Friday, January 27, 2012

Death of a Kitchen Diva-Lee Hollis

Death of a Kitchen Diva


Lee Hollis

Kensington, Mar 1 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9780758267375



In Bar Harbor, Maine, Island Times Editor in Chief Sal Moretti offers his office manager single mom (of fifteen year old Gemma and thirteen years old Dustin) Hayley Powell the position of writing the food and wine column with the nonagenarian reporter retiring. She agrees and her column proves successful with its unpretentious Maine earthiness, which angers her rival at the Bar Harbor Herald prim and proper British aristocratic Karen Applebaum.



However, Karen is found dead with her face buried in a bowl of Hayley’s clam chowder. The police consider Hayley their only suspect and soon Officers Earl and Haley arrest her. She makes bail and with her BFFs investigates the Death of a Kitchen Diva.



This is an amusing culinary amateur sleuth starring a delightful beleaguered protagonist. The breezy storyline is fun to follow as the war of the recipes turns deadly. Although the sub-genre is loaded with similar entries (see Diane Mott Davidson), sub-genre fans will enjoy this entertaining regional whodunit as Haley seeks out a cold blooded killer whose recipe includes the soccer mom taking the fall.



Harriet Klausner



No comments: