Lee Hollis Books in Order: Hayley Powell, Poppy Harmon, and More
Lee Hollis is the pen name used by a brother-and-sister writing team, Rick Copp and Holly Simason. Copp is a veteran television writer and producer, while Simason is a food and cocktails columnist, a combination that helps explain the distinctive mix of cozy crime, food, humor, and pop-culture references found throughout the Hayley Powell mysteries.
The bibliography is larger and more complicated than it first appears. Hayley Powell has the longest-running series, while Poppy Harmon, Maya Kendrick and Sandra Wallage, the Jarrod Jarvis mysteries, and the newer Downeast Maine series each offer a different setting and style of amateur sleuthing. The cleanest approach is to read each series in its own publication order rather than trying to combine every book into one giant chronological list.
Lee Hollis Books by Series
The Hayley Powell series is Lee Hollis’s signature cozy mystery series. It follows Hayley Powell, a food and cocktails columnist and restaurateur in Bar Harbor, Maine, whose professional life repeatedly puts her close to murder. Food, recipes, family complications, friendships, and small-town suspects are central to the series.
The main novels are best read in order.
1. Death of a Kitchen Diva
Published: 2012
Hayley Powell is a single mother working at the Island Times when she gets the opportunity to write the newspaper’s food column. The new assignment seems like a welcome source of extra income until rival food writer Karen Appelbaum is found dead in a bowl of Hayley’s clam chowder. Suddenly Hayley has to prove that her culinary success did not come with a side order of murder.
2. Death of a Country Fried Redneck
Published: 2012
Hayley takes on a cooking job connected to country music star Wade Springer, expecting a welcome change from her normal routine. Instead, a roadie turns up dead and Hayley’s food becomes an unlikely part of the evidence. The mystery takes her outside her usual Bar Harbor circle while retaining the food-centered humor that defines the series.
3. Death of a Coupon Clipper
Published: 2013
Hayley’s investigation becomes tangled with the world of bargain hunting and local personalities. As usual, the seemingly ordinary setting hides plenty of grudges and secrets, forcing Hayley to use her knowledge of the community to figure out who had a reason to kill.
4. Death of a Chocoholic
Published: 2014
Valentine’s Day should be about romance, but Hayley is more interested in avoiding the complications of dating. When a murder disrupts the season, she finds herself investigating again. Chocolate, relationships, and a suspicious death give this installment its classic Hayley Powell combination.
5. Death of a Christmas Caterer
Published: 2014
Hayley’s catering responsibilities put her close to another holiday murder. The Christmas setting adds seasonal atmosphere while the mystery gives Hayley another reason to question people she thought she knew.
6. Death of a Cupcake Queen
Published: 2015
Hayley attends her high school reunion expecting an uncomfortable evening with former classmates. Instead, one of the people connected to the event turns up dead. Old school rivalries give Hayley plenty of suspects and plenty of reasons to investigate.
7. Death of a Bacon Heiress
Published: 2016
Hayley’s food expertise once again places her close to a murder involving a wealthy local family. The case introduces another set of complicated relationships, proving that in Hayley’s world, food and family can both become dangerous.
8. Death of a Pumpkin Carver
Published: 2016
Halloween arrives in Bar Harbor, bringing costumes, pumpkins, parties, and another murder. Hayley must separate seasonal fun from the darker motives hiding beneath the surface.
8.5. Death by Eggnog
Published: 2016
This holiday novella is an extra Hayley Powell mystery rather than one of the main numbered novels. It works best after Death of a Pumpkin Carver and before Death of a Lobster Lover.
9. Death of a Lobster Lover
Published: 2017
Lobster is part of the identity of coastal Maine, so a murder connected to the industry gives Hayley another case deeply rooted in her community. The mystery combines local rivalries with Hayley’s increasingly familiar role as an amateur investigator.
10. Death of a Cookbook Author
Published: 2018
Hayley’s culinary world becomes even more dangerous when a cookbook author becomes the victim of a murder. Her professional connections provide clues, but they also give her a long list of people who might have had something to hide.
10.5. Death by Yule Log
Published: 2018
This Christmas novella is another seasonal extra in the Hayley Powell universe. It can be read between the tenth and eleventh main novels.
11. Death of a Wedding Cake Baker
Published: 2019
A wedding should be one of Bar Harbor’s happiest occasions, but the murder of a wedding cake baker changes the mood completely. Hayley has to investigate while dealing with the social connections and secrets surrounding the victim.
11.5. Death by Haunted House
Published: 2019
This Halloween novella gives Hayley another seasonal mystery outside the main numbered sequence.
12. Death of a Blueberry Tart
Published: 2020
Hayley’s mother arrives just as Hayley’s honeymoon plans are taking shape, and family complications quickly become part of her life. Then another murder gives Hayley an investigation she never planned to take on during this stage of her personal life.
13. Death of a Wicked Witch
Published: 2020
Bar Harbor is quieter in the off-season when a new arrival brings trouble to town. A food-truck operator becomes connected to a murder, and Hayley finds herself investigating a case involving personalities, secrets, and a community that is not nearly as sleepy as it appears.
13.5. Death of a Christmas Carol
Published: 2020
This Christmas novella is another optional seasonal mystery in the Hayley Powell universe.
14. Death of an Italian Chef
Published: 2021
A new Italian restaurant brings excitement to Bar Harbor, but the arrival of a chef also brings murder. Hayley’s knowledge of food and the local restaurant scene becomes especially useful as she works through the suspects.
14.5. Death of a Halloween Party Monster
Published: 2021
This Halloween mystery is a shorter companion story rather than a main numbered Hayley Powell novel.
15. Death of an Ice Cream Scooper
Published: 2022
Hayley investigates after a friend connected to a gourmet ice cream shop discovers that her husband may be both a cheater and a killer. The case mixes romantic suspicion with murder and gives Hayley another excuse to poke into someone else’s business.
15.5. Death of an Irish Coffee Drinker
Published: 2023
This seasonal story appears in the wider holiday mystery material associated with the Hayley Powell series. It is optional and does not need to be read to understand the main novels.
16. Death of a Clam Digger
Published: 2023
The coastal Maine setting takes center stage again as Hayley becomes involved in a murder connected to the clam-digging community. The case gives her another opportunity to combine local knowledge with her increasingly practiced investigative instincts.
16.5. Death of a Christmas Mitten Knitter
Published: 2023
A Christmas-themed novella that offers another short visit with Hayley and the Bar Harbor community.
17. Death By Easter Egg
Published: 2024
This Easter-themed mystery is one of the later seasonal additions to the Hayley Powell universe. It is best treated as an extra story rather than a replacement for the main numbered reading order.
18. Death of a Gingerbread Man
Published: 2024
Christmas in Bar Harbor comes with another murder, this time involving a gingerbread-house contest. Hayley’s family life also becomes more complicated when her estranged father suddenly appears, making the mystery personal as well as professional.
18.5. Death of a Halloween Night Stalker
Published: 2025
This Halloween novella continues the seasonal side of the Hayley Powell series.
19. Death of a Tom Turkey
Published: 2025
Thanksgiving in Bar Harbor brings a particularly strange murder when a local farmer is killed. Hayley has to investigate the victim’s complicated relationships while dealing with the tensions surrounding the annual holiday season.
19.5. Death by Another Easter Egg
Published: 2026
This later Easter mystery is an additional Hayley Powell story rather than one of the principal full-length novels.
20. Death of a Grill Master
Published: 2026
After a record-breaking tourist season, Bar Harbor is expecting a quieter period. Instead, the murder of barbecue restaurant owner Hank Desmond gives Hayley another case. A gun, competing food businesses, a suspicious wife, and a collection of local grudges leave Hayley with plenty to investigate. The book was released September 29, 2026.
2. Desert Flowers Mysteries
The Desert Flowers Mysteries move away from coastal Maine and into Palm Springs, California. The central character is Poppy Harmon, a recently widowed woman whose supposedly quiet retirement becomes considerably more complicated when she begins investigating murders.
1. Poppy Harmon Investigates
Published: 2018
Poppy’s comfortable retirement collapses after she becomes a penniless widow. Just when she thinks life could not become more complicated, murder gives her an entirely new purpose. The first book establishes Poppy as an unlikely but determined amateur sleuth in the Palm Springs community.
2. Poppy Harmon and the Hung Jury
Published: 2020
Poppy finds herself involved in another murder case, once again proving that retirement in Palm Springs is anything but peaceful. Her growing confidence as an investigator makes this a natural continuation of the first book.
3. Poppy Harmon and the Pillow Talk Killer
Published: 2021
A new murder brings Poppy into another dangerous investigation. The title’s romantic implications hide a mystery involving relationships, secrets, and motives that are not immediately obvious.
4. Poppy Harmon and the Backstabbing Bachelor
Published: 2022
Poppy investigates another murder in a world where romance, money, and personal grudges overlap. Her knowledge of Palm Springs and its residents becomes increasingly useful as the series develops.
5. Poppy Harmon and the Shooting Star
Published: 2023
The fifth Poppy Harmon mystery continues the series’ Palm Springs setting and brings another case for its increasingly experienced sleuth. It is currently the latest published Desert Flowers novel.
3. Maya & Sandra Mysteries
The Maya & Sandra Mysteries follow two mothers and private-investigator partners in Portland, Maine. Maya Kendrick and Sandra Wallage are friends, parents, and amateur investigators whose cases often bring them into situations where their everyday lives collide with murder.
1. Murder at the PTA
Published: 2019
Maya and Sandra discover that school politics can be considerably more dangerous than they expected. When murder enters the PTA world, the two women begin investigating together and establish the partnership that drives the series.
2. Murder at the Bake Sale
Published: 2021
Another apparently ordinary school event becomes the center of a murder investigation. Maya and Sandra’s friendship and contrasting personalities help them work through a case that quickly becomes more complicated than the initial evidence suggests.
3. Murder on the Class Trip
Published: 2022
Maya and Sandra become chaperones on a school trip to Washington, D.C. They expect unruly teenagers, not murder. When a woman connected to Senator Stephen Wallage is found dead, the two amateur investigators become involved in a case that reaches into politics and personal scandal.
4. Murder at the Spelling Bee
Published: 2024
Another community event becomes a crime scene, bringing Maya and Sandra back into detective mode. The series’ mixture of motherhood, friendship, humor, and mystery remains at the center.
5. Murder at the High School Reunion
Published: 2025
Maya and Sandra attend their twenty-fifth high school reunion, where old classmates and old grudges quickly resurface. When former cheerleader Tawny Bryce is found dead, an Oscar-nominated actress becomes a suspect and the two private investigators have to determine who is telling the truth.
4. Downeast Maine Mysteries
The Downeast Maine Mysteries are a newer series set in another Maine coastal community. The first book, The Chowder House Murder, was published in 2026 and received a starred review from Library Journal.
1. The Chowder House Murder
Published: 2026
In picturesque Halibut Cove, the Holbrook family has built a seafood dynasty spanning generations. When someone threatens the family’s business and murder enters the picture, the women at the center of the Holbrook empire become involved in solving the crime. The book brings together coastal Maine atmosphere, family tensions, food, and classic cozy-mystery investigation.
For readers who enjoy the culinary side of Hayley Powell but want a completely new setting, this is one of the most interesting places to begin with Hollis’s newer work.
5. Jarrod Jarvis Mysteries
The Jarrod Jarvis mysteries are quite different from Hayley Powell and Poppy Harmon. Jarrod is a former child actor whose Hollywood career, relationships, and investigations provide the backdrop for a more openly comic, pop-culture-heavy mystery series.
The three original Jarrod Jarvis books were reissued by Kensington in 2026. They should be read in this order.
1. The Actor’s Guide to Murder
Original series beginning; 2026 Kensington edition
Jarrod Jarvis was once a famous child actor on the 1980s sitcom Go To Your Room!. After his career crashes, he is trying to make a comeback while living with his LAPD boyfriend, Charlie. When his former child-star friend Willard Ray Hornsby is found dead, the police call it an accident, but Jarrod is convinced there is more to the story.
2. The Actor’s Guide to Adultery
2026 edition
Jarrod’s comeback plans run into another collection of disasters when his best friend becomes involved with a shady actor. A wedding ends with a poisoned guest, and Jarrod follows the trail into the strange world of Hollywood filmmaking, personal betrayal, and organized crime.
3. The Actor’s Guide to Greed
2026 edition
Jarrod’s attempt to revive his career takes him from a slasher movie to a London stage production. When a celebrated actress is poisoned and Jarrod is the last person known to have seen her alive, his acting career once again becomes entangled with murder.
6. Jarrod Jarvis Father-Daughter Mysteries
This is a newer Jarrod Jarvis branch rather than a continuation of the three Actor’s Guide books. It pairs the older Jarrod with his daughter Liv and gives the character a new stage of life and a new investigative partner.
1. My Father Always Finds Corpses
Published: 2025
Former child star Jarrod Jarvis now lives in Palm Springs, where he writes and directs local theater. His daughter Liv has recently earned a criminal-justice degree, but the two have been distant since the death of Jarrod’s partner, Charlie. When murder enters their lives, father and daughter find themselves working together, turning a strained family relationship into an unlikely detective partnership.
2. My Daughter Loves True Crime Podcasts
Expected publication: January 2027
The next Jarrod Jarvis Father-Daughter Mystery is scheduled for January 2027. It follows the true-crime interests of the younger generation while continuing the father-daughter detective setup introduced in My Father Always Finds Corpses.
Other Lee Hollis Books and Collaborative Mysteries
Lee Hollis has also contributed to several multi-author cozy-mystery projects. These should not be mixed into the core Lee Hollis series order because they are collaborations or anthology appearances rather than regular installments in the author’s main series.
Easter Basket Murder
A multi-author Easter mystery collection featuring stories by Lee Hollis alongside Leslie Meier and Barbara Ross.
Irish Coffee Murder
A holiday-themed collaborative mystery involving Lee Hollis and other cozy-mystery authors.
Christmas Mittens Murder
Another seasonal collaboration featuring Lee Hollis alongside other authors.
Halloween Night Murder
A Halloween anthology containing a Lee Hollis contribution connected to the Hayley Powell universe.
Easter Egg Murder
A 2026 collaboration with Leslie Meier and Peggy Ehrhart. Lee Hollis’s contribution is associated with the Hayley Powell world.
Which Lee Hollis Book Should You Read First?
Start with Death of a Kitchen Diva
This is the best choice if you want the series that established Lee Hollis as a cozy-mystery name. It introduces Hayley Powell, Bar Harbor, the food-and-cocktails angle, and the series’ recurring characters.
Start with Poppy Harmon Investigates
Choose this if you prefer a mature protagonist and a Palm Springs setting. Poppy’s transition from retirement to amateur sleuth makes the Desert Flowers series particularly accessible to readers who enjoy character-driven cozy mysteries.
Start with Murder at the PTA
Choose Maya & Sandra if you like friendship, family life, school-community settings, and two women solving mysteries together.
Start with The Chowder House Murder
If you want Hollis’s newest Maine mystery world, The Chowder House Murder is the obvious starting point. It is the first Downeast Maine Mystery and introduces the Holbrook family’s seafood business and the Halibut Cove setting.
Start with The Actor’s Guide to Murder
Choose this if you prefer Hollywood satire, LGBTQ+ representation, celebrity culture, and a more overtly comic mystery. The Jarrod Jarvis books have a noticeably different flavor from the Hayley Powell novels.
Do You Need to Read Lee Hollis Books in Order?
You do not need to read every Lee Hollis series in one master order. The series are separate, so readers can move directly from one series to another without completing the entire bibliography first.
Within a series, however, publication order is the safest choice. Hayley’s personal life and relationships develop throughout the long-running Food & Cocktails Mysteries, while the Maya & Sandra books build on the partnership between the two investigators. The Jarrod Jarvis books also benefit from being read sequentially.
The short holiday mysteries and anthology appearances are optional. They add seasonal stories and extra time with recurring characters but are not necessary for understanding the main novels.
Lee Hollis Books in Publication Order
For readers interested in the broad progression of Lee Hollis’s mystery career, the major series began in this order:
- Hayley Powell Food & Cocktails Mysteries — beginning with Death of a Kitchen Diva (2012)
- Desert Flowers Mysteries — beginning with Poppy Harmon Investigates (2018)
- Maya & Sandra Mysteries — beginning with Murder at the PTA (2019)
- Jarrod Jarvis Mysteries — the Actor’s Guide books originally began earlier, with the trilogy reissued in 2026
- Jarrod Jarvis Father-Daughter Mysteries — beginning with My Father Always Finds Corpses (2025)
- Downeast Maine Mysteries — beginning with The Chowder House Murder (2026)
The bibliography is still expanding. As of October 2026, Death of a Grill Master is the newest Hayley Powell novel, while My Daughter Loves True Crime Podcasts is scheduled for January 2027.
Lee Hollis FAQ
How many Lee Hollis books are there?
The exact number depends on whether holiday novellas, anthology contributions, and collaborative books are counted. Kensington currently describes Lee Hollis as having written more than 30 novels and nine novellas, while bibliographic databases count additional collaborative appearances.
Who is Lee Hollis?
Lee Hollis is the pen name of Rick Copp and Holly Simason. Copp is a veteran Hollywood screenwriter, producer, and actor, while Simason is a food and cocktails columnist. Their collaboration is especially evident in the food-centered Hayley Powell mysteries.
What is the first Hayley Powell book?
The first Hayley Powell Food & Cocktails Mystery is Death of a Kitchen Diva, published in 2012. It introduces Hayley as a food writer in Bar Harbor, Maine, whose new career assignment leads directly to murder.
What is the latest Hayley Powell book?
As of October 2026, the latest main Hayley Powell novel is Death of a Grill Master, which was released September 29, 2026. It is listed as Book 19 by Penguin Random House, while some bibliography sites number additional seasonal stories separately.
Is The Chowder House Murder part of the Hayley Powell series?
No. The Chowder House Murder is Book 1 of the separate Downeast Maine Mysteries. It is another Maine-set culinary cozy mystery, but it has its own characters and setting.
Are the Jarrod Jarvis books connected to My Father Always Finds Corpses?
They share the Jarrod Jarvis character, but the books are presented as separate Jarrod Jarvis series. The original Actor’s Guide trilogy follows Jarrod during his Hollywood years, while My Father Always Finds Corpses introduces his daughter Liv and a father-daughter investigative partnership.
What genre are Lee Hollis books?
Lee Hollis primarily writes cozy mysteries, often adding food, small-town settings, humor, family relationships, and amateur sleuthing. The Jarrod Jarvis books have a stronger Hollywood and LGBTQ+ angle, while the Hayley Powell novels lean heavily into food and coastal Maine life.
Final Verdict
Lee Hollis is best known for the long-running Hayley Powell Food & Cocktails Mysteries, but there is considerably more to the bibliography than Hayley’s culinary investigations. The Desert Flowers Mysteries offer a Palm Springs setting, Maya & Sandra brings two mothers into amateur detective work, and Downeast Maine Mysteries offers a newer coastal-Maine mystery world.
For something completely different, the Jarrod Jarvis Mysteries turn Hollywood celebrity culture into cozy crime, while the newer Jarrod Jarvis Father-Daughter Mysteries give that character a new family-centered direction. If you are starting from scratch, Death of a Kitchen Diva remains the natural entry point, while The Chowder House Murder is the best choice for readers who want Lee Hollis’s newest series.
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