This is the thirteenth book in the Hayley Powell series by brother/sister team Lee Hollis, comprised of Rick Copp and his sister Holly Simason. I’m not caught up in the series yet, but seeing Hayley and Bruce married didn’t ruin it for me in the least. I think this one has to be the most fun I’ve had reading the columns that are included at the end of some of the chapters along with some of Hayley’s food and drink recipes that relate to the column. I liked it that Gemma and her boyfriend came around, and we got to see what she’s been up to.
As with any series, I always recommend starting from the beginning (like I obviously haven’t done, but to be fair, I did read the first book before reading any of the later ARCs.). It gives the background of the characters and how different relationships came about. Liddy and Mona took a little backseat in this book, although each one did get a fairly important scene. Their best part was in one of the columns though–definitely don’t miss reading those in this book.
My Goodreads review:
Death of a Wicked Witch by Lee Hollis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was an awesome book for the Halloween season! Not only does Hayley love Halloween, Bruce hates it and so does Liddy which made Hayley’s columns that always appear between chapters even funnier! I really loved reading those this time, and normally they honestly don’t do much for me, but these were different. I laughed out loud at the columns where she told about different Halloween pranks, then there was a bet with Bruce was pretty funny too. I like that she kept them recent.
The mystery itself was a good one! It’s always sad when a nice person gets killed especially one with a yummy food truck. Hayley and Bruce made a great team checking out clues, and even Gemma got in on the act, since she was home from New York with her boyfriend Conner. Gemma had whole issue of her own to deal with, but the outcome was a good one as you’ll see at the end of the book. I hadn’t guessed the killer at all, and Bruce was impressed by his wife during the showdown. The running theme was Hayley trying to get Bruce to stop smoking after he’d quit for a long time before that. The way it was worked into the showdown was great!
I’m still not completely caught up with the series, but it’s one that since I did start out reading the later books as ARCs, I don’t seem to mind going back and reading about how Hayley and Bruce came to be and what the kids got into when they were younger. Liddy and Mona weren’t in the main story much, but Mona got to star in one of the columns which to me was the funniest of any of the columns I’ve read. Super fun and I highly recommend this!
Cuddle Up With a Cozy Mystery 