caitkom's review against another edition
4.0
This was a really good read. I loved the characters and again...any book set in Maine...Hayley Powell is barely holding it together. Her bank account is rapidly diminishing, her house slowly falling apart and her kids are eating her out of house and home. Her meager penance at the local newspaper is barely cutting it. When Hayley asks her boss, Sal for a raise he denies her the raise but instead offers for her to take over the Food & Spirits column. Hayley is nervous but launches into the column and immediately people start to notice. The townspeople love it, however Karen Applebaum, the Food column writer from the competing newspaper also takes notice and decides to try to discredit Hayley by stealing her mom's clam chowder recipe and publishing it right before Hayley can. Not long after that Karen is found dead, face down in a bowl of clam chowder. Karen may have no shortage of enemies but all evidence point to Hayley murder and despite the fact that Hayley's brother-in-law is the local Chief she decides she isn't leaving her fate up to anone else and starts sleuthing on her own. I love Hayley's brother-in-law Sergio. He has a thick accent and is always mispronouncing words.
storytimed's review against another edition
2.0
Very wish fulfillment for small town single moms who cook, I guess. I did like that the protag had a girl crew.
wiseowl33's review against another edition
3.0
Good mystery. Like the characters, sometimes may be a bit over the top... but enjoyable.
asanford's review against another edition
2.0
Cozy mystery book club
I learned of this book because of the goodreads cozy mystery book club. It was a fun but not very complex story. The characters are fun but hard to see them as real. I’ll read the next one and we will see if the characters grow on me more.
I learned of this book because of the goodreads cozy mystery book club. It was a fun but not very complex story. The characters are fun but hard to see them as real. I’ll read the next one and we will see if the characters grow on me more.
crysdale's review against another edition
5.0
Hayley Powell is working as a food writer at a local newspaper when she’s accused of killing her competitor, the food writer for the rival newspaper in town. She’s the only suspect, and all signs really point to her, so she sets off to find the real killer and prove her innocence.
What I liked about this book: obviously a lot since I gave it five stars. This is the first book I’ve read in a long time that I couldn’t put down to go to sleep! It’s funny enough that I laughed out loud a few times, the story is well written, and it has some great recipes! I look forward to reading the rest of the series!
What was weird: I finished reading An Appetite for Murder by Lucy Burdette right before I started this, and there were so many random similarities that I just have to wonder at all of them.
•First of all, the main character in both books is named Hayley, and they’re both spelled the same.
•One Hayley is a food critic. The other is a food writer.
•Both Hayleys are accused of killing someone by putting poison in their most recently written about dish.
•One lives on an island in Florida. One lives on an island in Maine.
•The authors both make a point to randomly mention people in Red Sox caps.
•Both mention that real foodies would never have a cat in the kitchen.
•Both even label a cheating ex as a “Jewish Tiger Woods!”
🤔🤔🤔
What I liked about this book: obviously a lot since I gave it five stars. This is the first book I’ve read in a long time that I couldn’t put down to go to sleep! It’s funny enough that I laughed out loud a few times, the story is well written, and it has some great recipes! I look forward to reading the rest of the series!
What was weird: I finished reading An Appetite for Murder by Lucy Burdette right before I started this, and there were so many random similarities that I just have to wonder at all of them.
•First of all, the main character in both books is named Hayley, and they’re both spelled the same.
•One Hayley is a food critic. The other is a food writer.
•Both Hayleys are accused of killing someone by putting poison in their most recently written about dish.
•One lives on an island in Florida. One lives on an island in Maine.
•The authors both make a point to randomly mention people in Red Sox caps.
•Both mention that real foodies would never have a cat in the kitchen.
•Both even label a cheating ex as a “Jewish Tiger Woods!”
🤔🤔🤔
rondabain's review against another edition
5.0
This book has quite a bit of humor to it. Stealing jewelry off of a corpse, chasing chickens along with loads of alcohol.
kdf_333's review against another edition
4.0
it's is great. i love it. i will read the other volumes. the first chapter was "meh," but i don't give up until chapter 3. i am glad i was hooked by the end of ch 3. i really love the fact she writes a food column in the newspaper and they put the article in the book. the article is a cute, funny story about something that happened to her and why she choose the recipe. she also includes a cocktail recipe with each article. and it's present day which is great.
competencefantasy's review against another edition
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0