Death of a Lobster Lover by Lee Hollis4 Stars

My Review: Death of a Lobster Lover is the ninth book in the “Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery” series featuring food columnist Hayley Powell. I was a bit disappointed in the last book, but I really enjoyed this one. Hayley and her best friends Liddy and Mona are taking a much needed girls weekend in Salem Cove, ME to enjoy the town’s Lobster Festival. They are going to stay in Mona’s family cottage that she vacationed at for years. I was expecting a humorous read and I was not disappointed. These ladies have been friends for a long time, but I don’t know how Liddy and Mona have not tried to kill each other.

Hoping that the BFF weekend will help Liddy get over her recent breakup with lawyer boyfriend Sonny, things go from bad to worse when they see Mona’s run down family cabin. When they arrive at the hotel to get a room, Liddy appears to fall for the smarmy travel reporter Jackson Young. After standing Liddy up for the Lobsterfest, Hayley stumbles upon the dead body of Jackson lying on the beach. The trio soon finds themselves suspects in the man’s murder and Hayley is determined to clear their names. Add to all this, Mona runs into her childhood boyfriend and he seems to want to pick up where he left off. And what is with the overzealous Sheriff Daphne Wilkes who seems to have a vendetta against the women, ticketing them for imagined infractions. When the ladies end up behind bars, it is time to call Sonny for help.

An action packed plot makes this installment a quick page turner that’s hard to put down. The antics of Hayley and her friends will have you laughing during some parts, and holding my breath, or biting my nails during others. There were scenes that took me by surprise, and more than one mystery to keep me guessing. With the story set in a vacation locale none of the secondary characters readers of the series are familiar with appear. The love lives of her two best friends are the focus in this edition, and a surprising twist at the conclusion will leave you in shock. Once again there are several recipes for cocktails and lobster sprinkled throughout the book. Also some of Hayley’s columns are there, which add some of the humor to the books, but do break up the story somewhat. You will either like this or hate it depending on how you feel about that. A must read in this series for cozy mystery lovers.

Synopsis: Food and cocktails columnist Hayley Powell is off on a girls’ getaway with her two best friends. But soon they’ll have to get away from a killer…

The quaint fishing village of Salmon Cove, Maine, seems like the ideal location for a girls’ weekend with Hayley’s gal pals, Liddy and Mona. Liddy’s on the rebound from a breakup, but when she meets a handsome tourist, it looks like a little romance might liven things up.

Unfortunately, Liddy’s new sweetheart is found dead on the beach the next morning at the town’s Lobster Bake, next to an overturned cooking pot. The liberated lobsters may be scrambling back to the sea, but Hayley’s not about to let a murderer escape so easily. To crack the case, she’ll need to blow the lid off some serious undercover activity–or risk becoming ensnared in a killer’s trap…

Includes seven delectable recipes from Hayley’s kitchen!

Published June 27th 2017 by Kensington Publishing Corporation
Paperback, 320 pages
Kindle Edition, 320 pages
Lee HollisAbout the Author: Lee Hollis is the pen name for a brother and sister writing team. Rick Copp is a veteran film and television writer/producer and also the author of two other mystery novel series. He lives in Palm Springs, California. Holly Simason is an award winning food and cocktails columnist for the Mount Desert Islander newspaper in Bar Harbor, Maine, where she resides.