A cozy mystery that centers around ice cream and includes recipes. Main character Hayley is as persistent as a craving for ice cream in the summer. She follows her gut instincts and finally solves the mystery. Along the way she includes many ice cream based recipes. The recipe for Easy Homemade Coffee Ice Cream may be the best one.

This is book #15 of the Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery series. Hayley’s life has changed for the better since the first novel in the series. She is happily married to a dashing man, runs a successful restaurant, and has 2 productive adult children. Never content to sit back and watch life pass, her sense of right keeps her investigating mysteries.

Death of an Ice Cream Scooper by Lee Hollis

Easy Homemade Coffee Ice Cream

from a cozy mystery:

Death of an Ice Cream Scooper

by Lee Hollis

Book Outline and Tone:

I love ice cream. When my daughter was young we had an ice cream day to see if we could eat nothing but ice cream all day. It was a bit too easy for both of us to do. So the title of this cozy mystery is quite upsetting. Death of an Ice Cream Scooper, never! Fortunately for me, author Lee Hollis has a good sense of humor as well as a gift for writing mysteries.

There are 2 main storylines. One involves Hayley’s search for a murderer and the other involves her 2 best friends’ dating lives. I found the storyline that involved her friends Liddy and Mona to be the more entertaining storyline. Lee Hollis has kept this series timeline moving at a great pace, Hayley’s kids are grown and living in other cities, her husband, Bruce, seems to have fallen into a comfortable routine with Hayley, and her friends offer sometimes comic relief and sometimes great girl-time adventures.

The Food and Cocktails columns and recipes are still interspersed in the novel. Each recipe I have tried has been a success and in this novel, the columns serve to reveal more about Hayley’s personality. The columns are always a wonderful bonus.

The Best Quote:

“Hayley loved her brother-in-law and was proud of his tenure as Bar Harbor’s esteemed police chief, but in this instance, she was not entirely convinced he would keep hunting for answers full throttle given the evidence against Spanky already.”

Point of View:

The novel is told in third person with the reader knowing Hayley’s thoughts.

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 X and Instagram.

What is not to like?:

It dawned on me that as much as I enjoy Hayley’s adventures with Liddy and Mona, I bet she and her husband, Bruce, would be just as entertaining.

The verdict:

First, the ice cream is super easy, creamy, and delicious. It is a must try! And closely following that, the novel is a fun mystery too. I highly recommend this series.

Disclaimer: In the name of full transparency, please be aware that this blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost for you).

Easy Homemade Coffee Ice Cream

Assemble the Ingredients

Line a bread loaf pan with parchment paper.

Pour your heavy cream into a stand mixer (or mixing bowl, if using electric beaters) and beat for about 5 minutes until stiff peaks are formed.

Dissolve the instant coffee in a small bowl with one tablespoon of water.

Add the condensed milk, vanilla, and coffee,

and mix until combined.

Pour your mixture into a bread pan and place into the freezer for at least 6 hours or until frozen.

When frozen, remove, scoop into a bowl, and let it melt in your mouth!

Easy Homemade Coffee Ice Cream

from a cozy mystery: Death of an Ice Cream Scooper by Lee Hollis

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10

Freezing time 6

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 8

Ingredients

2 cups heavy cream
14 oz condensed milk (1 can)
1 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp instant coffee

Instructions

Line a bread loaf pan with parchment paper.
Pour your heavy cream into a stand mixer (or mixing bowl, if using electric beaters) and beat for about 5 minutes until stiff peaks are formed.
Dissolve the instant coffee in a small bowl with one tablespoon of water.
Add the condensed milk, vanilla, and coffee, and mix until combined.
Pour your mixture into a bread pan and place into the freezer for at least 6 hours or until frozen.
When frozen, remove, scoop into a bowl, and let it melt in your mouth!