Death of a Kitchen Diva

Welcome to Bar Harbor, Maine, one of New England's most idyllic coastal towns. But as new food writer Hayley Powell is about to find out, the occasional murder can take a bite out of seaside bliss. .

Single mom Hayley Powell is barely keeping her leaking roof over her head when her boss at the Island Times gives her a new assignment--taking over the paper's food column. Hayley's not sure she has the chops--she's an office manager, not a writer, even if her friends clamor for her mouth-watering potluck dishes. But the extra income is tempting, and Hayley's chatty first column is suddenly on everyone's menu--with one exception.
 
When rival food writer Karen Appelbaum is found face-down dead in a bowl of Hayley's creamy clam chowder, all signs point to Hayley. To clear her name, she'll have to enlist some help, including her BFFs, a perpetually pregnant lobster woman, and a glamorous real estate agent. As she whips up a list of suspects, Hayley discovers a juicy secret about the victim--and finds herself in a dangerous mix with a cold-blooded killer.

I love cozies set in Maine-for me it's the quintessential New England setting. Protagonist Hayley becomes a food columnist, which leads to death by clam chowder...isn't the cover perfect???

I enjoyed Hayley/s interactions with her BFF's Liddy and Mona, and her 2 teenagers. There is much humor as well, from the English-impaired police chief Sergio, to Hayley's attempt to retrieve a brooch from the murder victim at her funeral, to Hayley's wearing a potential beau as a hood ornament.

The mystery flows along perfectly, with a wealth of suspects for Hayley to sort through. Fun, fun, fun read. Can't wait for book #2, Death of a Country Fried Redneck, in November.