DEATH OF A PUMPKIN CARVER by Lee Hollis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a light, fun, and kinda silly Halloween-themed cozy mystery, the 8th book in the Haley Powell series. The author did a great job making this book feel stand-alone. I’m new to this series and felt like Haley was an old friend right away. She’s very funny and likable.

Haley writes a food column for the local newspaper, and she’s a divorced mom of two teenagers. When her deadbeat ex-husband Danny comes back to town, he brings trouble with him. His very odd uncle is found murdered in the cemetery, and Danny is the prime suspect.

While Haley and the other characters were a delight getting to know, the mystery itself was just okay. It took a third of the book before the crime took place, and afterwards there wasn’t much in the way of finding clues and figuring things out. In the end, I was surprised at who the murderer was though.

I enjoyed the Halloween fun going on throughout the book. Haley shares lots of pumpkin-based recipes in her newspaper column too. {Borrowed from the library.}