Review: Death of a Country Fried Redneck by Lee Hollis

Recommended Read!

“Hollis’ humor is by far my favorite thing about this series.”
~ Under the Covers

DEATH OF A COUTRY FRIED REDNECK is the second book of the Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery series. Hayley is still getting the hang of her writing column. However, there’s no doubt that many people of Bar Harbor are enjoying her work. She’s most surprised to find that her favorite country music singer Wade Springer is also a fan of her writing and food. He’s so impressed by her that he invites her to dine with him alone.

First off, let me just say that this entire series has a much lighter tone than you see in a lot of other Cozy Mysteries. Hayley is a very bright and vibrant personality and a lot of this comes out in how she speaks, but also how she writes. I will find it hard to believe if you don’t immediately fall in love with her character. There are so many good things about her. Although she is a single mother still trying her best to raise her kid, she does a good job of being a good friend to her daughter and I love seeing their interactions. In addition to that, we see Hayley in a lot of other types of relationships. For example, we see her friendships, as well as her romantic relationships and work relationships as well. For someone who seems to be struggling, she’s doing remarkably well and I find her to be a well-rounded character.

The mystery of this story is fairly straightforward and easy to follow. It involves celebrities and music, which I enjoyed. I also liked how the authors were able to tie it into the food. I will say, however, that the beginning did take some easy shortcuts to set up the plot. It was incredibly easy for Hayley to meet Wade so you’ll have to disregard aspects of believability to enjoy this book. Hayley is quite the charmer so I don’t think it would be actually that difficult for her, but still…just keep that in mind while reading this book.

Hollis’ humor is by far my favorite thing about this series. It gets it right all the time. Usually when a series is meant to be funny, it tends to be over the top or the author tries too hard. But I don’t find that is the case here. The humor comes at the right place and seems to occur naturally. It makes me respect the authors more because they know when to draw out the suspense and when to lighten the mood.

This series is quickly rising to the top of my favorites lists. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series to see what happens to Hayley next!

[about-author author=”Lee Hollis”]

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