Trick or Deceit (Celebration Bay Mystery Book 4)

It's Halloween in Celebration Bay and Liv Montgomery once again has a million things to do, from the winner of the Official Haunted House contest to the Zombie Parade to working on a grant to get much needed money for a new community center.Liv is waiting for an old New York acquaintance, Jonathon Preston to show up in town to investigate the grant request and is hoping everything is perfect for him.Unfortunately, things don't work out as a dead body is found next to the winning haunted house. It turns out to be one of the committee members, Lucille who voted on the winning house, which makes Ernest - the second place contestant who is desperate for money to become the chief suspect.But did he do it? Rumors were that Lucille, despite being married,was known to have a lot of affairs, could it be one of them, maybe her husband, maybe someone angry with her husband and wanted to get revenge?All Liv knows is she wants it all to be solved before Jon shows up as she thinks it will ruin their chances of getting the grant if there is a lot of crime going on, so she is determined to get this murder solved as soon as possible.************************Highlights:I love Liv, her assistant Ted and her dog Whiskey. Ted trying to teach Whiskey how to sing always brings a smile to my face. Miss Edna and Miss Ida, the retired schoolteachers who are Liv's landladies. Bill - the sheriff and A.K. the head of security.I really like the fact that Liv actually investigates, uses her head (most of the time) and doesn't just wait around to have clues fall into her lap.********************Lowlights:Chaz (I don't know if it's me or what, but I can't stand this guy). He's the local newspaper man who seems to be shoehorned into being a future boyfriend for Liv. I find him totally obnoxious and the fact that he makes Liv beg him to help her in every book is a real turnoff. I find she has much more chemistry with A.K.**********************I've enjoyed this series from the first book and especially enjoy the details of what an Event Coordinator has to go through to get things to work perfectly. Can't wait to read the next book.

Even though this is the fourth book in the Celebration Bay cozy mystery series, it is the first one that I have read. I found it to be very enjoyable with characters who are well-developed and the mystery is one that is multi-layered and definitely not ordinary. It takes place as the Halloween holiday nears and as Celebration Bay, NY gets ready for their annual event featuring a haunted house contest. The winner will receive $10,000 and other monies will go toward a new community center.Protagonist Liv Montgomery is the event coordinator for the town and has been in that position for a year. The haunted houses are judged and the Museum of Yankee Horrors wins the prize. After the haunted house wins, it is severely vandalized, with the mannequins used for the characters inside taken apart and thrown in an unmowed area of high grass. Mannequin arms, legs, torsos and heads are everywhere and the haunted house may be in ruins for the weekend when the houses will be open to the public. As volunteers from the nearby theater group help salvage the mannequins, one of them finds arms and legs attached to a body that isn't fake. It's a real dead body and it belongs to one of the contest judges.Liv now has a real problem on her hands. She has invited a friend from New York who is CEO of a philanthropic group to Celebration Bay in hopes that he will be impressed and will approve a grant for the much-needed new community center. With property destruction and now a murder, how impressed can he be?I loved this mystery. The story is good and the characters are hard to judge as to who is guilty and who isn't. I plan on going back to the beginning of the series and catching up.

It's Hallowe'en time at Celebration Bay, a small community that has rebuilt its moribund economy by becoming a town of seasonal festivals. A haunted house contest is in progress, and part of the proceeds will fund a badly-needed community center. Town festival runner Liv Montgomery is also hoping that she can get a grant for the center from a philanthropic acquaintance she knew in New York City. But then the winner of the haunted house contest has his display trashed, and in the mess found scattered in the vacant lot next door, the body of one of the judges is found. Next thing she knows, Liv, her assistant Ted, the infuriating editor of the local newspaper Chaz, and the local sheriff are all involved in another murder case.The big trouble with this one is that, despite misdirection, you'll spot the murderer early on, otherwise there's a lot of Hallowe'eny goodness going on in Celebration Bay: a witch and her coven have taken over one of the stores on the square, a religious extremist is protesting the celebration, the haunted house finalists are at each other's throats, and, as always, Chaz is being his annoying self. I'm still waiting for Freydont to reveal the mysteries of Ted, who puts on a startling performance at a town council meeting. Plus there's a whiff of romantic interest for Liv. Red herrings don't save the mystery, but it's still a fun Fright Night in a series I really enjoy.

I have enjoyed all the books in this series and look forward to the next ond.

A fun cosy mystery, just the right thing for the grey days in autumn. I loved the town of Celebration Bay and would like to know someone like Liz. As I got into the mystery and met all the towns people I was introduced to Yolanda the towns witch, who is a fascinating character that I hope to see more of.The mystery wasn't hard for me to figure out--but in my case this does not matter. The most important thing in a good cosy mystery are the people, and this author has the wonderful characters down pat.

Beautiful serie. Intrigue, mayhem and murder and a little bit of love included. All the ingredients for a good read.

I really enjoy reading the trials of Celebration Bay and like all the characters which is a plus and Whiskey the dog cant wait for the next book