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    Poppy Harmon Investigates
    Poppy Harmon Investigates
    Poppy Harmon Investigates
    Audiobook7 hours

    Poppy Harmon Investigates

    Written by Lee Hollis

    Narrated by Kim Niemi

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    When Poppy goes from complacent retiree to penniless widow in a matter of weeks, the idea of spending her golden years as the biggest charity case in Palm Springs renders her speechless. With no real skills and nothing left to lose, Poppy uses her obsession with true crime shows to start a career as a private eye . . .

    But after opening the Desert Flowers Detective Agency with help from her two best friends, Violet and Iris, Poppy realizes that age brings wisdom, not business-until she convinces her daughter's handsome boyfriend, Matt, to pose as the face of the agency. It's not long before Matt's irresistible act snags a client desperate to retrieve priceless jewelry burglarized from an aging actress at the Palm Leaf Retirement Village. Or before Poppy stumbles upon the bloodied body of the victim's arch rival . . .

    In a flash, Poppy's innocent detective gig is upstaged by a dangerous murder investigation riddled with slimy suspects and unspeakable scandal. As she and her team uncover the truth, Poppy must confront the secrets about her late husband's past and swiftly catch a killer lurking around the retirement community-even if it means turning her world upside down all over again.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateOct 22, 2019
    ISBN9781541434387
    Author

    Lee Hollis

    LEE HOLLIS is the pen name for Rick Copp, a veteran Hollywood screenwriter who has written for numerous television series, including The Golden Girls, Wings, Scooby-Doo, Teen Titans, and Barbershop. He is the co-writer of The Brady Bunch Movie and has written a number of novels under his own name. He also produces, writes, and stars in the hit web series Where the Bears Are. With his sister Holly Simason, he co-authors the Hayley Powell Food & Cocktail Mysteries book series using the Lee Hollis name. He lives in Palm Springs, California.

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    Reviews for Poppy Harmon Investigates

    3.5/5

    28 ratings6 reviews

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    • 3/5
      When Poppy Harmon's lawyer informs her that her recently deceased husband has left behind a mountain of debt, she's shocked. In her early sixties, Poppy hasn't worked since she left acting more than two decades earlier. As she tries to figure out a way to her support herself, she ends up getting her private investigator license. When her first case trying to recover jewelry stolen from an aging starlet in her gated retirement community expands into a murder investigation, it will take the best efforts of Poppy and her two best friends, Iris and Violet, to solve the case.I wanted to like this cozy mystery novel more than I did. Lee Hollis is also a screenwriter whose credits include episodes of Golden Girls, which for a novel starring three older characters is a good sign. But while the writing was serviceable it was never particularly good or funny and ultimately a paint-by-numbers attempt at a cozy. It takes over 100 pages for Poppy to become a PI and get her license and it's nearly 200 pages before the murder teased in the first chapter finally shows up in the timeline of the novel. I stuck it out to the end to see whodunnit but Poppy and her crew ended up annoying more than charming me so I won't be searching out further entries in the series.
    • 4/5
      POPPY HARMON INVESTIGATES: A DESERT FLOWERS MYSTERY BY LEE HOLLIS is the first book in the series staring Poppy Harmon, sixty year old retired actress, newly widowed , in debt to the tune of two hundred thousand plus and flat out out of options! Or is she? Poppy learns that her latest husband gambled away everything and put them into debt. Poppy needs to find a job! Along with her two best friends, Poppy thinks that she can become a detective (she played a secretary of a detective on TV). The book is a very quick read and was so entertaining I finished it in no time. A nice cozy mystery to curl up with by the fire and read well into the night. I really enjoyed it!
    • 4/5
      Enjoyable new characters. What do you do when your retirement goes up in flames? When your husband has lied to you for years? You do what you have to do -- even starting a new detective business. It's Charlie's Angels in their 60s. Matt is Remington Steele.
    • 4/5
      Poppy Harmon finds after her husband's sudden death that he had a gambling problem and lost all their money. Broke, the only way that Poppy can think to fill her coffers, is to become a Private investigator. Passing the test and getting her license, Poppy opens the Desert Flower Detective agency with her two friends Iris and Violet but discovers that people don't want to hire old ladies to do their investigations. Poppy persuades her daughter's boyfriend, an actor, to become the face of the agency while the ladies handle the investigations. A local celebrity hires Desert Flowers to find some stolen jewelry which leads to the discovery of the murder of a suspect.The characters came off well for a start but I see vast room for expansion of their personalities. Great start.
    • 2/5
      The book dust jacket was mis-leading. And SPOILER ALERT who would hire an investigator whose husband was a gambler, cheat and deceiver - and Poppy never noticed? How would any client trust her to find out the secrets they need discovered? And BIG TIME SPOILER ALERT - who would trust a defective whose own daughter was a murderer?
    • 3/5
      Poppy Harmon Investigates by Lee Hollis is the first novel in A Desert Flowers Mystery series. Poppy Harmon is shocked when she learns that her recently deceased husband, Chester gambled away all their money and left her deeply in debt. Poppy with the aid of her two friends, Iris Becker and Violet Hogan open The Desert Flowers Detective Agency. Unfortunately, people do not want to hire three mature women to solve their cases. That is when Poppy recruits her daughter’s actor boyfriend, Matt Cameron to be the face of the agency. Matt, though, prefers a more hands on approach. Their first client is entertainer, Shirley Fox who lost uninsured jewelry in a recent break in at her home in the Palm Leaf Retirement Village. It turns out that there have been a rash of burglaries in the complex. Shirley wants the agency to retrieve her cache of jewels. While investigating the thefts, Poppy finds actress, Olivia Hammersmith dead in her home. Are the thefts and the murder connected? Poppy, Iris, and Violet along with Matt are determined to get answers and make a success of their fledgling business. Poppy Harmon Investigates has an adorable cover and it is what drew me to the book. I thought the book was easy to read. It is a little bit of a slow starter, but the pace picks up as you get further into the story. The author took the time to set up Poppy’s character along with Iris, Violet, Heather and Matt. Poppy, Rose and Violet are lively ladies in their 60s who are ready to take on a new challenge. How Poppy obtained her private investigators license was a little farfetched. Her “experience” does not qualify her for the work. The mystery did not begin until I was 40% into the story when the agency is hired to investigate Shirley’s jewelry theft. The murder does not occur until later in the book and I wish it had been more of a feature. It is an interesting mystery. The two mysteries are not difficult to solve especially for those readers who devour cozy mysteries. There is humor sprinkled throughout the story (my mother laughed her way through the book). She thought the ladies and Matt’s antics were quite entertaining. I was not fond of Heather and her treatment of her mother. She feels that it is silly for her mother to embark on this venture at her age and does not hesitate to let Poppy know what she thinks repeatedly (it was inappropriate and uncomfortable). Heather does not appreciate Matt getting involved in her mother’s shenanigans (Heather’s words). Iris has her grandson, Wyatt set up their website and utilizes him for his other handy computer skills (hacking). I did not like how they encouraged his hacking (and hope that they do not get caught). The interactions between Poppy, Iris and Violet are delightful and their hijinks will have you giggling. My rating for Poppy Harmon Investigates is 3 out of 5 stars. A Desert Flowers Mystery series has potential. I hope the author will add a more compelling mystery in the next book that is the focus of the story and develop the characters further. Poppy Harmon Investigates is a light, amusing cozy mystery that will appeal to fans of Lee Hollis.