private investigators – Cuddle Up With a Cozy Mystery

Poppy Harmon and the Shooting Star review

May 19, 2023 Tari Hann

This is the fifth book in the Desert Flowers Mysteries by Lee Hollis, brother/sister duo Rick Copp and Holly Simason and it might be my fave so far. I always love reading about Poppy and her investigator team that’s faced by Matt, an actor when he can get a gig. The ladies were definitely coming into their own and getting a name for themselves, so much that they were approached a few times in this mystery to be hired. Don’t miss this book that releases Tuesday, May 23, 2023 because Poppy’s side mystery in it had a super sweet outcome!

#NetGalley #KensingtonCozies #LeeHollis

My Goodreads review:

Poppy Harmon and the Shooting Star by Lee Hollis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

With all the secrets and underhanded goings-on in the entertainment scene, I’m sure Poppy and her team were super happy to have each other knowing they could at least trust the team members. Aside from them and the police, I wasn’t sure who to trust either, but as always Poppy plowed ahead and figured things out. Iris always cracks me up because she’s just so blunt and believes in telling it like it should be, and Violet’s grandson Wyatt’s just grown into an amazing teen and still shines as their tech expert.

The staged showdown was pretty awesome. Poppy had her own little side mystery that I was really happy had an amazing outcome! Gotta admit, at times I was a bit worried what she’d find out. Don’t miss this installment, available next Tuesday, March 23, 2023.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by Kensington Cozies via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

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Poppy Harmon and the Backstabbing Bachelor review

April 24, 2022 Tari Hann

This is the fourth book in the Desert Flower Mysteries by another fave author, Lee Hollis aka brother/sister team of Rick Copp and Holly Simason. I just love Poppy and her investigator friends, and that Wyatt just cracks me up with how smart and helpful he is. He sure doesn’t mind working for his grandma and her friends as their ace information-digger-outer. Matt’s character’s just so awesome and I can tell he loves Poppy like he would his own mother. He’s fiercely protective of all the ladies even though they really don’t need it. I think they let him think they do sometimes. In the first book I remember not liking Matt much, but now I’d be just as upset as Poppy and her friends would if he left Desert Flowers.

#KensingtonCozies #LeeHollis

My Goodreads review:

Poppy Harmon and the Backstabbing Bachelor by Lee Hollis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Poppy and her Desert Flowers friends brought down a ring that was scamming seniors, but Poppy was gonna need to watch her back after the perp yelled threats at her. After a couple near misses, Poppy and the police came up wit a pretty awesome scheme.

With Matt out of the country, the ladies were doing pretty well on their own as far as senior citizens wanting to hire them. He might’ve been the handsome face like Charlie being the man behind the Angels, but these ladies didn’t need anyone to take care of them, lol. Although as their friend and coworker, I think they missed him a lot! He was practically like a son to Poppy, but she’d always told him not to let their little acting gig (where he pretends to be the lead investigator) take precedence over a movie if he could get in one. Poppy got to test out her disguise and acting skills while Matt went on a reality show to flush out a killer.

Boy what a showdown with Poppy not having much time to think about whether she was brave or not. She just had to do something quickly for someone she loved. Finally the annoying killer was hauled away, and Poppy could have her stalker-free sanity back while enjoying some time with her sweet guy Sam.

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Apocalypse Meow by Zara Keane review

May 24, 2021 Tari Hann

This is the seventh book in the Movie Club Mysteries series by Zara Keane. It quickly became a favorite series. If anyone’s familiar with the series, in the last book, Lenny and Maggie had to deal with a very rambunctious cat named Quibbles that summer who’d since had some fame when he got credit for solving the murder. After losing a contract during a hysterically funny video call, Lenny and Maggie agreed to be bodyguards for Quibbles in a cat contest. And it was all hilariously downhill after that. Catch yourself up in the series, because you won’t want to miss this new release coming tomorrow, May 25!

My Goodreads review:

Apocalypse Meow by Zara Keane
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I absolutely love this series and was really craving more of it when I found out the latest was coming out tomorrow. I always know when Lenny’s on the case with Movie Reel Investigations, laughs are guaranteed. In fact, the laughs started before the first chapter even ended, and it kept going from there. Maggie’s usually good for some good scenes too. When they found themselves in a rundown hotel run by Maggie’s cousin Angel, for some reason, I liked Angel immediately.

With a storm raging outside, a power outage and the bodies piling up, Maggie and Lenny had their hands full, since Liam hadn’t quite made it to the hotel yet. I had an idea early on of who might be the killer, but I had no idea why. It was just a gut feeling. As everything was revealed in a hilarious showdown, I felt relief for everyone who wasn’t guilty and could finally get out of the worse-than-Batels Motel.

The ending wrapped everything up neatly, there’s no other word for it but awesome. I knew I liked that Angel!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book, and my opinions are my own.

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Poppy Harmon and the Hung Jury review

January 8, 2020 Tari Hann

This is the second book in the newer Desert Flowers series by Lee Hollis. Lee Hollis is the pen name for brother/sister team Rick Copp and Holly Simason. The first series that they did is the Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails series, which I also love. There’s a third series called Maya and Sandra Mystery series. I have the book “Murder at the PTA” but unfortunately haven’t read it yet. I hope to do that soon, because I love their writing.

Poppy and her friends along with Matt were awesome in this book! Crazy situations and fun characters made for a really entertaining murder mystery.

My Goodreads review:

Poppy Harmon and the Hung Jury by Lee Hollis

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this installment of the Desert Flowers series. Maybe because I already knew the characters and was glad to come back and see what they were up to, or maybe the story was better. Whichever it was, it was great seeing the gang together again. Like Poppy in the first book, I wasn’t sure if I liked Matt much, but in this book he definitely won me over. Even Heather’s character was fleshed out a little bit better. And of course Poppy’s crazy friends Violet and Iris were at their shining best. I love that they have a twelve-year-old helping them with the online part of their investigating business. Wyatt is a pretty cool kid!

I wasn’t sure whodunit, but it was a lot of fun reading and finding out. There was plenty of action and humor as well. Some of the scenes were so crazy and I could almost picture Jessica Fletcher along with a couple of the Golden Girls being Poppy and her pals. Poppy’s little side story about her love life was very sweet, and I was happy that it came to a happy conclusion instead of keeping us waiting and wondering. It’ll be interesting to see what these characters get into next!

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