Poppy Harmon and the Backstabbing Bachelor is the fourth installment in A Desert Flowers Mystery series by Lee Hollis.

This series has quickly become one of my favorite series that I always eagerly wait for. Now it feels like getting together with old friends.
Characters are delightful, funny and completely likeable. I appreciate how thay develop and grow with each book. I wish that Poppy's female sidekicks would get a bit more space and attention, because they are hillarious in their own right.
The mystery was well plotted and executed. There were several twists and turns. Even though the ending didn't come as a shock I still thoroughly enjoyed reading this story.
I also highly admire the humorous bits and pieces woven in every book.
I highly recommend it to all mystery lovers.

Poppy, Iris and Violet are the ladies of the Desert Flowers and they are in fine form. They are investigating a group taking advantage of senior citizens by working as home health care workers to get into their homes and rip them off. When the case is wrapped up...is it really done? Poppy discovers she has a stalker which leads Poppy to a reality dating show. Murder is involved but will Poppy be able to keep it from happening to her? There isn't a dull moment in this mystery.
I have enjoyed each book in this series and Poppy, Iris and Violet are mature characters who are full of spunk. The humor is often laugh out loud funny and the mysteries are well plotted, full of misdirection.
My thanks to the publisher Kensington and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Poppy and her friends Iris and Violet are determined to find and stop the young people who have been swindling and scamming older people. THat's easy enough sort of except that someone has it in for Poppy. She knows she's being stalked but then there's a murder, Don't worry if you haven't read the earlier books- this will be fine as a standalone. While parts of it might seem like standard cozy fare, Hollis makes some pointed comments about how older people are treated. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Good twists and fun characters make this a delightful cozy read.

These books are so much fun, although Iris is my favorite character and while we got some of her signature snark, it was absent from this book. However, one of the scenarios (no spoilers) literally had me laughing out loud. And I loved the subtle nod to Hollis' Hayley Powell mysteries.

Poppy Harmon and the Desert Flowers Agency are taking down a ring of thieves who pretend to be caregivers before robbing their charges blind. Little did Poppy know this would lead to someone stalking and attempting to kill her. Their main suspect is a chameleon with a multitude of identities who is slippery enough to evade capture through disguise and sleight of hand. The whole plot is quite well put together and while we "know who" the killer is, figuring out which one among the group actually dunit was fun.

The Poppy Harmon series is a delightful departure from the typical cozy featuring a young 30-something woman starting over in a niche market in a small town. Poppy and her crew are 60+ year old retirees sleuthing their way (this time as legit PIs) through the not so small town of Palm Springs. I personally appreciate the older characters since they have life experience and take no sass. I look forward to more stories in the series. If you like these you should also check out the Hayley Powell books by the same authors.

Poppy and the Desert Flowers Detective Agency are back at it, trying to catch a group of thieves who swindle seniors. While the ladies solve the case, another threat against Poppy makes it obvious someone has it out for her. Now, it's time to figure out who is behind the organization and wants Poppy out of the way.

As always, Poppy and the Desert Flowers ladies mystery was full of humor, action and friendship. I love the way the characters are written with spunk and "moxie". With all the "twists and turns" and "red herrings", I couldn't figure out "whodunit" . It's another winner in the series!

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is the fourth book in the series, and the series continues to entertain me.
The protagonist is absolutely delightful and with humor and some wonderful friends continues her career change as a private investigator.
The whodunit was well written and had twists that kept me enthralled until the very end.
I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading the next one.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

I cant get enough of Poppy! She is exactly the kind of person I would want to solve mysteries with. This book is well written and hilarious!

This is the first Poppy Harmon book I’ve read, and I am hooked! I’ve previously read Hollis’s Hayley Powell series (love it), but this is a completely different experience. Poppy Harmon was a much more serious character, with a more threatening villain; clues were there but it was not a gimme to the bad guy, which I like. I will definitely be reading the previous books in this series!

Poppy Harmon is such an engaging "senior sleuth." A retired actress, still recognized for her role as a PI's secretary in a popular 1980s television series, Poppy has reinvented herself in retirement. With her two best friends, Violet and Iris, she establishes the Palm Springs Desert Flowers Detective Agency. With the help of a handsome "front man," twenty-something Matt, and Violet's teenage grandson, they work to solve crimes. This is the fourth book in the series and mostly takes place on the set of a reality tv show (sort of like The Bachelorette). A killer is hiding among the cast or crew, and Poppy goes undercover disguised as Matt's sweet 92 year old "Aunt Bea." It is absolutely hilarious. Poppy is not one to suffer fools or tolerate anyone who underestimates her because of her age. A great book to recommend to cozy readers who appreciate a sharp, funny heroine, a fast paced plot, and plenty of good humor.

Poppy and her friends Iris and Violet are the flowers of Flowers Detective Agency. The face of the agency is young up & coming actor Matt. I enjoy the multiple cases the ladies work on solving. Being 60+ does not stop them from helping others.

The major focus of the Backstabbing Bachelor finds Matt on a reality show and Poppy disguised as his 92 y.r. old Aunt Beatrice.

There is lots of action and plot twists which made this cozy a fast=paced read.

Looking forward to more Poppy Harmon adventures.

Poppy Harmon and her friends and colleagues have built up their private investigators' business with the help of a handsome young actor. Now he's part of a dating reality show...and maybe in danger. Poppy goes undercover to solve the mystery.

This is a rollicking read with suspense and humor in equal measures.

Poppy Harmon and the Desert Flowers go undercover to catch a group of thieves who have been masquerading as home health workers in order to gain entry into the homes of vulnerable seniors. When she helps Detective Jordan catch the women in the act, Poppy finds herself in the crosshairs. After a fatal car accident and a bombing, Poppy and her crew track the vengeful boyfriend of the ringleader to a reality TV bachelor show. They know the killer is there, but who is he?

I absolutely love Lee Hollis and read everything he writes. Poppy Harmon is a fun character, she's been on top and she's been at the bottom and she's clawing her way back up despite others trying to stop her. I love her feistiness and her smarts. Iris and Violet are funny and Matt is really sweet. His devotion to the ladies and their love for him is very charming.

The author has experience in the television and film industries, which he brings into the books in this series. I find that really interesting. It's fun to read about the behind the scenes aspects of the TV and movie business. It's especially nice to read about sizzling California desert temperatures while I'm freezing my fanny off in the Midwest!

Anyone who is a fan of cozy mysteries definitely needs to add Lee Hollis to their list of authors to follow.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

My first venture into the Poppy Harmon novels and it won’t be the last. This novel was such fun to read and enjoy. The characters were fabulous. The story was well plotted and the mystery of whom the backstabbing bachelor is isn’t anyone you think. It is a very entertaining read.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

When younger criminals are targeting the seniors in Palm Springs, Poppy Harmon goes undercover to close down the crime ring. Then there’s the stalker on Poppy’s tail too, she’s going to have to go undercover again and see if she can find him before he finds her.

I’ve read several books by this author, but this is the first one in this series that I have seen. Boy have I been missing out! I’m going to read the previous entries in this series and I’m going to be ready for the fifth book when it comes out.

This is such a great cozy mystery series, and this book did not disappoint.
Poppy Harmon, TV star from the 80's, now runs a private investigator company with her friends in California. This latest mystery, has Poppy back sleuthing. Book, was always, is full of surprises. Great characters, plot flows easily. Truly enjoyable.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I felt the tense, uneasy feeling Poppy Harmon felt as her stalker began to track and stalk her by any means possible. Author Lee Hollis did an excellent job putting readers into her shoes as she began to look over her shoulders and wonder what each phone call or message would bring. Poppy's strength of character, however, shines forth as she is determined to go about her life on her own terms, not the stalker's. True, I also felt like she made a few unwise choices, like not getting out of town with her boyfriend when he almost begged her to go with him, but, hey, this is a cozy mystery. Putting the main character in danger is all part of the fun, right?

Although this is the fourth in the Desert Flowers Mystery series, I'd never ventured into Poppy's world despite reading several Hollis books. I liked Poppy and her friends and admired her willingness to do whatever was necessary to bring down the bad guy. Speaking of the bad guy, Hollis kept me guessing until the big reveal. I won't detail the plot as I'm sure it's detailed many times over elsewhere but found it interesting and timely. Readers beware, however, if you honestly believe reality shows are, well, real. You get a bit of a behind the scenes look at how they are scripted, er, developed. Poor Matt. As noted, Hollis created the atmosphere to make me keep flipping pages as the story moved along nicely. I'll definitely be making up for missing the earlier books of this series asap.

Thanks #NetGalley and #KensingtonBooks for introducing me to Poppy. I'm looking forward to seeing what her next challenging performance will be

Lee Hollis is an exceptional author and Poppy Harmon is one of the most delightful creations. She is a former TV star and now lives in Palm Springs and runs a detective agency.
In this book, Poppy testifies against someone at a trial and then things start going awry as she is threatened and almost killed.
She and her inveterate crew at Desert Flowers Detective Agency are doing their very best. The other two detectives are Iris and violet and the figurehead detective Matt Flowers. They finally figure out that the suspect wants to be on a dating show (think “The Bachelor”) and so Poppy arranges for Matt Flowers to be one of the contestants and she poses as his very elderly aunt. Can they find the killer before he gets Poppy?
The story is rife with suspects and part of the fun is in trying to figure out which contestant is the killer. I must say that Lee Hollis has become a favorite author of mine there are several Lee Hollis series and they are all excellent and exceptionally well written. The stories are engaging and the characters are very believable and relatable. The situations in which they find themselves are plausible and the ending is always surprising and ultimately satisfying.
If I could only have one author to read Lee Hollis would be a good choice. Always surprising and entertaining and filled with mystery and intrigue.

Fun cozy mystery with Poppy Harmon, television star from the 1980s and her cohorts, Iris and Violet.
They run a detective agency in Palm Springs, CA. The story moved along quickly and I didn’t guess who the killer was until he was revealed. I enjoy this series and look forward to the next book.
I received this from NetGalley.

Poppy Harmon is back being a sleuth. This mystery is full of surprises throughout. I love that Poppy gives 100 percent to her cases. This series has a cast of wonderful, fun and intelligent characters.
#PoppyHarmonandtheBackstabbingBachelor #NetGalley

Poppy and her crew bust up a ring of thieves targeting the elderly, then she is stalked and threatened. Book starts strong, and overall did enjoy it, but tended to skim a bit in the middle. First I've read, which may be why I struggled to get the character connections at times. Would still recommend.