Death of a Country Fried Redneck

Single mom Hayley Powell has her hands full writing a food and drink column for the local newspaper as well as keeping an eye on her children, especially daughter Gemma who is dating an older boy. Still Hayley will do anything it takes to meet country music star Wade Springer who is in Bar Harbor, Maine to perform two charity concerts. Almost before she knows what happened, Hayley is hired to be Wade's personal chef while he is in town. Sparks fly between the two but all is not well when a body turns up and a piece of Hayley's lovingly cooked chicken is close by. Hayley quickly finds herself involved with the murder investigation but is afraid the killer might be someone she knows and cares about.

“Death of a Country Fried Redneck” show more is a very funny, at times over-the-top mystery. You can tell that author Lee Hollis (pen name for brother and sister writing team Rick Copp and Holly Simason) had a lot of fun writing this book. There are a lot of funny things in this book like names (Billy Ray Cyrus and Spanky McFarland appear in this book or at least their names do), good old-fashioned girl fights (one in particular was laugh out loud funny), a pesky photographer, mangled language, and so much more. This type of humor can be hard for me to swallow - too much over-the-top stuff and I'm gone - but Hollis pulls it off admirably. Mixed in with the humor are some more serious issues like an overprotective father and Hayley's ongoing struggles in raising teenagers that help keep this book grounded. The mystery itself is well plotted with plenty of suspects and Hollis does a good job of having readers solve the crime alongside Hayley. Two things kept me from giving this book five stars. First, the Bar Harbor setting didn't seem real to me. Maybe it was the title; maybe it was the country singer, but the book felt like it was set in the South not New England. And, while Hayley is a bright resourceful heroine throughout most of the book she turns into one of those Too Stupid to Live characters at the end - I literally groaned when I realized what she was about to do.

“Death of a Country Fried Redneck” isn't perfect but it sure is a lot of fun to read. show less

When Hayley Powell learns that her favorite singer is doing a couple of concerts in town, she manages to find a way to meet him - cook him breakfast at a local diner. When Wade Springer, country superstar, tastes her cooking, he offers her the job of personal chef while he's there. In fact, he's so taken with her, he wants to take her out to dinner, also.

Hayley, whose boyfriend Lex is away on business, doesn't think anything of it, because it's only a dinner, and she's already told Wade she's involved with someone. But when she brings him her spectacular fried chicken she's accosted by one of his employees and practically dragged off. Only the intervention of Wade and his bodyguard Curtis save her.

Later, the fired employee's body is show more found in a burned-out tour bus, and it also turns out that he was shot before the bus was burned. So Hayley needs to find out who killed Mickey before Wade is blamed. It doesn't help that Wade's ex-wife shows up and is hot on the trail of her ex, and a local punk is threatening her. Now Hayley's on the trail of a killer who might be closer to home than she thinks after all...

This is the second book in the series, and I really hoped it would be better than the first. And it was, a tad. But Hayley screaming like a teenager when she learns her favorite singer is in town? What grown woman would do that? She obviously spends waaayy too much time with her teenaged daughter instead of adults...speaking of which, when she does spend time with adults, it's to go out and drink. Don't they have anything else to do? There's nothing wrong with it, but seriously, meeting at a bar night after night?

Then there's her boyfriend, Lex. There's no spark at all; he's rather dull. He just seems to come in and out of her life, and honestly, I was hoping she'd go off with the singer so she'd have something going on. I just don't see how Hayley and Lex fit together. Maybe if he'd spend time with the kids once in a while to get to know them, but there's just no connection for me. As for her friend Mona - don't get me started. Rather than go to the doctor and either her or her husband get snipped, she gets pregnant and then complains about her kids and her lazy husband. This is not a family I would like to come near in a restaurant or anywhere else. There doesn't seem to be any discipline at all; and what is supposed to be humorous makes you want to run for the hills.

While the story line was interesting - singer comes to town and one of his group is killed - there were too many distractions throughout. Why is a fifteen-year-old kid taking pictures of people and no one is telling his parents that he needs to cut it out? He's a minor, not a professional.

I really would have liked to enjoy this book better, and as I said, I did a little more than the first, but only because the ending was a surprise. I am hoping that in the next book Lex actually becomes a 'real boy' instead of the wooden model he seems to be, and that Hayley acts like the newspaper employee she is. The recipes were okay, but only if you're centered on drinking with every meal. show less

I really liked this book even though i haven't read any others in the series. I will be putting them on my wishlist. The main character is Hayley Powell who is a food writer for the local newspaper. When she finds out her favorite country singer will be in town she convinces him to hire her as his personal chef and there are sparks flying even though she has a beau already, he just happens to be out of town. She is also dealing with two teenage children one being a daughter who thinks she is in love with a singer and as if life isn't complicated one of the rodees has turned up dead
and her good friend had a one time evening with him making her a suspect. There really is nothing to do but figure out who the real murderer is. A really cute show more mystery and a good summer read. show less

Enjoyed this book. Fun mystery with good recipes (always a plus) and I didn't figure it out until the end. Liked the characters -- they were believable and sympathetic. The action moved and just enough mystery to keep the reader interested. I recommend this one as a good beach read.

I received this book through the LT Early Reviewers program.

In this book, a famous country singer chooses to come to Bar Harbor, Maine, to do benefit concerts for a local college. This is a dream come true for local food columnist Hayley Powell, who is utterly besotted with the man and immediately starts developing schemes to meet her idol. She succeeds and even finds herself hired as his personal chef for the duration of his stay. Romance flares between the two of them and all seems to be going swimmingly until one of the singer's roadies is found dead with Hayley's chicken in his mouth. From that point, Hayley becoems a grown-up version of Nancy Drew, only she makes many more accusations that turn out to be false than I remember show more Nancy doing.

While the book was okay, I didn't find it as interesting or well-written as other series featuring cooks-cum-sleuths. I also found the protagonist's behavior annoying--she is supposed to be a 30-something woman with two teen-aged kids (who seem to be ignored a lot unless it's convenient to the plot) but in many instances her behavior was portrayed as though she was no older than her 16-year-old daughter. I may read other books in the series, but I won't go out of my way to find them. show less

A fun lighthearted read for anyone who enjoys cozy mysteries. Hayley is a food columnist who finally meets her idol, a country singing star who comes to her town for a few benefit concerts. When one of his roadies ends up dead, Hayley gets involved by trying to find out who done it. With likable, quirky characters who could be anyone you know, "Death of a Country Fried Redneck" is lots of fun. (it includes lots of recipes that look good too!)

Staid Bar Harbor -- home to some of the rich and famous-- make that conservative rich and famous is 'invaded' by a country music superstar and his entourage. So much for quiet island life..add in a 'little' murder, a teenage papparazzi, and things heat up even in Maine. Single mom Hayley cooks up a scheme to meet the superstar and becomes embroiled in not only his personal life (think ex) but in the murder of one of his fired roadies. Adds up to a 'southern' mystery in 'Down Home Maine". Enjoy.