Book Review: Death of a Tom Turkey (Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery, #18) by Lee Hollis

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Death of a Tom Turkey (Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery, #18)  by Lee Hollis  opens with Tom Farley and his neighbors in a snit because he's the last holdout to sell his house to a property developer who wants to build a resort. When Tom is shot at a pre-Thanksgiving community gathering and hospitalized, Hayley Powell puts her amateur sleuthing skills to good use. Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishers for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of this cozy mystery. I received a copy of this book for free in exchange of my honest opinion and review of the story. I loved the fact that this latest installment of the Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery  series had a theme around the Thanksgiving holiday and included live turkeys in the plot. It was good to visit some familiar characters. Since this is the eighteenth installment in the series, Lee Hollis didn't go into much detail of the background of those reoccurring characters; however, she...
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Book Review: Killman Creek (Stillhouse Lake, #2) by Rachel Caine

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Killman Creek (Stillhouse Lake, #2) by Rachel Caine
After escaping prison in Missouri, serial killer Melvin Royal is playing a cat and mouse game with his ex-wife Gwen Proctor and their kids.  With Lanny and Connor in the protection of friends, Gwen and Sam Cade are hunting Melvin so they can end the game once and for all.

Rachel Caine proved that sequels are not inferior to the original with Killman Creek (Stillhouse Lake, #2). Where do I begin? The book picks up almost immediately where Stillhouse Lake left off, so it's probably in your best interest to read the books in order.

 When I saw that it was being told from the perspective of several characters instead of just Gwen's perspective, I wasn't sure I'd like the book as well as the first one. However, it worked well, and it gave me better insight into what made all of the characters tick. The only downside was that I was in such a hurry to finish Killman Creek that I often didn't pay close enough attention to when it switched perspectives, and it left me confused for the briefest moment. I kept wondering if Caine would include any chapters from Melvin's perspective, but she didn't. There is a third installment coming, so I wonder if she will include his perspective in it . . . time will tell.

Killman Creek is action packed and pulls out all the stops . . . making you second guess yourself on the motives of some of the characters, namely Gwen. If it weren't so dark, it could almost be called a beach read. The book does a great job of wrapping everything up, and I can't wait to see what Wolfhunter River (Stillhouse Lake, #3) brings us. My guess is it will focus on another trial for Melvin.

Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a bit and definitely recommend the series to anyone who loves mysteries, thrillers, and/or horror books. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

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