before Lucy did, I was unable to solve the overall mystery before it was revealed.
  
  Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to reading more in this series.