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: In the Hall with the Knife (Clue Mystery, #1) by Diana Peterfreund

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book review in the hall with the knife diana peterfreund

In the Hall with the Knife (Clue Mystery, #1) by Diana Peterfreund is a novel in the Young Adult genre based on the famous board game and movie Clue. Several students, their headmaster, a janitor, and a proctor are stranded at Blackbrook Academy in Maine when a winter storm comes early. The next morning, Headmaster Boddy is found dead with a knife in his chest. Did one of the students murder him, or was it a looter?

When I received an email recommendation from BookBub.com for In the Hall with the Knife (Clue Mystery, #1) by Diana Peterfreund, I knew I had to purchase the book as the board game Clue is one of my all time favorite board games. I knew absolutely nothing about the book other than it was based on the board game, and I was pleasantly surprised with the storyline.

The story is told from the different students stranded at the school . . . Orchid McKee, Scarlet Mistry, Beth "Peacock" Picach, Finn Plum, Samuel "Mustard" Maestor, and Vaughn Green. I love this set up because you see the story and perspective from the different characters. The only complaint I have about the set up is that some of the transitions were a bit clunky and could have been executed a bit better because there were a couple of times I had to reread a page.

As far as the motive of wanting Mr. Boddy dead, I didn't see that coming, which was a nice surprise because it helped with disguising who the murderer was. Even with all the red herrings, I thought I knew who did it, but I was only partially right. There is a twist at the end of the book that leaves you hanging a bit. Even with the small cliffhanger, you don't have to read the next book in the trilogy because the author did a nice job of wrapping every thing up. With that being said, I will read the next two books:  In the Study with the Wrench (Clue Mystery, #2) and In the Ballroom with the Candlestick (Clue Mystery, #3).

I gave In the Hall with the Knife (Clue Mystery, #1) by Diana Peterfreund was a fun read and perfect to read with Halloween just around the corner. I gave this book three out of five stars because there were some parts that could've been executed a little better, and there are other books in this genre that I like better. If you enjoyed this book, I recommend Trick or Treat by Richie Tankersly Cusick.

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