What happens in Salmon Cove, stays in Salmon Cove. Three friends go on a girls trip in the hopes of enjoying some relaxation and lobster. What they get is an old boyfriend and 2 murders.

This is book #9 of the Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails series. Hayley and her friends take a girls’ trip down east Maine. They find Mona’s old flame and two murders. Hayley shares recipes for fabulous recipes with lobster and of course a cocktail to go with each dish.

Death of a Lobster Lover by Lee Hollis

Blueberry Lemonade Cocktail

from a novel:

Death of a Lobster Lover

by Lee Hollis

Book Outline and Tone:

Three friends who seem to have nothing in common except their past make for great reading. Hayley, Liddy, and Mona each bring different humor and problems to this series. I find it easy to relate to Hayley who is level headed, but also stubborn and curious. Her curiosity is what gets these 3 friends in hot water. Not the same hot water that the lobsters are boiled in though. The book moves at a fast pace through 2 murders and some time spent in a local jail.

Because the whole novel takes place over a girls’ weekend, the reader gets to know Liddy and Mona better. Mona’s character is seen as more than just a hard working lobster catcher. We meet an old boyfriends and watch her struggle to keep her boundaries in place. Part of me was cheering for her and part of me wanted to see her cross those boundaries.

Hayley’s Food and Cocktails columns are interspersed throughout the novel. As usual, these columns are fantastic! They bring some comic relief and recipes that are always a hit. This book contains a recipe for Blueberry Lemon Vodka drink that is absolutely perfect for the summer. My favorite column in this book is one that references almost every Stephen King novel. If you are a fan of his books or movies, that column will surely make you smile.

Point of View:

Third person point of view. The narrator knows the main character, Hayley Powell’s thoughts.

The Best Quote:

“Yes, small-town living certainly has its advantages, there’s a certain comfort and safe feeling, except when something really disturbing and unexpected happens…” Chapter 15

The author: Lee Hollis

This book was written by Lee Hollis. Well sort of… Lee Hollis is the pseudonym for the real authors, a brother and sister team, Rick Copp and Holly Simason. There is more information on Goodreads. Like their protagonist Hayley Powell, Copp and Simason are from Maine. Copp moved to Hollywood and wrote for The Golden Girls, Wings, Teen Titans and a long list of impressive television and movies. Simason is a columnist in Maine and writes a cooking column. Fortunately for us readers, they decided to combine their talents and write the Lee Hollis series, currently being published by Kensington House Publishing Corporation. The Hayley Powell series has a Facebook page. The authors are active on both Twitter and Instagram.

What is not to like?:

The plot all the way to the resolution is a fun mystery. But after the resolution, almost an epilogue there is an incident that I didn’t see coming and quite frankly I didn’t care for, it made me sad. You will have to read the novel to discover what it is.

The verdict:

The novel is a winner. Every novel in this series is entertaining. The recipes she provides are fabulous. Unfortunately for me, lobster is a bit hard to come by where I live, but not vodka. The Lemon Blueberry Vodka Cocktail is a worthy recipe.

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