Lucy is less excited about the contest when she meets the mother/daughter teams they will be spending the week with. Many are less than pleasant, though Lucy must admit she is beginning to enjoy all the pampering. The trip takes a disturbing turn when the fashion editor, Nadine Nelson, falls ill and dies. At first everyone assumes it is the flu, but it soon determined to be murder. Lucy doesn’t have time to ruminate on the death because Elizabeth falls ill with symptoms that mimic Nadine’s.

Now Lucy is in Manhattan away from her friends and family, very scared for Elizabeth’s health and concerned for the safety of the rest of the contestants and herself.

In trying to figure out what Elizabeth may have contracted, Lucy knows she must look closer at Nadine’s death, but when she finds the answer to Elizabeth’s illness it is much more serious - and much more sinister than Lucy would have every guessed.

New Year’s Eve Murder has a much different tone from the traditional Tinker’s Cove mysteries readers have grown to love. While Manhattan adds a touch of glamour, Elizabeth’s illness which turns out to much more than the flu, adds an unusual macabre touch. Lucy reminisces about time she spent in the city as a younger woman, but beyond lamenting the Lexington Line now being called the 4,5 and 6 trains, not much else is added. More information about that phase of Lucy’s life would have been welcomed.

Many people hated the high-strung Nadine, and even some of the contestants might have a motive to harm her with the high-stakes contest. There are plenty of clues that lead to the murderer and motive, though concern for Elizabeth often overshadows Nadine’s death, as it should for Lucy. A much darker cast that contradicts a cheerful, playful cover may dissuade some new readers, but long time fans of the series will root for Elizabeth’s safe and healthy return to Tinker’s Cove.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry