In bestseller Meier's subpar 28th Lucy Stone mystery (after 2021's Irish Parade Murder), Lucy, a reporter for the Tinker Cove, Maine, Courier, is relieved when Julia Tilley, "the town's oldest and most revered resident," pulls through pneumonia and moves temporarily to Heritage House, an eldercare facility. After visiting Miss Tilley at Heritage House, Lucy gets a call from the daughter of another resident asking for Lucy's help in locating her mom, Agnes Neal, who failed to return from a birdwatching walk. All roads lead to Heritage House as Lucy later covers the home's annual Easter bonnet contest. Ten days after Agnes went missing, her putrefied body turns up in a stairwell during a fire drill. Lucy eventually figures out who killed Agnes, but instead of going to the police, she decides to confront the man, who's a dangerous war criminal, on her own. Lucy winds up in a situation that threatens the lives of Heritage House residents. Even cozy readers will have trouble with the initially plodding plot and characters who behave in unconvincing ways. This is for die-hard series fans only. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Feb.)

A missing senior spells trouble for reporter Lucy Stone. Now that publisher Ted Stillings has merged Tinker's Cove's Pennysaver with the nearby Gilead Gabber to create the regional Courier, Lucy's been hoping to cover bigger stories than the local school board meeting. Still, when she's asked to cover the annual Easter bonnet contest at Heritage House, the local senior living facility, she's happy to oblige. For one thing, her dear friend Miss Julia Ward Howe Tilley is at Heritage House recovering from a nasty bout of pneumonia. For another, Bev, Dorothy, and Bitsy, the three residents who corner her on her visit to Miss Tilley, remind her how important it is not to neglect the surviving members of the Greatest Generation. But when she gets a frantic phone call from Geri Mazzone saying that her mother, Agnes Neal, has disappeared from Heritage House, Lucy begins to scent trouble. Agnes is one of the youngest of the residents and certainly one of the sharpest. She spent years as a war correspondent covering the most dangerous conflicts across Europe. Now in her 70s, she doesn't need any care--she just got sick of taking care of her house. So she sold it and moved someplace where she could enjoy gourmet meals and nearby bird-watching trails. Easter bonnets give Lucy a good cover story for her investigation, and Miss Tilley provides her with eyes and ears on the premises. But will a tough old bird and a gal with a nose for news be a match for serious bad guys who prey on seniors? Small-town evil at its smarmiest. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.