Valentines Day Week! Let's Start with Chocolate Covered Murder! #BookReview

This book is the 18th book in the series and was published nine years ago. I have found that with this series, you don't have to read the series in order.  Lucy Stone is a favorite cozy sleuth of mine. She's a mom of four kids and who grow up during the series and lives in an old house in the small town of Tinker's Cove located in Coastal Maine.  In earlier books, Lucy used to say things like "how could this happen in our quiet town, this is the sort of thing that happens in cities.  (cue eye roll from me).  Fortunately, by this point in the series, Lucy has realized that bad stuff happens everywhere. Her husband is around but mostly know for watching sports, working, and sometimes saying the wrong thing to his wife. This book is no exception as he tells Lucy "a few extra pounds is sexy" when Lucy is feeling bad about a weight gain.  

Lucy is often crabby and frequently nosy, the nosy part comes in handy since she is a reporter at the local Penny Saver and also because there are many a murder in Tinker's Cove. I imagine it is second only to Stephen King's Derry, Maine in murders per capita.

This series is known as a cozy series, but I have found it really doesn't match up with the typical cozy conventions. As is typical for this series Leslie Meier is going to talk about heavy topics, this one deals with opioid addiction and sexual consent.  There is some really outdated thinking highlighted in this book about women's behavior and fortunately, as the book goes on, Lucy does change some of her earlier judgemental inner monologues. 

If you are looking for a Valentine's Day-themed book with a potential serial killer,  look no further! 

Much to my dismay, the book didn't include chocolate recipes--or at least the e-version from my library didn't so here is a Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Recipe from Food Network.