Poppy Harmon and the Hung Jury by Lee Hollis is the second book in the cozy A Desert Flowers Mystery series. As with most cozy mysteries each book of this series contains it’s own mystery that is fully solved within the book so they could be read as a standalone if choosing to do so. There is however some character building that carries over book to book for those that follow the series from the beginning.

In the first book of the series readers were introduced to Poppy Harman who is a sixty something retired actress who thought she was going to be living out the rest of her life comfortably with her husband. However, after Poppy’s husband passed away quite suddenly she found out that her rather comfortable life was all a lie and that her husband had gambled away their last cent.

When Poppy sat down with her two best friends, Iris and Violet, trying to brainstorm ideas to earn money with no real experience other than acting the trio came up with the idea that Poppy has rather remarkable investigative skills so why not become a detective? With a bit of effort the Desert Flowers Detective Agency was opened with Iris and Violet coming in to assist.

Things weren’t going so well with the new business when it seemed no one wanted to hire three “older” ladies so Poppy got a plan to use her daughter’s boyfriend, an actor, to be the face of the firm. Now that the ladies are up and running they have two new cases to work on at once. A former co-star, Rod Harper, is needing someone to search for his missing daughter and Poppy has been called into what ends up being deadly jury duty in a high profile case.

The Desert Flowers Mystery series is like turning the Golden Girls into detectives. It has a humorous vibe with quirky fun characters which I knew I had to come back to after reading the opening book of the series. This second book had a lot going on making the story fly when reading. This is a series I will definitely enjoy returning to in the future.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

This is POPPY HARMON and... so the story (and series) does focus on Poppy and what she does. I never wrote the honest review I promised when I received the ARC from Netgalley when I first read the book and it was so long I re-read the book after reading the 3rd book, Poppy Harmon and te Pillow Talk Killer.

As I recall from my first reading I thought the book was merely OK. Re-redaing after reading the 3rd book, I liked it a bit more because I was more into the characters, so I split the difference between my eperiences and give this a 3.5 rating.

The mystery is solid with the Dessert Flowers staff all doing their thing, but Violet, Iris and Matt need more development (even after book 3 I still think so). We're given a very superficial reason for Matt being the face of Desert Flowers and not actively persuing his "dream". Violet and Iris are pretty one dimension and are justing doing their customary responses except for one important chapter.

Thank you Kensington and NetGalley for my digital advance copy of Poppy Harmon and the Hung Jury.

This second book in the series keeps everything safely on the lighter side but you get it all:
Murder--Lust--Action--Romance--High Drama--and laughter all the way.

A must-read addition to the cozy mystery genre for readers who insist on being entertained on every level--Poppy Harmon delivers.

I have read both of the Poppy Harmon books and really enjoyed them. I look forward to the next one. It’s fun to see main characters as older, experienced people and not 30 somethings. I also like the setting.

Poppy Harmon has been selected for a jury trying a celebrity. When the jurors go to deliberate, one man is a hold out for not guilty. Hanging the jury. When Poppy notices an apparent signal between the holdout juror and the accused she becomes suspicious. Her doubts are fully engaged when she discovers the holdout dead.

At the same the Desert Flowers Detective Agency is hired to locate a missing person, only this one may be a bit tricky since the client is one of Poppy's former co-stars. Will her co-star realize that Poppy is the brains behind the business or will she need to draw on her acting skills from the past?

What a cute mystery and well-written with multiple layers and intertwined characters. Poppy should become her own TV series!

I picked this book up because I’m a big fan of Lee Hollis’s other series but I really had no idea what this series was about. I have to say that it does have a very different vibe to the Hayley Powell series. It seems more targeted to older audiences and has different pacing as well. Once I was able to adjust, I found that I enjoyed the book.

As this is the first book I read in this particular series, it took me a while to get acquainted with Poppy’s character. But as always, Hollis does a good job of creating interesting characters. I found the secondary characters to be fun as well.

Usually I’m not big of things related to jury, so I do feel like I would have liked this book more if it had a different theme, but I am going to try going back to the first book in the series and trying that out as well just to see if I will continue the series. As I mentioned, it does feature a retired heroine, so it might be targeted for another audience than me, but I can still appreciate the fact that there are authors out there who are writing books for this demographic.

I've always been a fan of Lee Hollis. I read the first book in this series and couldn't wait to read this one. Its a great entry in the series and it was great catching up with the characters again. I would recommend this series.

I really enjoyed this mystery with a lot of humor thrown in, I can't wait to read more from this author

Hung Jury is the second book in the Desert Flowers Agency series and it did not disappoint. You ever read a book with an easy flow of words with a plot in constant momentum, almost like you are quenching your thirst with a yummy drink? Sounds odd, but that's how I felt. I couldn't get into the first book, but this one was easy to get absorbed into the story. Now I want to go back and try to read the first one.
Poppy and her cohorts at the agency are tenacious and hysterical. There's lots of action, a little romance and fun. I definitely recommend this series
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for the ARC to preview and give my own honest thoughts about the story.
Kensington has amazing authors!

Poppy Harmon and the Hung Jury: A Desert Flowers Mystery
By Lee Hollis
Kensington
January 2020

Review by Cynthia Chow

As a retired actress made famous from an 80s PI television show, Poppy Harmon should have felt right at home as in the midst of a celebrity court case. Instead, Poppy finds herself involuntarily elected as the jury foreman on the trial of Sinatra-esque crooner Tony Molina, who wielded his fame along with a frying pan to punish the chef of an East Village restaurant. While the evidence seems to be inarguable, Tony’s fans – along with a leering fellow juror – seem determined to allow the singer to go unpunished. After the mistrial the lone holdout on the jury continues to declare his intent on making himself Poppy’s boy-toy, an impossibility even if she didn’t just happen to find him dead and floating in a pool.

This is almost enough to distract Poppy from a real case for the Palm Springs Desert Flowers Detective Agency, who still have to operate under Remington Steele-inspired model led by real actor Matt Cameron. It’s Poppy’s own acting background and Hollywood connections that get them hired when her former co-star on Jack Colt, PI hires them to find his missing daughter. It wouldn’t be the first time Rod Harper’s daughter Lara stormed off when she didn’t get her way, but the indulgent father still feels worried enough to ask for Poppy’s help. Complicating matters is Rod’s determination to fulfill Poppy’s long-held crush no the silver fox, despite her also having complicated feelings for their former police consultant Sam Emerson. When Rod’s case is conveniently resolved Poppy becomes distracted by the unpaying case involving the dead juror, frustrating her very opinionated detecting partners. Through flattery and not a little coercing Poppy soon has cranky former torch singer Iris Becker and retired principal Violet Hogan fully on board the off-books investigation, which leads to tolerating the attentions of a enamored young carpet cleaner, attending cocktail parties at a Rancho Mirage county club, and exploiting the hacker talents of Violet’s twelve-year-old grandson.

Above all else this is a hilarious mystery that delights in defying expectations and satirizing both the conventions of detective television shows and of mysteries themselves. The ladies of the Desert Flowers Detective Agency continue to be the standout attraction of the series, especially as details about their jaw-dropping past experiences are casually sprinkled throughout. More surprising has been the development of the relationship between Poppy and her daughter Heather, whom after a long absence (that’s one way of putting it politely) is having to readjust not just to starting her life over but in resuming a relationship with Matt. Heather’s struggle to fit in is empathetically depicted and adds so many layers to this extremely funny novel. Acceptance, forgiveness, and choosing the unexpected path are all topics skillfully woven into what is an undeniably exuberant and very humorous novel. Expect genuine heartwarming moments along with bursts of laughter as a conventional premise is twisted into a charming and very entertaining series.

Princess Fuzzypants here: Poppy is back with Violet, Iris and Matt working for her former costar to find his missing daughter. She’s also on the jury of a trial of a famous singer who attacked a chef because his steak wasn’t cooked to his liking. It seems like a slam dunk conviction except for one hold out who says he will never change his vote, causing the hung jury of the title.
Poppy is convinced the juror was paid off. When the juror ends up floating in his swimming pool, Poppy is even more convinced there is something very shady going on. Since the missing daughter shows up the same day as the murder, the Flowers Agency is without a paying case. That doesn’t stop Matt and the ladies from looking into the death of the juror, the murder of the wife of the defendant and the myriad of lies that spew from the mouth of the missing daughter.
Complicating things is the desire of her former costar to reignite the flames with Poppy at the same time her daughter, newly paroled from prison, is working through her relationship with Matt. But the wild card is the missing daughter who, amongst other things, has zeroed in on Matt and nothing and nobody is going to stand in her way.
As always this is a tight and taut story with older characters.who never become caricatures. Poppy and her cohorts areintelligent and very capable. Bad guys do not stand a chance.
Five purrs and two paws up.

Poppy Harmon and the Hung Jury finds Poppy as Jury Foreman in the trial of Tony Molina, famous chef, who was charged with beating up a customer in his restaurant. Tony gets off because one juror refuses to convict; this juror later is found dead. Poppy is sure the juror was bribed to fix the trial and dives into finding whodunit. Poppy is a senior citizen sleuth with some serious skills as a detective and a past as a film star.

This is the second book in A Desert Flowers Mystery and I think I liked this one more than the first. As the story opens, Poppy Harmon is serving on a jury for a physical assault trial. It is open and shut, so Poppy is shocked when one of the jurors votes innocent and the trial ends in a mistrial. When the juror ends up dead, Poppy is sure it has to do with the trial. Meanwhile, Poppy and her two friends, Iris and Violet are hired by Rod Harper, the actor Poppy worked with during her acting years, to find his daughter. Actually, he hires Matt Flowers, the frontman for the agency. Throw in another murder and Poppy has her hands full.

I really enjoy the characters in this series. Poppy is smart, intuitive and extremely observant. She also perseveres and refuses to move on when she has started her investigating. Violet is adorable. She doesn't think she has much to offer the team, but always manages to ferret out information that is important. Then there is Iris. She is gruff, outspoken and opinionated. She adds a lot of humour to the story with her actions and comments. Matt is not as involved in this story, but he plays an important role at times. We get to see a bit more of his personality, his insecurities and need to be successful. The dialogue in the story is wonderful, as well as the pacing. This is a well-written fun mystery. I pretty much figured out who the murderer was but the how and why took a bit longer. I enjoy how Poppy and her team go about solving crimes, even though the ones they solve are not the ones they are getting paid for. The finale was awesome and I didn't see it coming. A very enjoyable story and I definitely recommend this one to cozy mystery lovers, especially if you enjoy those with a more mature protagonist.

I had a lot of fun in reading this story that I found really better than the first instalment.
It made me laugh and the solid mystery kept me guessing.
An entertaining and engrossing read, highly recommended.
Many thanks to Kensington Books and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

A retiree-turned-PI, Poppy has just finished jury duty in which her jury was hung not returning a verdict on a mob-like figure. She suspects that one of the jurors was paid off by the defendant. Meanwhile, she's trying to acclimate her ex-con daughter to freedom as well as solve the case of a missing daughter of a former costar. I loved the quirky characters in this novel, but the plot could have been a bit more interesting. The love interests for Poppy seemed a bit too lethargic or pushy. I'd like to see her friend's young nephew become more involved in the business--he seems like a good character to enhance.

I thoroughly enjoyed this installment of the Desert Flowers series. Maybe because I already knew the characters and was glad to come back and see what they were up to, or maybe the story was better. Whichever it was, it was great seeing the gang together again. Like Poppy in the first book, I wasn't sure if I liked Matt much, but in this book he definitely won me over. Even Heather's character was fleshed out a little bit better. And of course Poppy's crazy friends Violet and Iris were at their shining best. I love that they have a twelve-year-old helping them with the online part of their investigating business. Wyatt is a pretty cool kid!

I wasn't sure whodunit, but it was a lot of fun reading and finding out. There was plenty of action and humor as well. Some of the scenes were so crazy and I could almost picture Jessica Fletcher along with a couple of the Golden Girls being Poppy and her pals. Poppy's little side story about her love life was very sweet, and I was happy that it came to a happy conclusion instead of keeping us waiting and wondering. It'll be interesting to see what these characters get into next!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

I'm new to Poppy and her sidekicks. It's a bit of the Golden Girls meets cozy mystery. As this is the first I've read in the series, I missed a bit of the backstory for some of the characters, but it doesn't take away from this cozy mystery with a bit of a thriller feel, that stays fast paced to the end.

Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by the Author and Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an fair and honest review.

Being a 60-something retiree in So Cal and a fan of old TV mysteries, I can relate to the A Desert Flowers Mystery Series. I loved the first book and this one is great too. Poppy is a wonderful character and this time she finds herself in the middle of a love triangle and two murders.

Even former TV stars can't escape jury duty and TV star-retiree-turned PI Poppy Harmon is not exempt. From opening arguments it is apparent that the star crooner defendant is guilty and the jury agrees. Except for one holdout and Poppy is pretty sure she knows why. But chasing down evidence of jury tampering doesn't pay the bills at the Desert Flowers Detective Agency. When former co-star, Rod Harper, hires them to find his missing 22 year old daughter, it reignites feelings Poppy had thought long been extinguished.

They have a case to work so why can't Poppy let the trial and the holdout juror go? When the man wants to meet, Poppy goes and discovers him face down in his pool - dead. When Rod's wannabe singer daughter resurfaces, the questions about where she has been are met with lies and diversions. As Rod makes a play for Poppy, current beau, Sam, comes to town and since the three of them all worked together, well can anyone just say awkward? Then the crooner's wife, a former fling of Rod's is murdered. Poppy is up to her ears in bodies and she isn't being paid to find the culprit, but when did that ever stop her?

Another great madcap adventure in the Poppy Harmon series! This time it revolves around Poppy Harmon and the Hung Jury on which she finds herself.

Poppy, a retired actress, owns a detective agency with her two friends, Violet and Iris. Poppy in the also excellent first book in the series, Poppy Harmon Investigates, hires a young struggling male actor to be the face of the agency. It appears that 60’ish females don’t engender much trust in potential clients.

In this book, Poppy is the jury foreman on a hung jury whose defendant is a famous older crooner (think Tony Bennett). The singer is accused of hitting a chef in the head with a frying pan because his steak was overcooked. All members of the jury but one believe Tony (the singer’s name in the book) is guilty. When Poppy sees Tony nodding to the jury holdout, she wonders what is going on. She shrugs it off but later when she finds the juror dead, she decides to investigate.

In a separate case, Poppy’s old co-worker, actor Rod, is trying to find his missing daughter. They had an argument about money resulting in her disappearance. Poppy is relieved when her computer expert, and Violet’s grandson, twelve-year-old Wyatt discovers that the daughter has been using her credit card in local Palm Springs’ stores. But is it her? Or is it someone else using the card?

I absolutely love this series and Poppy in general. She is feisty and doesn’t take any crap from anyone. She is genuine as are all the supporting characters. The two mysteries are also excellent. I can’t recommend Poppy Harmon and the Hung Jury more highly. It’s one of my favorite books (as was its predecessor). 5 stars!

Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Poppy Harmon and the Hung Jury by Lee Hollis is the 2nd book in A Desert Flowers Mystery series, and another fun addition. I have always liked Ms. Hollis's Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery series, and I'm enjoying this one too. Poppy is a 62 year old widow who learns her husband left her broke, with the help of her two friends Iris and Violet they start the Desert Flowers Detective Agency. Poppy is also a former actress. In this adventure Poppy serves on a jury, and the one person who is a hold out to a guilty verdict seems suspicious to Poppy. Poppy is determined to figure out what is going on with the juror, especially after he turns up dead. Poppy old co-star hires the firm to find an old friends missing daughter, and Poppy is attracted to two different me. I really loved this book, it was laugh out loud funny, and I like that the book features strong middle age women. I am looking forward to the next Poppy and friends adventure. I recommend this book, if you like fun cozy mysteries.
I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and Kensington Publishing. Thank you.