Leslie Meier

When Lucy Stone's neighbor, Caro Binney, a retired dance teacher, disappears, and Morrill Slack is killed with a video camera, Lucy sets out to track down Caro, who could be linked to Morrill's murder. Reissue.

Tippy Toe Murder

Never would I imagine a book trying to make me sympathize with a pedophile. I don't care if it's one single sentence, that is not something I ever expected to find in a cozy mystery.

I'm not sure if Leslie Meter was trying to prove something with this novel. Or rather, I know she was on a rant about the judicial system's treatment of women who commit crime, especially when she made women's prison sound like a cakewalk. The descriptions of abuse were bad enough, but then we hear about a past murder and the cold hearted description just chills you to the bone. Add in some sexist remarks about how women never commit crime, can't be capable of the same level of crime, or how "he had it coming" makes it okay and man does this supposedly cozy murder even outrank some procedural mysteries I read.

Moving on to the "mystery," we have 2 separate stories that run without overlapping until the very end. Background information that would have been useful is unartfully withheld to make it "shocking" as we discover who the girl is. There is a weird suggestion that Lucy is in an abusive relationship, almost like no relationship is without abuse. The climax also involves a relatively graphic rape scene, so that was offputting. The killer is only discovered when admitting it like the time of the day to the cops. The climax was placed pretty horribly, with the murder figured out before we even get to the whole dance recital. I honestly skipped the last chapter and skimmed the epilogue.

All in all, it's a pretty terrible book. I don't know what editor thought this fit the cozy mystery subgenre, but I hope they got a slap in the face for this book. I know others are better so perhaps skip this one if you're reading the series, or the least be forewarned that it's rather graphic. This is 1 strong because of the points above. I wanted another foray into the cozy town with a mystery solved by the comfy Lucy Stone that makes you fuzzy on the inside. This was billed as being that book, and instead I got the empty chills that I was trying to escape.

Now I have to find something actually warm and fuzzy to get over this wreck of a book.

Tippy Toe Murder

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