Lee HollisReseñas

Another great book in the series.

Another great book in the series.

Three novella centering on murder and mittens, an amusing read. The first story by Lee Hollis and named Death of a Christmas Mitten Knitter brings many items into play such as pre-nupital agreements, kleptomania, and jealousy. One of the members of a local knitting group falls victim to death by a knitting needle. In the second novella, Two Christmas Mittens, witchcraft spirits the story of a cheating professor finding a possessed mitten and falling victim to a tire stick. The third novella, Murderous Mittens, has the victim hit on the head with a mitten covered bocce ball. I enjoyed two of the stories, but the witchy story flew out of my kettle. The new friendship formed between Cam and Cece in the last novella fell flat. The relationship developed too quickly. A fun and speedy read!

“But I never wanted to see a mitten again, murderous or otherwise.”

Settle in for visits with old friends and new in this three novella Christmas set compilation from some of my favorite cozy mystery authors. Hayley Powell is back on the case when a knitter gets done in by one of her own needles right in the middle of the Bar Harbor Christmas Bazaar. When someone Mia loves comes into contact with an ancient curse attached to a Christmas mitten she won’t rest until she finds a way to save her. And finally CeCe Barton’s origin story sees her hunting down a murderer to keep her twin out of jail. This is a must read!

Here's another terrific Christmas-themed short story collection of 3 stories centering on Christmas mittens.

As usual, the Lee Hollis story is excellent. I've never read any of her full-length mysteries but I've enjoyed all of her short stories. Here, food writer Hayley Powell helps solve a murder at a church's annual Christmas bazaar.

The second one was my least favorite. I've enjoyed Lynn Cahoon's full-length and short story mysteries. This one isn't bad but witch-related stories just aren't my thing.

The third one, by one of my favorite mystery authors, Maddie Day, was my favorite. In it, she introduces a new character, Cece Barton, who solves a murder done with a bocce ball inside a Christmas mitten. As a series, this series will have great potential and I'm looking forward to more.

Overall, an excellent trio of Christmas short stories, which I'd recommend to cozy fans.

(I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via Net Galley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.)½

I gave this a 4 out of 5 star review when I read it in July of 2016. I'm sorry that I forgot to write a detailed review on Librarything.com.

Oh, dear. Christmas holidays are nearly alway fun, but they can be stressful, too, especially when murder is involved. Hayley meets her daughter’s new boyfriend, a seemingly nice guy . . . or is he? When a local bad boy is found dead with traces of Hayley’s Yule log cake on his body, she doesn’t know what to think! The twist in this delightful novella may surprise you; it surely surprised the people in Bar Harbor. This tale is a well written and lovely Christmas mystery.

amateur-sleuth, cozy-mystery, crime-writer, culinary, family-drama, family-dynamics, feuding-families, food-columnist, friendship, Maine, murder, murder-investigation, pet-dog, read, recipes, restaurant, rivalry, series, situational-humor, small-business, small-town, verbal-humor*****

Clams, clans, and rivals.
The book opens with a pair of rivals mud wrestling for real, progresses through a series of confrontations between other members of the rival families, to a murder, all the while presenting some excellent recipes and a really good whodunit. The publisher's blurb is a good hook, and I suspect that the book can easily stand alone because so much family history is aired in the course of the book. Loved it and laughed my sox off.
I requested and received an EARC from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

Hayley Powell writes a food and cocktails column for the Island Times, the local newspaper where her husband Bruce works as a crime writer. She also has the pleasure of owning her own restaurant, Hayley's Kitchen, which has become popular with the locals and tourists alike since she opened it several months ago. It doesn't leave her a lot of free time to spend with her hubby, but they're both so busy, she doesn't think too much about it.

One morning while walking her dog Leroy, she sees two women fighting in the mud flats below, a popular clamming area. To her horror, one of them is her BFF Mona Barnes, who owns her own successful seafood company. The other is Vera Leighton, whose father owns the other seafood company in town. Determined to break it up, she heads to the bottom to find out what started the fight. When she finally succeeds, there's no comfort in it, since the two women have been rivals their entire lives, and their father hates the Barnes -- and the feeling is mutual.

But things get worse when it's discovered that Mona's son Dougie is in love with Lonnie's daughter Olive, and wants to propose to her. Worse yet, they're at Hayley's restaurant when Lonnie walks in with his girlfriend and spots them across the room. Accusations fly, and Lonnie tells Dougie to stay away from his daughter. When Mona finds out, all heck breaks loose. Then there's a murder, and now Hayley is in the middle of that, along with trying to keep peace between Mona and her sons. But it won't be easy, especially since the older two have secrets of their own. To make matters worse, an old girlfriend of Bruce's shows up and she's rich and successful...which has Hayley worried and jealous. Will she be able to find a murderer? Will she be able to keep her marriage? Will there be any peace in Bar Harbor ever again?

This is the sixteenth book in the series, and I've read them all. It's nice to see Mona's family as the center of activity, since they've usually been fringe characters up until now. We get to see that they have lives even their mother doesn't know about. But it's Dougie who takes center stage as a possible suspect, and Hayley has to find a killer to prove the young man's innocence. But when a killer thinks that they're smarter than you, and they've covered their tracks well, it might not be easy as she imagines.

Then there's the ex of Bruce, who keeps 'running into him' and he's flattered by all the attention that she's giving him. Hayley, who at first decided she liked the woman, is finding that she was wrong in her assessment, and is trying to prove to herself she's not jealous. But this is a problem she's never had to deal with before, so jealousy is a normal reaction for her. Watching Hayley, who's always been so confident, deal with a different emotion is interesting, but luckily, it doesn't pervade the story so never gets in the way of the mystery.

And the mystery is prime in this book. There are clues throughout, and I was down to two suspects (yes, one of them was the guilty party) when Hayley began to put everything together. How she does it is the best part, and even Sergio is there with his malapropisms. It's a fun ride in another adventure for Hayley, and for those who love clams (I don't, unfortunately) there are tons of yummy recipes included. (I wonder if any of them can be adapted for crab???). Highly recommended.

I received an advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.

Poppy is extremely surprised when her old rival, Serena Saunders, enlists her aid in checking out her fiancé before getting married again. However, Poppy agrees and the Desert Flowers get involved in murder and mayhem yet again.

It is entertaining to see Poppy juggle her own friends and business while trying to be supportive of a client she doesn't really like.

Another great book in the series.

retired-actor, retirees, private-investigators, investigation, cozy-mystery, California, verbal-humor, situational-humor, relationships, relationship-issues, murder, law-enforcement, Hollywood, actors, family-drama, family, family-dynamics, extortion, burglar*****

The actress who hired them was found gun in hand and dead man on her bedroom floor.
Poppy's a widowed retired actor who runs a PI agency with two friends (Iris and Violet), a younger male actor (Matt), and Iris's computer hacker grandson, Wyatt. Enter Poppy's former professional frenemy (Serena) who wants more info on the man she is about to marry. Then his children want info on Serena and things really go Hollywood. Great sleuthing, truly fascinating characters, plot twists that blindsided me, diabolical red herrings, and humor to die for!
Lots of sleuthing in Southern California and lots of name dropping, too, but it's the situational humor that got me! Loved it!
I requested and received a free e-book copy from Kensington Books/Kensington Cozies via NetGalley. Thank you!

cozy-mystery, private-investigators, series, chaperones, snarky, situational-humor, murder, murder-investigation, fbi, law-enforcement, excop, reporter, paparazzi, us-senator, divorcing, political-corruption, politicians, politics, verbal-humor, infidelities*****

The publisher's blurb is pretty good, but the story is much better. I really enjoyed it except that I thought that the ending fell apart instead of coaxing into the next in series. But I did read it straight through and will watch for the next one, anyway.
I requested and received a free temporary e-book copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

This is the third Maya and Sandra mystery and the first in the series that I have read. Maya Kendrick was a former police officer who is now a private investigator in Maine. Sandra Wallage is the soon-to-be ex-wife of one of Maine's US Senators and her partner.

After being guilted into taking part as chaperones to their children's senior class trip to Washington DC, they find themselves trying to solve the murder of one of Sandra's husband's staffers. Despite loud and frequent claims by a rival in the Senate, Senator Stephen Wallage has an airtight alibi. He was on the Senate floor when the murder happened, but the rest of his staff is still under suspicion.

Between dealing with an anal head chaperone who is obsessed with counting her charges and a fellow chaperone with a major crush on Sandra, Maya and Sandra still find time to investigate. I liked the insider's look at the Senate that Sandra has. I liked the way the two women leaned on each other's strengths in this investigation.

I liked that both women were having husband problems. Maya's has just been released from prison. He's an ex-cop who was convicted of corruption. Now, he's determined to rebuild his relationship with his wife and his daughter and rebuild his life too. Sandra's almost ex was a serial cheater who would like to resume his relationship with her.

This was an entertaining story.

A fun prequel to the Hayley Powell series. We’re introduced to the family when Hayley and Danny are still married and the kids are under ten. When the Addams family 2.0 moves into the haunted house next door the only logical thing to happen would be that Hayley stumbles upon her first dead body. Letting Danny’s over active imagination worm it’s way into her only complicates the matter while Hayley’s natural curiosity leads her right to the killer.

The book was good. Kept my interest. We check out more books
from the author.

Hayley Powell, a columnist for the Island Times, and owner of popular restaurant Hayley's Kitchen, is faced with a problem: she's just discovered another dead body. This time, in the back of the freezer truck of Lydia Partridge, owner of Bar Harbor Ice Cream. The dead woman is a summer employee of Lydia's, and she asks Hayley to help her find out who killed her, since this could definitely hurt her business. But when Hayley begins her investigation, she finds that the young woman had secrets. Lots of them. And one of those secrets led to her death. Unfortunately, she also finds that it might lead to someone she cares about, and just can't believe is a killer...

To complicate matters, her son Dustin arrives with a major surprise. A surprise that will change Hayley's life -- and Dustin's -- forever. Then, just as Hayley thinks things can't get any worse, both Mona and Lydia, Hayley's best friends, have secrets of their own that are uncovered. Now Hayley's in the middle of not only a murder investigation, but her own life is about to be upended. How is she going to survive all this?...

This is the fifteenth book in the series, and I have read them all. While I will admit freely that I didn't care for the first in the series, I am glad that I continued to stick with it. Because, and I am sure others will agree (and maybe a few disagree), that this series has only improved with time. Each book seems to be getting better than the last. And that's few authors that can claim that distinction of series.

In this book, we have Hayley once again trying to figure out where a killer lurks among her friends and acquaintances. She does it without probing too deep, but she's not afraid to confront people to get answers to her questions. That's where part of her strength lies. I don't feel that she's pushing too hard, because I never get uncomfortable with her line of questioning.

As the story progresses, it becomes apparent that Hayley is upset the way things are going, and knows she has to try and find the murderer, and help her friend Lydia discover if Lydia's husband Jamie was having an affair as well. Hayley has her hands full this time, and time itself might not be on her side.

But when the ending comes, it's not only full of activity, I also had ideas of who the murderer must be. I found myself surprised by the author's twist, and it was a doozy, to say the least. This time out, Hayley plays her cards well, and her wits help her win in the end. I loved this story and am eager to read the next in the series. Highly recommended.

I received an advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.

Hayley along with Lynette discover the body of a young college girl in Lynette's Ice Cream truck. Hayley has to help her friend find out who could have done this. There are a lot of suspects and along with some family drama, will Hayley find the culprit?
I enjoyed this book and anyone who loves Ice Cream there are recipes included!
Thanks to Kensignton Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

The Desert Flowers Detective Agency is hired to catch scam artists who are preying on the elderly so Poppy drags out her makeup kit and poses as a handicapped octogenarian to catch the thieves in the act. However, catching the swindlers may have gotten Poppy and agency into deeper waters because now Poppy has a stalker who is related to the case.

This was a really fun mystery because of the way that the stalker is woven into the story. It was good to see Poppy being able to step and take charge and solve all the aspects of the case.½

cozy-mystery, Maine, situational-humor, verbal-humor, family-dynamics, friendship, culinary, amateur-sleuth, small-town, small-business, island-life, restaurant, recipes, food-columnist, drama, murder, murder-investigation, law-enforcement****

This is a great addition to the series. Haley's son brings home a great surprise, his very pregnant girlfriend with no warning whatsoever. Then there are all sorts of things going on with several of her closest friends. All to be topped off by finding the body in the Ice Cream Truck! The publisher's blurb is a great hook but the story itself kept my interest from beginning to end. A good read.
I requested and received a free temporary e-book copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

Maya and Sandra are working their private detective agency but they are also single moms, with teenagers attending the same school. They are enlisted to provide bake goods for a fundraiser benefitting a student trip to Spain. They get dragged into investigating the murder of the Spanish teacher by the students who loved him.

The investigation gets rather dangerous when political intrigue draws Sandra into situations that involved her estranged husband, a US Senator.

The characters are very interesting and their backgrounds continue to develop. The writing is crisp and grabs the reader quickly.

This is a fun cozy mystery. I liked the characters a lot, there were some funny parts, and the recipes for pasta and cocktails were great. I will definitely read more by this author.

Maine, private-investigators, single-parent, verbal-humor, teens, fund-raisers, ex-cop, business-partners, family-dynamics, friendship*****

The story has a small town feel, but Portland, Maine is hardly that. Two women who have been friends for ages are now single parents of teens applying to college and are teamed up as investigators. The one who is ex-cop can't bake to save herself but tries hard to do so for a fundraiser. That is not the worst of it though when a popular teacher is murdered and the sleuthing begins. A good read!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via Netgalley.

Poppy Harmon was a TV actress in the 80s but now she runs the Desert Flowers Detective Agency which has been hired to protect Danika Delgado, a rising starlet and social media influencer, from a stalker. while she is filming in the Palm Springs area. The director remembers Poppy from the past and convinces her to take on the part of the hotel owner in the film.

When Poppy discovers Danika smothered in her trailer, she is reminded of a serial killer in the 80s who was never caught. Was this a copy cat killer or has the Pillow Talk killer resurfaced?

Fun characters and well-written.½

When Poppy Harmon's lawyer informs her that her recently deceased husband has left behind a mountain of debt, she's shocked. In her early sixties, Poppy hasn't worked since she left acting more than two decades earlier. As she tries to figure out a way to her support herself, she ends up getting her private investigator license. When her first case trying to recover jewelry stolen from an aging starlet in her gated retirement community expands into a murder investigation, it will take the best efforts of Poppy and her two best friends, Iris and Violet, to solve the case.

I wanted to like this cozy mystery novel more than I did. Lee Hollis is also a screenwriter whose credits include episodes of Golden Girls, which for a novel starring three older characters is a good sign. But while the writing was serviceable it was never particularly good or funny and ultimately a paint-by-numbers attempt at a cozy. It takes over 100 pages for Poppy to become a PI and get her license and it's nearly 200 pages before the murder teased in the first chapter finally shows up in the timeline of the novel. I stuck it out to the end to see whodunnit but Poppy and her crew ended up annoying more than charming me so I won't be searching out further entries in the series.