"Will deep fat fried chicken come to Hemlock Falls?"
Hemlock Falls, New York, sounds like a town I'd definitely
enjoy visiting, especially the Inn at Hemlock Falls run by
sisters Meg and Quill. I think that's why I enjoy this
mystery series so much. It's set in a place I would like
to see. Meg is the chef at the Inn and Quill is the manager. In
this book the town's mayor, Elmer Henry, tries to convince
Meg to judge the Fry Away Home contest being held in town.
Meg emphatically refuses. She is appalled to be asked to
judge a deep fat frying contest. Harry Holcomb of Holcomb's Wholesome Fried Chicken wants
celebrity chef Banion O'Haggerty to judge the contest.
Unfortunately O'Haggerty wants more money than Holcomb is
offering. Elmer will have to come up with the difference.
He'd rather Meg do it -- he wouldn't have to pay anything.
Holcomb is opening the town's first Holcomb's Wholesome
Fried Chicken. O'Haggerty arrives and decides to stay at
the Inn. Meg hates O'Haggerty. Then Holcomb's most hated
rival, Colonel Cluck, is setting up shop here, too, and
decides to stay at the Inn as well. O'Haggerty is found dead. Meg and her fiance, Andy, who
happens to be the town doctor, are suspects. Meg and Quill
jump into action to help solve the murder. Sheriff Myles
Hales, who Quill sees on a regular basis, is not happy when
Meg and Quill try to help. He even calls in an old friend
he once worked with, Jordan Bellemarin, to run the
investigation as he was too connected. The setting in this book really assists this story.
Having everyone staying under one roof helps in the
investigation and "snooping." The characters are very well
developed and life-like. The plot always has plenty of
twists and turns. I definitely couldn't figure this one
out ahead. I also like that Quill, who does most of the
detecting, is smart. I don't like books where you can't
figure out why they can't see what's right in front of
them. I never feel that way in this series. I highly recommend you read this book. It is the greatest
in a long line of great books in this series.
Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle
Posted June 24, 2003
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