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.
From Publishers WeeklyPreparations for a ballet school recital in Tinker's Cove, Mass., provide the setting for this second, determinedly domestic, Lucy Stone adventure, after Mail-Order Murder. Lucy, in her sixth month of pregnancy, is fully enmeshed in family life with her husband and three youngsters when her neighbor Caroline Hutton, mentor to ballet instructor Tatiana, disappears. The police say the 70-year-old former dancer has simply gone on vacation without telling anyone. Lucy and Tatiana aren't so sure, but Tatiana's recital preparations and Lucy's domestic demands preclude further investigation. Lucy lends her video camera to her friend Franny, who has been falsely accused of stealing from the hardware store where she works. The owner finds the recorder, confiscates it and sacks Franny, but when Lucy goes to the store to demand its return, she finds that the owner has been bludgeoned to death with the camera. When Franny is arrested for murder, Lucy resolves to save her. Meier links the missing neighbor and the murdered hardware store owner in this quirky, low-key puzzle, which is packed with the details of small-town, family life. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
What do You think about Tippy Toe Murder (1999)?
On one hand I wanted to give this book a solid 5 stars because I love Lucy and her family. I love the era that these earlier books are set in (a time before cell phones as cheap and common tools of the everyday, having a video camera that costs more than a thousand dollars!) and I adore the setting of Tinker's Cove. I liked learning about how spouse abuse was handled in this time period and the murderer was difficult to really figure out (plenty of red-herrings).I also wanted to give it a one star because of what I really thought doesn't fit in a typical cozy. Now I realize that this is not a typical cozy series. What I hated was the brief passages about child abuse and even infant abuse, by the child's own father. Yes, I know it is more common than I really want to know about...but not in my cozy mystery. However, this abuse was an integral part of the secondary story line.So I took my 5 stars and one star and settled on a 3 star rating.The story itself was an interesting one or should I say, both stories were interesting. One story dealt with the disappearance of a beloved elderly ballet teacher who I thought had been murdered. I thought that this was who the story would revolve around. But I was wrong. The murder mystery actually was about someone else. An elderly really nasty man and everyone thought that the murderer was someone who had (maybe), years ago killed her husband. Read to the end…it was sure a surprise to me!
—Dianne
I thought this was a little more detailed than a regular cozy. There was one section on the abuse of a child that I found upsetting but having said that, the book was good.Lucy is pregnant with her 4th child and when a beloved old woman disappears, she wants to get to the end of it. The police have seemed to forget about it.A young woman has worked in the small town's hardware store for a long time, never asking for above minimum wage. Ben, the proprietors grandson starts working there and merchandise and money start disappearing. Morrill blames Franny, the longtime employee. She thinks it's the grandson and sets out to prove it. She borrows Lucy's video camera and gets footage but Lucy finds Morrill dead in his office, killed with the video camera and the tape missing. Franny is arrested for the murder. Lucy sets out to find the truth in both of these crimes.
—Paula
I'm glad to have found this series. And I'm confident the rest of the books will be just as good as this one. There was a double mystery here. The disappearance and the murder - both of them solved almost together. The murderer came out of the blue to confess, and that took one star away. But I was impressed with the timing of the entire book. I'm always responsive towards a deft manipulation of characters' whereabouts and their role in the story. The author did a sterling job moving her characters and she made me care and she immersed me in her world. The atmosphere is unique, and like I said, I'm looking forward to reading the rest of these juicy books.
—Luffy Monkey D.
