Lucy Stone is juggling the demands of managing a household with four children and getting them off to a new school year, plus working her part-time job at the Pennysaver, Tinker Cove’s weekly newspaper, when a shocking announcement comes over the police scanner. Lucy rushes to the scene of a potential bombing in time to witness the action. As usual, where Lucy goes, murder follows. But can she catch the culprit before they strike again? As always, this series provides a quaint look at small-town Maine life and a spunky mom solving crime in between getting all those lasagnas in the oven. Enjoyed the school/education theme in this one.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.
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This was the Cozy Mystery Discord server book club selection for September and the first one I've read in this series. Cute, charming and very cozy, I really enjoyed it.

Although the characters were likeable, they didn't have a lot of dimension, especially Lucy's husband and kids who weren't much more than convenient plot distractions. I don't know if that evolves as the series goes on (this one is fairly early in the series) but I felt that all the family activities bogged it down a bit in the middle, along with the constant rehashing. Still, I liked the writing style and the plot was absorbing; although there were a couple of dropped threads, I liked how Lucy set out to investigate and everything she found.

Overall, I enjoyed this one and I'll be reading the other books in the series as I can get to them. ( )

It’s the first day of school, and the excitement that permeates the school gets ratcheted up when a bomb threat becomes the real thing. No one is hurt, and the assistant principal becomes a hero when she rescues a child from the building. But Lucy suspects not everything is as it first seems. Lucy may not be a true investigative reporter, but she is the next best thing. And it almost gets her killed. Ahh, it’s small-town life at its best. Though it is an engrossing mystery, it is also interesting to view Lucy and her family, as they cope with everyday problems, making ends meet, and just living their lives. Husband Bill will have to adjust when Lucy goes to work, and Lucy will have to learn to juggle home life and job responsibilities. That’s one of reasons this series is so great: the characters develop and grow as time goes on. ( )

I believe I've read other books in this series (since I can't recall for sure that makes me think that I didn't find the series compelling enough to go out and seek other books from it based on the previous ones I'd read).

I didn't guess who the killer was. I did guess correctly that the assistant principal enjoyed the recognition/attention she got after saving a child at the country club and therefore engineered other rescues to make herself look good. I did also guess at Lucy's professor's intentions before they were revealed.

I think at one point Rev. DeWalt Smythe's last name ended up changed to Smith--or at least I couldn't recall any Smiths in the book, but there were quite a few characters and after a while I'm not sure I remembered them all. ( )

Please see all my reviews on my blog at www.robinlovesreading.blogspot.com.

4.5 Stars

In this fourth book in the Lucy Stone Mystery series, Lucy, a mom of four, has temporarily been working at the newspaper office. In so doing, she was one of the first to hear of something terrible happening at the local elementary school, where her second-grader, Sarah, attends. She rushes to the school and all but one student had gotten out safely. When it is realized that one student is missing, Carol Crane, assistant principal rushes in and saves the child. Shortly afterwards, when someone is murdered, Lucy cannot help herself and begins investigating as only she can.

As has been the case in the previous books in this successful and engaging series, Lucy reprises her role as an amateur detective, with her work at the newspaper office opening a few more doors for her. I have said this once, and will say it again, I really love Lucy. She is a great sleuth and has the respect of those in her life, giving her the opportunity to get to the bottom of things when it comes to finding out the truth.

Back to School Murder was a great read. There were some excellent twists and turns in this terrific read. We learn more about facets of Lucy's personality as she copes with changing experiences, as she has experienced quite a bit of growth in this fourth book in the series. And, just when I thought I knew who the culprit was, I was truly shocked. I experienced similar shock more than once in this book. When it came to the conclusion, I was pleasantly surprised. Good play by the author, Leslie Meier.

These books are quick and fun to read. Valentine Murder is next on tap, and I am definitely looking forward to it. I have also downloaded this series through book eight. ( )