Candy
Corn Murder
by
Leslie
Meier
A
Review
A
number of years ago, I had read almost all of Leslie Meier's holiday
murders. Those books got pushed aside as I began reading an
increasing number of books for review. But some things cannot remain
buried forever, and they will come back again. And so it has.
Candy
Corn Murder
is not Ms. Meier's best cozy mystery, but it did hold my attention.
The story develops along two paths – the one following the murder
as it occurred in 1979, the other in the present as the Lucy Stone
and her friends stumble through the clues to discover the true
circumstances of the missing wife. The present setting is Tinker's
Cove, Maine, where the first annual Giant Pumpkin Fest is about to
begin. The biggest problem
proves to be that if held as scheduled, secrets that some thought
were long buried were going to be exposed.
The
plot moves along at a nice pace – but reaches its end too abruptly.
From major plot events, to conclusion, to wrap-up, the book seems to
miss a potential climatic end. For a book that has a major,
underlying theme, it is lost as the books wanders through its last
few paragraphs. As the author wrote her final paragraphs, they
should have been woven into a two or three separate chapters:
-
Wrapping up a number of secondary stories involving miscellaneous characters
-
Tying a pink ribbon around the important thesis which the final event of the book addresses
In
not doing so, the reader is forced to blink as the book moves between
each of these pieces of the story.
The
book, none-the-less, is worth reading. In spite of its flaws, it
comes with a high (five-star) recommendation. Leslie Meier has again
presented an excellent tale in the midst of another holiday season.
______________
This
review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher
for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed
are my own.
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