Death of a Kitchen Diva by Lee Hollis

In Death of a Kitchen Diva, Hayley Powell is given a new assignment at the Island Times. She's going to be taking over the food column. She's a great cook, but not a great writer, so she's a little apprehensive. Her first column appears to be a hit, however, and everyone is thrilled. Well, except for her rival, Karen Appelbaum, who writes the food column for a competing publication. When Karen is found dead, Hayley is the first suspect, but works quickly to clear her name. Things get really hairy when Hayley discovers a secret about the victim and gets closer to finding the killer.

I really enjoyed this cozy mystery! It was well written and contained some great characters. The story, set in Bar Harbor, Maine, was interesting enough to sustain me to the end without being overly complicated or convoluted. It was also fluffy, light and funny...a perfect summer read and a terrific start to a new series.

I especially loved the way Hayley's columns were written...informal, fun, and friendly. I wish we had a local food column like this. The recipes look straight forward, easy-to-follow and yummy, although I haven't tried one yet. I'm either going to make the Maine Crab Stuffed Mushrooms or the Sausage, Spinach and Cheese Ravioli first, but there are a few others that look good, too. Besides recipes for tasty food, the author also included recipes for cocktails. Yay! While there's a list of recipes for the food at the end of the book, sadly there's no list of cocktails. Also, it would have been nice to give page numbers so it's easy to find those recipes later on.

Lee Hollis is the pen name for the brother/sister writing team of Rick Copp and Holly Simason. Their blog is Lee Hollis Mysteries.

Highly recommended for cozy fans. I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next one.

For more information about this book or to read Chapter 1, please visit the Kensington Books website.

Thanks to those nice people from Kensington Books for this review copy.

Death of a Kitchen Diva by Lee Hollis, Kensington Books, ©2012. ISBN 9780758267375(Mass Market), 327p includes recipes.