Death of a Bacon Heiress

Death of a Bacon Heiress by Lee Hollis is the seventh book in the Hayley Powell Mystery series.  Dr. Alvin Foley has been missing for a couple of weeks.  It is the talk of the town until Hayley Powell, writer of Island Food and Spirits for The Island Times, is invited to do a cooking demonstration on The Chat where she meets Olivia Redmond.  Olivia is the owner of Redmond Meats (a very powerful and rich woman). Olivia asks Hayley to write blog posts for the Redmond Meats website (and Hayley can really use the money).  When Hayley stops by Olivia’s house, she finds Olivia dead in her yard (with Olivia’s pot-bellied pig, Pork Chop nearby).   The suspect list is long and includes The Chat hostess, Rhonda Franklin.  Hayley will have her work cut out for trying to find the culprit.  In the meantime, Hayley has to provide a home for Pork Chop (and Hayley’s other animals are not happy) and is dealing with her boyfriend, Dr. Aaron Palmer (local vet).  Aaron has been distant lately and is not returning Hayley’s phone calls (like he is avoiding her).  Is he getting ready to propose?  And what is going on with Rhonda Franklin and Hayley’s friend, Mona (who has been married for twenty years and has a houseful of unruly children)?  They are certainly seeing a lot of each other.  Things are lively and about to get worse when the body of Dr. Alvin Foley turns up. 

I found Death of a Bacon Heiress to be too ridiculous (silly).  The mysteries were extremely easy to solve.  The writer tries to lead the reader down the wrong path, but the killer is extremely obvious.  Death of a Bacon Heiress can easily be read alone (you do not have to read the previous books in the series in order to know what it going on in the novel).  There are some bacon recipes included in the back of the book (a bonus).  Martha Stewart must be getting a royalty check from this book since she was mentioned four times.  I was shocked that the main character thought three hundred thread count sheets were a luxury (I prefer 800 or higher).  I give Death of a Bacon Heiress 3 out of 5 stars.   While Death of a Bacon Heiress is not for me, I am sure that many others will enjoy the humor in the novel. 

The previous books in the Hayley Powell Mystery series are Death of a Kitchen Diva, Death of a Country Fried Redneck, Death of a Coupon Clipper, Death of a Chocoholic, Death of a Christmas Caterer, and Death of a Cupcake Queen.  The next book in the series is Death of a Pumpkin Carver which will be out in October.  I received a complimentary copy of Death of a Bacon Heiress from NetGalley (and Kensington Books) in exchange for an honest evaluation of the novel.

I hope all of you had a delightful Tuesday.  I am off to pick up my new glasses tomorrow!  They had to special order my lenses (if they did not have new technology, I would be that person with coke bottle lenses)!  I am off to read and watch the third season of Saving Hope.  Take care and Happy Reading!

Kris

The Avid Reader