Death of a Cookbook Author by Lee Hollis--review

The author, Lee Hollis, is one I hadn't read before, and I've has this book for several months, but never got around to reading it until recently.

Hayley Powell is a cook and local food columnist in Seal Harbor, Maine. While attending a local book signing by her idol, Penelope (who lives part time in the area), the star of a TV cooking program, Hayley is invited to Penelope's 4th of July Cook-Off.  This cook-off will be filmed by a TV crew, and shown on Penelope's TV show.

This is a weekend event, and Hayley and the other cooks are staying with Penelope for the weekend. Her first night at the mansion, Hayley develops food poisoning, and while dealing with that, she overhears what she believes to be a murder plot, with the victim her idol, Penelope.

When Hayley tells Penelope, who then shares it with the others, no one believes her.  It is suggested that she may have hallucinated during her bout with the food poisoning.  Even after a death, no one gives any credence to her suspicions, so she begins her investigation.

For whatever reason, this book just didn't grab me.  It was fairly enjoyable, but it was easy to put down and not pick up again.  It took me much longer than usual to finish this, and I was relieved when it was over.  The characters were okay, the plot was nice, there were even a couple of surprises, but this just wasn't something I really thought was great. Probably won't read any more in the series..

This is part of my Mt. TBR Challenge, bought 19 July 2018, read 9 Apr 2019.
It is also book #24 in my Craving for Cozies Challenge.