Halloween Party Murder
The Blurb
HALLOWEEN PARTY MURDER by LESLIE MEIER
Tinker’s Cove’s newest residents Ty and Heather Moon, turn their Victorian home into a haunted house to raise funds for charity. But the Halloween fun turns to horrific fright when Heather overdoses on tainted drugs, and Ty finds himself accused of murder. Digging deep into the story, journalist Lucy Stone uncovers some sinister secrets in the Moons’ past linked to a conspiracy in her hometown.
DEATH OF A HALLOWEEN PARTY MONSTER by LEE HOLLIS
Everyone attending Island Times Food and Cocktail columnist Hayley Powell’s Halloween bash is dressed as their favorite movie monster, from the Bride of Frankenstein and Jaws to Chucky and Pennywise the clown. But when partygoers stumble upon Boris Candy’s bludgeoned costumed corpse, it falls to Hayley to discover who among her guests wanted to stop the man from clowning around permanently.
SCARED OFF by BARBARA ROSS
Three teenage girls having a sleepover on Halloween night get spooked when high schoolers crash the house for a party. But no one expected to find a crasher like Mrs. Zelisko, the elderly third-floor tenant, dead in the backyard, dressed in a sheet like a ghost. With her niece traumatized, Julia Snowden must uncover who among the uninvited guests was responsible for devising such a murderous trick.
The Details
Series: Holiday Short Story Compilation
Author(s): Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, Barbara Ross
Genre/Category: Cozy – Halloween/Short Stories
Publisher: Kensington Books
ISBN: 1496733827
Page Count: 336
Rating: 4
The Review
Halloween Party Murder is the latest book in a line of short story compilations for the holidays, in this case, the holiday of Halloween, my personal favorite. I love these yearly volumes. They are quick reads that inspire me to get creative. This addition has contributions from three of my favorite authors, and the stories will leave readers with a tingle of excitement and an inch to throw a party.
Leslie Meier’s “Halloween Party Murder” gives the classic haunted house a new twist. It has it all, great suspects, a believable victim, and clues that will make readers suspicious of visiting a haunted house this coming holiday. This story proves that we don’t really know what goes on behind closed doors, and maybe we don’t want to.
In “Death of a Halloween Party Monster,” by Lee Hollis, readers will question whether or not they want to attend a costume party during the spooky holiday. The victim isn’t a great person, and his choice of costume seems fitting; who isn’t terrified of creepy clowns! The suspect pool is limited but enough to make readers scratch their heads and smile when they come to the right conclusion.
Everyone loves a good ghost story for Halloween, teenagers especially seem to enjoy scaring each other with them, but in “Scared Off” by Barabra Ross, they may want to rethink telling these holiday favorites. When a group of young people crashes a tween sleepover, the ghost comes out to play, and murder is sure to follow. A house full of suspects and evidence that is difficult to decipher makes this story one for the ages.
These are well-written Halloween stories geared to make readers look forward to the upcoming holiday and maybe give them a moment of concern about it as well. The authors are talented individuals who know their craft and work their magic with words. So, if you are looking for a few hours of ghastly delights, this volume is the one to pick up for the ghostly season. I am happy to recommend this book as well as others in this yearly series.
The Authors
Leslie started writing in the late ‘80s when she was attending graduate classes at Bridgewater State College. She wanted to become certified to teach high school English, and one of the required courses was Writing and the Teaching of Writing. Her professor suggested that one of the papers she wrote for that course was good enough to be published, and she sent it off to Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine’s Department of First Stories. She received $100 for the story, and she has been writing ever since. The teaching, however, didn’t work out. Leslie has five fabulous grandchildren. She and her husband enjoy dividing their time between Braintree and Cape Cod, along with their cat, Sylvester.
Represented by: Jane Rotrosen Agency
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Lee Hollis is the pen name for a brother and sister writing team. Rick Copp is a veteran film and television writer/producer and the author of two other mystery novel series. He lives in Palm Springs, California. Holly Simason is an award-winning food and cocktails columnist for the Mount Desert Islander newspaper in Bar Harbor, Maine, where she resides.
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Barbara Ross is the author of the Maine Clambake Mysteries and the Jane Darrowfield Mysteries. Her books have been nominated for multiple Agatha Awards for Best Contemporary Novel and have won the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction. Barbara’s novellas are included in holiday anthologies from Kensington Publishing. In her former life, Barbara was a co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of successful start-ups in educational technology. She and her husband live in Portland, Maine.
Represented by: Talbot Fortune Agency
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Other short story compilations readers may enjoy for the upcoming holiday season include Christmas Card Murder or Christmas Cocoa Murder.
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