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DEATH OF A TOM TURKEY is the eighteenth book in the Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mysteries by Lee Hollis. Thanksgiving can be chaotic all on its own, but even more so for protagonist Hayley Powell. She’s juggling a restaurant, writing a column for the local newspaper, attending the local turkey shoot, and trying to find out who non-lethally shot local curmudgeon Tom Farley. Throw in some greedy land developers, an agoraphobic therapist, an ex-Army sniper, a flock of roaming turkeys, two zany best friends, her husband’s ex, and a wood chipper and you’ve got yourself a plot that had me laughing out loud and turning pages to find out what happens next. The characters keep me coming back for each new book in the series. Hayley isn’t a sophisticated amateur sleuth, yet her bumbling charm only adds delight to the storyline. Surrounded by her family and best friends, you can’t help but enjoy not only their banter but also admire their close and caring relationships. Hayley knows she can count on them whenever she needs it.
From the very beginning of the book, the plot moves at a fast pace. There is always something happening, and I didn’t want to put the book down until I’d read to the end. When you’ve got a victim who’s as mean as a junkyard dog (even the nurses throw a party when he’s released from the hospital after the first attempt on his life) you know there are going to be suspects galore as Hayley starts asking questions and digging for answers. There are several twists that caught me by surprise, some emotional moments, and lots of Lee Hollis’ trademark humor to lighten the book. If you enjoy holiday-themed cozy mysteries, then you’ll enjoy Death of a Tom Turkey! It has all the right ingredients to evoke the feeling of Thanksgiving while providing a prickly mystery to solve.
With Hayley writing the Island Food & Spirits column for the local newspaper, there are lots of recipes for food and cocktails included in the book. I love that some of the recipes use leftover Thanksgiving food, such as the Leftover Sweet Potato Muffins! Since I didn’t have any leftover sweet potato casserole to use, I boiled and mashed some sweet potatoes… which turned out to be a mistake on my part. There was too much moisture in the muffins, and they took a long, long time to bake through. Next time I’ll use baked or roasted sweet potatoes to cut down on the extra moisture. That said, these were delicious even with my error, and I’ll be trying these again… right after our Thanksgiving feast!
Synopsis
The relationships between bad-tempered Tom Farley and his neighbors are as bitter as a bowl of raw cranberries, but would one of them have taken it far enough to replace birdshot with a real bullet and make him a target at a shooting competition? That’s what the injured turkey farmer is claiming from his hospital bed—in between terrorizing the nurses—and he insists it’s because a property developer is looking to buy them all out for big money. But Tom says he was born on that land, and he intends to die on it. Sadly, that happens sooner than he expects.
Now an inquisitive Hayley has a cornucopia of suspects to consider, from an agoraphobic therapist to an ex-Army sniper, while also preparing for Thanksgiving. But with the strange twists and dark secrets still to be revealed, this case will not be as easy as pie . . .
A special thanks to Kensington Publishing for offering a print copy of DEATH OF A TOM TURKEY to one lucky winner! Contest ends October 5, 2025 at 11:59 pm PST and is limited to U.S. residents only. Please use the KingSumo contest box located below recipe to enter. The winner will be announced on this page and on Cinnamon & Sugar’s Facebook page, as well as notified by email (so check your spam folder!)
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- 2 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar (1/2 cup more if you like them sweeter)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup applesauce (skip if your sweet potatoes had apple pie filling)
- 2 cups leftover mashed sweet potatoes
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Preheat your oven to 375 degrees (F). Line or grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
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Mix flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
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In another bowl, combine the sugar, egg, oil, applesauce (if using), and sweet potatoes.
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Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined.
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Divide the batter into the lined or greased 12-cup muffin tin.
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Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool or 10 minutes.
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Enjoy these muffins and may your Thanksgiving leftovers always bring joy (and fewer salads)!
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I used leftover mashed sweet potatoes that had been cooked using the boiling in water method. The muffins ended up needing to be baked much longer than called for and were overly moist... but still tasty! My recommendation would be to use sweet potatoes that have been either baked or roasted, which will remove some of the extra moisture for best results.
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I was provided with an advance copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
