Halloween Party Murder

Meier, Hollis, and Ross each contribute a novella set in Maine and focused on Halloween to their entertaining fourth holiday-themed anthology (after 2019’s Haunted House Murder). In Meier’s “Halloween Party Murder,” fun at a haunted house turns into horror when Heather Moon, the house’s owner, is found dead. Did Heather’s husband kill her for the large inheritance she recently received? Journalist Lucy Stone investigates. New restaurateur Hayley Powell throws a costume bash in Hollis’s “Death of a Halloween Party Monster,” but didn’t expect one guest, a high school teacher dressed as a clown, to have his head bashed in. She’ll need to figure out who among the other guests really hated clowns. Finally, in Ross’s “Scared Off,” teenagers who crash a slumber party are frightened to see the ghost of Mrs. Zelisko, the upstairs neighbor who’s supposed to be supervising the party for the host’s irresponsible parents. Then Mrs. Zelisko turns up dead. All three charming novellas are enlivened by appealing characters. These puzzling cases are a seasonal treat for cozy readers. [em]Agents: (for Meier) Christina Hogrebe, Jane Rotrosen Agency; (for Ross) John Talbot, Talbot Fortune Agency. (Sept.)[/em]