Good Day! Silver Anniversary Murder by Leslie Meier comes out on September 25. It is the latest A Lucy Stone Mystery. Christmas Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke also releases on September 25. It is the newest A Hannah Swensen Mystery. It takes readers back to before the Cookie Jar opened in Lake Eden.
Death of a Cookbook Author by Lee Hollis is the tenth book in A Hayley Powell Food & Cocktails Mystery series
(that’s a mouthful). Hayley Powell is shocked
when Penelope Janice, cookbook author and television personality, is a fan of
her column. Penelope invites Hayley to
participate in her Third Annual Fourth of July Celebrity Potluck Celebration at
her estate in Seal Harbor, Maine. The
competition along with the other festivities for the weekend will be filmed for
Penelope’s show. Hayley is thrilled to
be invited and hopes that her cooking will measure up. The first night they have steamed mussels for
dinner which Hayley devours. She soon
regrets her over indulgence when she wakes up with food poisoning in the middle
of the night and is unable to find a bathroom.
She overhears two people plotting a murder, but Penelope just laughs off
Hayley’s concerns. The following day
Hayley is awakened to screams. Conrad
Janice has been found at the bottom of the cliff. The victim had been extremely drunk the night
before and Chief of Police Sergio Alvares rules it an accident. Hayley believes foul play is involved, but
she will need to find hard evidence to prove it. Penelope is not about to let the death of her
husband stop the weekend, so the festivities proceed (gives Hayley time to
snoop). Hayley is unprepared for an unexpected
dip into the ocean, a boyfriend for the weekend, or a second body. It is going to be a wild Fourth of July weekend
in Death of a Cookbook Author.
Death of a Cookbook Author is
nicely written and has a steady pace.
While this is the tenth installment in the series, it can be read
alone. The necessary background details
are provided for new readers. I thought the mystery was well-crafted and clever
(I never thought to use an automated cat feeder in that way). There are several suspects and good
misdirection. I have to admit that I enjoyed
the dig at a certain politician who loves Twitter. All the loose ends are wrapped up at the end
of the book. There are some great laugh
out loud moments and Hayley’s columns were entertaining. It
will be interesting to see how Hayley’s new romance progresses in future books. I did not think Hayley would ever admit her
feeling for this man. I would like to
see Hayley mature in future books as she does not always act her age (she comes
across as immature at times). There are
recipes included in the book. Death of a Cookbook Author is my favorite book so far in this series.
Lee Hollis has a new series starting this summer with A Desert Flowers Mystery series. The first book is Poppy Harmon Investigates and it will be out on July 31. Thank you so much for visiting. I am featuring The Wedding Quilt Bride by Marta Perry tomorrow (May 1). I hope you have a beautiful day. Take care and Happy Reading!
Kris
The Avid Reader
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