TIPPY-TOE MURDER
by Leslie Meier
A second visit to Maine's Tinker's Cove and homemaker-sleuth Lucy Stone (Mail Order Murder, 1991), pregnant again (her fourth) and at the center of village activities. The disappearance of retired dance teacher Caro Binney and the murder of nasty old hardware-store owner Morrill Slack have Lucy running in all directions, eventually tracking Caro, unmasking a slick lawyer in the process, and giving staunch support to wrongly accused Franny Small, Slack's longtime employee—all this sandwiched between school taxiing, Little League, ballet lessons, and helpful chats with women friends. An easygoing style, a few chuckles, but too heavy on cozy details, too lightweight in plotting and detection.