Star Spangled Murder — Leslie Meier

Lucy Stone is in the doghouse--with her next-door neighbor Mrs. Prudence Pratt. It seems that Kudo, the Stones' misbehaving mutt, has developed a taste for Mrs. Pratt's blue-ribbon winning chickens. And he's also developed an escape artist's talent for sneaking out, no matter how hard Lucy tries to keep him on her property. With the Fourth of July coming up, Lucy doesn't want to set off any more fireworks with the crabby Prudence.

As if Lucy needed any other sign that the crazy days of summer are in full swing, a group of naturists--a.k.a. nudists--descends on Tinker's Cove, skinny-dipping at the pond which borders Mrs. Pratt's property, and giving her another reason to complain. To make matters worse, the local lobstermen are upset about poachers--and suspicion falls on Mrs. Pratt's husband and son. Then the July Fourth fireworks are canceled to protect a patch of extremely rare purple-spotted lichen.

The whole town is in an uproar--and Lucy is kept on her toes covering the goings-on for the Pennysaver newspaper. But the biggest story of her career occurs right next door when Mrs. Pratt is the victim of a hit-and-run. Tinker's Cove is full of suspects, but none with so personal a motive as the Stones. Their feud with Mrs. Pratt has put Lucy and her family at risk of losing their freedom this Independence Day--unless Lucy can start things off with a bang by catching a red, white and blue killer...