Death of a Clam Digger is the 16th book in the Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery series, but with each mystery contained within each book, they can be read as standalones. I enjoy this series set in Bar Harbor, Maine and it was fun having Mona play center stage with her family in this mystery. Mona's family has had an ongoing feud with another clamming family, the Leightons, for decades. The book opens with Mona and her rival having a physical fight over a clam digging spot. Hayley breaks it up and we learn about this rivalry. When Mona's son gets engaged to a Leighton, patriarch Lonnie Leighton, threaten him. The next thing you know, he is found dead, face down in the mud. Who is responsible for his death, or was it natural causes? While trying to clear Mona and her family, as well as help her son-in-law, Hayley is also dealing a small family crisis involving her husband. Can they find the killer and maybe help the young couple find happiness?

Lee Hollis definitely entertained me with this story. It has a bit of everything, romance, mystery, lies, vengeance, family drama and lots of history about Mona and her family. Even Bruce had some spotlight when an ex- returned to town and tried to worm her way back into his life. I enjoyed the fights, the arguments, and Mona's mama bear antics. Of course the food and drink are always delicious sounding and make me want to find a good seafood restaurant. Sergio is working hard to solve the crime and his Sergioisms as he stumbles through the English Language always make me smile. The mystery is well written and as usual, I did not figure out the culprit. With a few twists, more than one suspect and a few laughs, this was another fun addition to this series. Interspersed throughout the book, there were once again snippets from Hayley's columns that do interrupt the flow of the story at times, but always make me smile.

There is a feud going on between the two biggest seafood rivals in town. One of Hayley's best friends, Mona, is an owner of one and the.Leighton clan the owner of the other. There has always been a turf war between the two but when one of Mona's sons starts seeing one of the Leighton girls she sees red. Hayley doesn't want to get in the middle but knows how her friend is and does what she can to help her friend. When head of the family Lonnie Leighton ends up dead and Mona becomes a main suspect Hayley jumps in to start her investigation. She soon learns that the man had quite a few enemies his family being among the list. Follow Hayley as she tries to unearth a killer, will she be able to fit all the clues together or will her friend end up in jail?

Lee Hollis is back, with Death of a Clam Digger!
The drama is always fun to read in this series. The characters I've grown to love are back with recipes and a new mystery to solve. This book can be read as a standalone, but recommend checking out the other entries in this series.

My thanks to Kensington Publishing and NetGallery for a digital copy of this book for my review!

A delightful mystery and I enjoyed learning more about Mona’s family. A great installment to the series.
Many thanks to Kensington and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have enjoyed the books I have read so far in the Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails series. I love the setting of Bar Harbor, Maine. The characters are well developed and their lives and drama will suck you into the book. There is a little bit of everything spread throughout the pages of this delightful cozy mystery. From romance to mystery, lies to family drama, delicious recipes to the insights at the end of the chapters ... you will be in for a treat. With humor sprinkled throughout, this is a fun read that you will enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Cozies for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

For more reviews, please visit my blog at: https://www.msladybugsbookreviews.com/. Over 1000 reviews posted!

I'm a big fan of this series and love everything written by Lee Hollis. This is the 16th in the Hayley Powell series and I've read most of the earlier ones. Lee Hollis, of course, is the pen name of a brother and sister writing team and their mysteries are always intricately plotted, entertaining, with excellent characterizations. Don't miss this latest installment. If you're looking for a tightly written mystery, an entertaining style and a peek into the world of food reporting, this is the one for you!

Food and cocktails columnist Hayley Powell usually reserves judgement for local cuisine not the people that serve it. But when caught between the biggest seafood rivals in town her BFF Mona Barnes and the successful Leighton clan. Adding to a bitter decades old surf and turf war between businesses a modern Romeo and Juliet story unfolds as Mona’s son gets engaged to the daughter of her sworn enemy. Spiteful patriarch Lonnie Leighton is also steamed about the arrangement as far as going to danger lengths to break it up. Until he is found face down and dead in the clam flats. Unanswered questions are swirling accusations flying in both directions and a young couple stuck in the middle. Someone wants to get away with murder and send whoever gets in the way to a muddy grave. This was a fun and enjoyable story full of great characters. I would recommend reading it to everyone.

Princess Fuzzypants here: Move over the Hatfield’s and McCoys. Romeo and Juliette, step down. The family feud going on between two rival fishing families could match them easily. Hayley’s BFF Mona is the matriarch of the one family with three boys. Lonnie is the patriarch of the other with three girls. One of his daughters is as rabid as her father in his hatred of the other family. Not so much another of his daughters who happens to want to marry one of Mona’s sons. You can imagine the fireworks went Daddy interrupts the proposal at Hayley’s restaurant.

When Lonnie found dead face down in the mud, it is assumed that the terminally ill man toppled over and could not get up. Hayley is not convinced. The more she finds out the more likely a conspiracy was in play but who did what to whom. That is not the only complication. By the time the heinous crime is unravelled, there are going to be more shocks. And that includes one of a very personal nature for Hayley. What is one of her husband Bruce’s former flames doing in town and how does she fit into the mystery.

This is a series I always enjoy especially the little side stories that follow the chapters. They really get the reader to feel like they know the characters- which, of course, increases the pleasure. Five purrs and two paws up.

This is the 16th installment in the Food & Cocktails Mystery Series and the first book in this series that I have read. Columnist Hayley Powell's best friend, Mona, is having trouble with her sons, and they quickly find themselves in deep trouble when Mona's biggest rival is found dead. Of course they become prime suspects, and Hayley throws herself into the investigation despite how strange they all are acting.

I really enjoyed the setting of Bar Harbor, Maine, and meeting all of the characters in this long-running series. I think it would have been helpful to have background on the books in the series but I still did enjoy this installment. I will definitely be going back to check out previous books in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for an Advanced Reader Copy in return for a fair and honest review!

A huge thank goes out to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Death Of A Clam Digger (Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery, #16) by Lee Hollis. Several years ago, I read the first book in this series, Death of a Kitchen Diva (Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery, #1) and enjoyed it. When I saw that the author had a new book in the series, I knew I wanted to revisit the series. I was super happy that I was approved to receive this book for free in exchange for my honest review. And, I can't wait to read all the books in between the first book and this latest one in the series.

When I opened the book, it was like being reacquainted with an old friend, and it surely opened with a bang! The action started right away, and it kept up with a steady pace. At first, I wasn't sure who the victim was going to be. What was even more surprising was who the murderer ended up being. There were so many suspects and red herrings that I never figured out who the culprit was. In fact, I felt like it came a little out of left field. However, it didn't detract from the story.

Don't worry if you haven't read any of the other novels in the Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery series because it can be read as a stand alone as the author does a great job of giving background of the characters without it feeling like a retelling of the previous books. Hayley and her husband are extremely likable as are her brother and his husband. There were times that I didn't like the best friend of Hayley and times that I did. Most of the Leighton clan were extremely unlikable. With that being said, Lonnie ended up not being quite as unlikable as I thought he was going to be, and I ended up feeling extremely sorry for him.

Five out of five stars is what I gave Death Of A Clam Digger (Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery, #16) by Lee Hollis. I look forward to reading more books from this author. This author also has another great series called A Desert Flowers Mystery.

Maine is one of my favorite places which is just one reason that I love this series. Hayley is on the job again to make sure that her friend Mona isn't arrested for her enemy's murder. The mystery moves at a nice speed and is well-paced. It also has enough twists and turns to keep on turning the pages. I'm ready for the next one in the series!

This is book 16 in the Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails mystery series. It can be read as a stand alone. Hayley is caught in the middle of a fight between the town's two seafood retailers. Her best friends family runs the leighton family business and now there is a Romeo and Juliet story playing out as the next generation looks like a merger is in the making with a marriage.
When Lonnie Leighton is found dead in the clam flats, it's hard to narrow the list of suspects. Lots of returning characters and a satisfying mystery.

As we return to Bar Habor, Maine, Hayley Powell finds herself caught between the two biggest seafood suppliers in town. When this rivalry is tested by a Hatfield and MCCoy's romance, will she be able to keep her cool and friendship to solve the murder? Hayley's BFF Mona's son has fallen in love with staunch rival Lonnie Leighton's daughter. When they become engaged, Lonnie goes to great lengths to bread them up. When he is found face down dead in the clam flats, did he go too far? Will Hayley be able to clear Mona's name?
I received a copy through Netgalley. A review was not required.

Romeo and Juliet meets the Hatfields and the McCoys at a clam bake. As usual, we are supplied with a really good mystery that draws you in because you think you know what is going on, but do you really? Then there are the column contributions and wonderful beverage and food recipes. I had no idea there were that many ways to prepare clams. Hayley does a great job of running the restaurant, being a staunch supporter of young love, and keeping her jealousy in check (for the most part). As usual, this is a stand alone cozy mystery, shoot, Hayley didn't know about 's past girlfriend so we are all in that dark about that one. I was quite invested in this story and could not only feel Hayley's emotions but you empathize with her as well. The usual supporting cast of characters, of which I must say, Mona, is one of my favorites. How that woman has any energy is beyond me. A good number of well laid clues as well as a few bait and switch red herrings. I so wish that my choice for the guilty party had been a part of the dastardly deed, but the ending worked out just as well. Looking forward to the next Hayley Powell mystery and appetizing recipes. In the mean time, I will try out the WOW Your Guests Easy Clam Cakes for a weekend treat.

I definitely enjoyed this cozy and read it in just over a day, which is quick for me.
I found the characters to be likable and the small coastal town to be predictable yet inviting,
This town had its share of drama.. Everyone knew everyone’s dirt, with a few juicy secrets to keep it entertaining.
The end had a twist I didn’t see coming.. so the murderer was a complete surprise to me!
5 stars for this cozy mystery!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. My opinions are my own.

The Leighton and Barnes families have had a long-standing rivalry over their respective seafood dynasties in Bar Harbor, Maine. So our heroine Hayley Powell isn't entirely surprised one morning to find one of her best friends, the brash Mona Barnes, engaged in a physical altercation with Vera, their peer and the eldest daughter of the Leighton family. Ostensibly, the squabble is over clam harvesting territory, though the two women have long fostered a personal grudge against one another since growing up as classmates together in their small island town.

Hayley breaks up the fight but knows that worse trouble is on the horizon when Dougie, one of Mona's sons, confides in her that he's planning on asking Olive Leighton, Vera's youngest sister, to marry him. The couple have been going out in secret and against their family's wishes for some time now. Dougie wants to surprise Olive with a romantic proposal at Hayley's restaurant. Despite her misgivings, Hayley agrees to help.

Unfortunately, an even worse commotion than the beachside brawl breaks out when Lonnie, the Leighton family patriarch, figures out what Dougie and Olive are doing. He causes a huge scene at the restaurant, to the embarrassment of his own girlfriend, Abby Weston. Abby attempts to apologize profusely to Hayley, who is almost as alarmed at the scene as she is by Lonnie's clear ill health.

So when Hayley finds Lonnie's corpse facedown on the beach several days later, she assumes that his ailing body finally gave way on him. The discovery of an incongruous class ring nearby gives her pause, but it's not until the Leighton sisters ask her to look into what happened that she becomes more convinced than otherwise that Lonnie did not die of natural causes. Could a member of Mona's large family have possibly been involved in helping the old man along to an untimely death?

This was another funny and fast-paced installment of the Hayley Powell Food And Cocktails mystery series, as Hayley has to carefully navigate not only the fractured family dynamics of people she's known and cared about almost all of her life but also their deadly rivals’. It doesn't help that an old flame from her husband's prior life suddenly appears, igniting all of Hayley's insecurities. While I’m not usually Bruce’s biggest fan, he did acquit himself well while dealing with both Hayley and his ex. The mystery itself contains a number of sad and surprising twists, though the ending is ultimately upbeat.

There were seven each of food and drink recipes included here, for a total of fourteen, each pair accompanied by excerpts of Hayley's always charming newspaper column. I decided to try out this one:

QUOTE
Wow Your Guests Easy Clam Cakes

2 cans whole baby clams, drained, and save your liquid
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 large eggs, beaten

Mix your clams, flour, baking soda, salt, pepper, eggs, and 4 tablespoons clam liquid to moisten mixture. Make 12 equal-portioned patties with the mixture.

In a cast iron skillet add enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pan. On medium-high heat, fry your patties on each side until golden brown about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove and move to a paper towel-lined plate. Serve warm with your favorite tartar sauce, cocktail sauce, or squeezes of lemon.
END QUOTE

Oh wow, I don't know if that was a typo of some sort, but 2 teaspoons of baking soda is way too much for this recipe. It definitely needed only half a teaspoon, though I'm not sure whether the mistake was made in the quantity itself or in the fact that it should have been baking powder used instead of soda. You could definitely use 2 teaspoons of baking powder here instead of half a teaspoon of soda, if that's what you have available to you.

Regardless, I followed the recipe to a tee despite my misgivings and found this otherwise terrific recipe utterly ruined by too much baking soda, which was all my family could taste in the clam cakes. I'll definitely be trying it again in future with the correct amounts/ingredients though, as this does sound like a fast and easy way to make a delicious seafood dish.

Next week, we head to the Midwest to bake up a spooky season treat while figuring out how a pranking and a podcast could combine to go so murderously awry. Do join me!

Death of a Clam Digger: A Hayley Powell Food & Cocktails Mystery
By Lee Hollis
Kensington
July 25, 2023

Review by Cynthia Chow

Bar Harbor has its own Montague and Capulet rivalry ensuing between the seafood companies owned by Mona Barnes and Lonnie Leighton. Mona and Vera Leighton have detested each once since childhood, and that hatred continues as they physically brawl over clamming territories. Mona’s bestie Hayley Powell is doing her best to attempt to calm the waters, but that’s going to be impossible when Mona’s son Dougie announces that not only is he dating Olive Leighton, but that he intends to propose to her in Hayley’s restaurant. A nightmare of timing and an inexperienced waitress results in both families being present for the star-crossed proposal, with Lonnie being dragged out spewing threats. Shots being fired at Dougie later that night indicate that the war is just heating up, but it’s Lonnie’s body who is later found face down in the clam flats.

Just as disconcerting as Mona and her entire family now being suspects is a loose-lipped nurse disclosure that Lonnie had but a few months to live, making his murder seem a bit unnecessary. So with her inexplicable amount of experience investigating murders, the restaurant owner and Island Times food columnist enlists her usual crew to delve into one more. Mona proves to be her usual brash self, while their third Liddy Crawford is a bit distracted with a potential new real estate client. That this newcomer happens to be Boston Commons CEO Tabitha Collins is disconcerting not only because the accomplished executive offers to expand Hayley’s intentionally-localized business, but more importantly happens to be the millionaire ex-girlfriend of Hayley’s husband. A girlfriend Bruce never previously mentioned and seems baffled at Hayley’s justifiably alarmed reaction. Trying to solve a murder when everyone’s hormones seem charged and unbalanced is going to be a challenge for Hayley, especially when the latest infatuation is definitely going to result in someone wanting to commit another murder.

This 16th in the series sparkles with hilarious dialogue, mouth-watering descriptions of seafood delicacies, and the chaotic antics between the Bar Harbor locals. The sibling writing duo who are Lee Hollis succeed in delicately balancing over-the-top shenanigans with moments of heart-warming and genuine emotions. Hayley’s Island Food & Drink columns are interspersed throughout the novel, providing recipes for tasty alcoholic treats and buttery clam-filled dishes. The stories that inspired these dishes are even more entertaining, usually ending with Hayley’s embarrassment or another laugh-out-loud domestic disaster. The introduction of the Leighton family allows new readers to easily dive into this long-running series, while fans will be rewarded with the usual amount of laughs and insight into island life. I always look forward to the latest mystery by Lee Hollis, who continually entertains with creative plots and hilarious adventures.

Add this to your Haley Powell mysteries. Haley and Mona are back again but this time the murder hits close to Mona. Mona and Lonnie ae bitter rivals in the seafood industry. But what do you do when you find your adversary dead one morning while clam digging. Why its up to Haley to figure this mystery out. This book was another great installment in this cozy mystery series. I couldn't even figure out who it was. If you like this series this is another great book.

There is a feud going on between the two biggest seafood rivals in town. One of Hayley's best friends, Mona, is an owner of one and the.Leighton clan the owner of the other. There has always been a turf war between the two but when one of Mona's sons starts seeing one of the Leighton girls she sees red. Hayley doesn't want to get in the middle but knows how her friend is and does what she can to help her friend. When head of the family Lonnie Leighton ends up dead and Mona becomes a main suspect Hayley jumps in to start Jer investigation. She soon learns that the man had quite a few enemies his family being among the list. Follow Hayley as she tries to unearth a killer, will she be able to fit all the clues together or will her friend end up in jail?

DEATH OF A CLAM DIGGER is the sixteenth book in the Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mysteries by Lee Hollis. This is another outstanding addition to a long-admired series! Protagonist Hayley Powell is delightful and I’ve enjoyed getting to know her over the years. In this newest addition, her BFF, Mona, along with her children (9 of them!) are front and center. It was enjoyable learning some backstory and the plot of the Romeo and Juliet relationship of the kids of Mona and Lonnie, a feuding business owner, added to the appeal. Mona, to be honest, has some rough edges to be sure, but her obvious love and care for her children comes through. When Lonnie is found murdered, the authorities put Mona’s enamored son in their spotlight.

The author does an admirable job laying out clues and providing suspects to keep the reader guessing. Not only is the mystery top-notch, but it’s infused with a layer of emotions that makes the reader invested in what happens. Hayley’s involvement not only includes investigating but also trying to diffuse the feud between the two families. Sitting back and soaking up the coastal setting, I wished I had one of the clam dishes mentioned along with one of Hayley’s cocktails to imbibe as I read this thoroughly enjoyable mystery!