Hayley Powell #16
Who could have expected to find the next take on Romeo and Juliet to be found in Death of a Clam Digger by Lee Hollis? Two families, the Leightons and the Barns, have been in a business-based war for years. In fact, the book opens with a massive fight between the two matriarchs of each family on the shoreline. Both the Barns and the Leighton families provide seafood staples to local restaurants, including our heroine Hayley Powell’s. Her own establishment is conveniently called Haley’s Kitchen and is a favorite town hangout, beloved by locals and tourists alike. She gets her seafood from her best friend Mona Barns, and her establishment is a favorite of the patriarch of the Leighton family Lonnie Leighton.
Needless to say, this makes for some rather colorful dining experiences for the other guests, and lots of free desserts being divvied out by poor Haley. Surprising everyone, the youngest of each rival family make the announcement that they intend to wed, and as one might suspect it goes over quite well. There’s screaming, flying wine, threats of violence, and people being forced back to their homes. Luckily, Hayley is there to defuse the situation and separate the families peacefully – at least for the time being. But the scene isn’t easily forgotten, and Hayley and Mona have to put their heads together to try and figure out what to do next. It almost seems a stroke of morbid luck that a few days later Lonnie Leighton is found dead.
Unfortunately, it appears to Hayley that this death was anything but an accident, and the murderer has no shortage of Barns family members to set up to take the fall for them. In order to protect Mona and her family from possibly ending up in jail, Hayley takes on the case to figure out who could have wanted Mr. Leighton dead. As if this isn’t enough for her to handle, Hayley is also facing a personal crisis in the form of an ex-girlfriend of her husband Bruce. Not only does she seem to have her eye on Haley’s husband, but also on her business and her town. While Hayley is confident in her abilities as a cook and amateur sleuth, she is now facing some self-doubt and self-confidence issues when it comes to her marriage.
Despite her husband Bruce’s constant reassurance, she cannot help but find herself constantly distracted by this new presence. She tries to focus solely on solving the murder, but cannot help but try to sus out if this woman is indeed here to make a play for her husband. More importantly, she’s worried that he would be even a little bit tempted if she did.
This is impressively the sixteenth book in Lee Hollis’ Hayley Powell series. New or old readers will have no trouble following the story and all the colorful characters. There is someone in this story for everyone. All the characters have unique personalities and mesh well together. Haley’s cool and even temperament weathers the storm of chaos around her. Any who have been forced to mediate an argument between friends or coworkers will appreciate the accurate depiction of the arbiter role. Hayley balances well with her emotional and explosive friend Mona. The two make for quite the dynamic duo, and readers will be entertained by their antics all the way to the conclusion of Death of a Clam Digger.
Readers will just have to partake in the novel if they want to see that this seafood Romeo and Juliet tale comes to a happy conclusion, or if they will go the way of their inspiration, down the road of tragedy. – Carla Schantz