Ultimately, it was an OK murder mystery with some OK twists and turns and conclusions...but there were some MAJOR flaws... and if those flaws had been, er, done away with... well, what I'm really trying to say is that I think the author actually has potential. Though I don't know if she'd ever realize it, since this formula makes her successful enough...
Major Flaw #1: it's a book called Trick or Treat Murder, yet the murder does NOT happen on Halloween or surrounding any Halloween-related activity. in any way. whatsoever. Rather, the murder happens in the days leading up to Halloween, so ya know, it's being investigated around Halloween time. Which I don't think is enough. But maybe even that could have been if there was more Halloween in this Halloween book. Instead, it's like, they're getting ready for this big Halloween party, and that's supposed to be enough? Where're all the descriptions of all the Halloween decorations all over the neighborhood, the candy being purchased, the costume-planning, the Halloween activities, buying pumpkins, carving them, etc. etc. etc. So, I thought that was a MAJOR let down.
Major Flaw #2: This is the first Leslie Meier book I've read, so maybe this is just what these books are about, but it's NOT about a detective lady, even an amateur detective lady, solving mysteries. It's about a housewife with a bunch of kids, too much time on her hands, and a busy-body attitude. She likes to "investigate" things with not only NO authority to do so, but while being told NOT to do so by the authorities AND while receiving threats. While she has kids. I mean, that's incredibly careless, dangerous, and frankly stupid. Plus, she's not terribly bright. She comes to weird sudden conclusions ... surely crafted to lead the reader astray, but they're not even convincing. Oh! He was having an affair? It MUST BE HIM. I mean, with no other evidence, it's such a WEAK conclusion to draw. All of the various theories are so weakly manufactured, that the reader is, instead of trying to solve a mystery, just waiting for the *right* clues to be "conveniently" dropped on her lap. This, while the main character runs around in circles like a chicken with her head cut off, making grand accusations and essentially ignoring death threats to her and her family. AND THEN? Yeah, this book is more about the trials and tribulations of a housewife with 4 kids, one of which is a brand new baby, than it is about solving a mystery. In particular, it's about nursing, working out, and making 12 dozen cupcakes. Which I can assure the author does NOT take an entire week. Not to mention that the cupcakes that were made earlier in the week would be nice and stale by the time they were eaten.
Major Flaw #3: You've GOT to be kidding me on the husband. He's ridiculously 2-dimensional, which would be fine if he wasn't such a major character with such a major role. From where I'm sitting, he seems like a bit of an arrogant, distant a$$, but for some reason, Lucy Stone ("detective") worships him. And there's quite a bit of hero-worship going on here, which was eye-rolling for me, but might be nice for some people who want to fantasize about... this kind of guy? I don't know. I feel like, he must have been written this way because some people find that attractive....
So yeah. Some major problems. BUT it was enjoyable enough and read quickly enough, once you got past page 125 or so... It was nice to read a "Halloween themed" mystery at Halloween, even if it wasn't Halloween'y enough. I'd recommend for people who don't mind the off-topic murder mystery and who don't find reading about a new mom's "milk falling" off-putting...
Two and a half stars... but 3 on cites w/o halves.
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