Death of a Tom Turkey, by Lee Hollis

 

Publication Sept. 30, 2025

Bar Harbor is holding the annual Thanksgiving turkey shoot celebration and Hayley even wins a turkey. Things grind to a halt, however, when local Tom Farley is shot. Not with the specially created non-lethal bullets used in the competition but by a real bullet. Given Tom's cantankerous reputation and behavior, there's a long list of suspects. Fortunately, however, he survives. Well, sorta. Guess who is the dead body late discovered by Hayley and husband when they visit his turkey farm? And, this not long after the hospital staff was discovered having a celebration of sorts after his very alive discharge. Let's just say, he wasn't the best of patients. I don't want to give away much more of the story but will say that resident squabbles over land and a blocked land deal, family squabbles, and more play a role. Maybe it was just the timing, but I wasn't as taken with this one as I'd expected. Most likely just me. The usual gang is there and there are some downright hilarious scenes to visualize (a pig sty is involved in one), but it just seemed like the pluses and minuses equaled out for me. My biggest eye rolls were over not just the mishandling of evidence, likely making it inadmissible in any court, but the rush by the police to arrest a suspect without verifying the evidence as part of the crime. Seemed very out of character for police chief Sergio. That said, I did enjoy the humor and banter between the usual cast of characters, so while I wasn't loving the book, I didn't dislike it, either. Mona's on again, off again relationship with Sergeant Earl was fun, And there's a new young couple in town. They should be a fun addition, well, if they aren't murderers. Thanks #KensingtonPublishing for this early peek at Hayley's Thanksgiving. Hopefully I'll be in the right frame of mind for the next one as I really do enjoy the characters and occasionally zany events.