Death by Yule Log

Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery #10.5

by Lee Hollis

Previously published in Yule Log Murder

Christmases in coastal Maine can seem picture perfect—until murder ruins the scenery . . .

Haley Powell’s holidays aren’t off to a very merry start. Not only has her daughter brought Conner-an infuriatingly perfect new beau-home to Bar Harbor, but a local troublemaker has been found dead with traces of her signature Yule log cake on his body. As Conner becomes the prime suspect, Hayley must put aside her mixed feelings to identify the real killjoy.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Christmas, Cozy, Novella

125 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 27, 2022

About the author

Lee Hollis is the pen name for Rick Copp and his sister Holly Simason.

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death by Yule Log is an in-between novella from the Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mysteries written by Lee Hollis. It's combined together in a three-book holiday collection with releases by Leslie Meier and Barbara Ross. I've read the Barbara Ross one previously, but I'm not yet at this point in the Leslie Meier series, so that will come in the future. In this installment set at Christmas time, Hayley's college-aged daughter, Gemma, brings home her boyfriend, Conner, for introductions and announces surprising news. Hayley doesn't trust Conner and learns from Mona, her bestie, that he could be a serial killer. Hayley tries to ignore the signs, but when a former friend of Gemma's is found murdered by a yule log, the signs point to Conner. As she investigates the case, holiday shenanigans occur, misunderstandings come to light, and readers enjoy another visit to this cozy Maine town. A perfect lazy afternoon one-hour read to keep close to characters readers love visiting over and over again.

[Mark Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Christmas, Hayley Powell's daughter is coming up to Maine for Christmas and she's bringing her new boyfriend. Hayley does her best to greet Connor with an open mind, but something about him just rubs Hayley the wrong way. However, when a young man is found murdered after getting into a fight with Connor, it begins to look like Connor is the prime suspect. Hayley may not like him, but she doesn't want to see Connor accused of a crime he didn't commit. Can she figure out what is going on?

This story made me want to pick up the full length novels, not that I have yet. While I obviously didn't understand all the character history, I certainly got enough to fully enjoy what was happening here. The mystery was strong and kept me engaged until the end. As a bonus, there are recipes throughout, including one for a Yule Log cake.

NOTE: This story is a novella, roughly 100 pages, and was originally part of the novella collection Yule Log Murder. If you have that book, there is no need to buy this ebook. If you haven’t read the story, now is the time to sit back and enjoy this Christmas mystery.

Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

[Paula Ratcliffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows Hayley as she is getting ready for the holidays but not everything is working out the way Hayley wants it to. First her son won't be there for the holidays due to weather, then her daughter has brought a boyfriend Connor home which Hayley has alot of trouble with. When a local bad boy is found dead and all fingers point at Connor Hayley finds it difficult to solve the murder due to Connor being on the hook for the crime.

I love this series but felt Hayley was suffocating her daughter and her boyfriend. Seemed a little out of character for what we know about Hayley. Otherwise an overall great little mystery Hayley just needs to learn to let go of her children.

[Mayda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, dear. Christmas holidays are nearly alway fun, but they can be stressful, too, especially when murder is involved. Hayley meets her daughter’s new boyfriend, a seemingly nice guy . . . or is he? When a local bad boy is found dead with traces of Hayley’s Yule log cake on his body, she doesn’t know what to think! The twist in this delightful novella may surprise you; it surely surprised the people in Bar Harbor. This tale is a well written and lovely Christmas mystery.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was short and to the point, mostly. You get to meet Gemma's boyfriend who gets beaten up by an old high school thug at a Christmas party. The thug turns up dead and all eyes are on Gemma's guy. Wanted more!

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this story but it really didn’t have an ending and was too short.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy, fast reading and funny. A list of women having affairs with the bad boy and then Gemma's boyfriend maybe a killer....so if you want a light read to make you laugh...this is the one

[Cayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75. This was cute. I just missed some my favorite characters having more interactions.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story didn’t work for me, though I love the idea of it. Cozy mystery set at Christmas time with a murder committed with a Yule log? Nice!

I didn’t know this was a novella going into it (I read it as an ebook), which may have influenced how I perceived things. I felt that the author tried to bundle too many characters and scenes and too much backstory into the story for the length of it. Because of the page space taken up with establishing who the characters were, how they knew each other, which ones were in the room, dialogue from the characters so we could get to know them, the scenery and location of each scene, etc etc, there wasn’t quite enough time for the murder mystery itself, red herring and multiple suspects included, to feel fully fleshed out.

I would love to have read this novella as a full-length book, I think it would’ve been really good! I enjoyed a lot about it. The characters, the concept, the sense of humor, the writing style… I guess I’ll have to check out the author’s other books. :)

[Nancy Bradford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book in the series.