Fried By Jury: A Hemlock Falls Mystery [Large Print] [Paperback]

Claudia Bishop (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2, 2004

Meg Quilliam would rather eat a rat than judge a deep fat frying contest. But when celebrity chef Banion O'Haggerty offers to do it - for a pretty penny - and decides to stay at Quill and Meg's Inn, it's the start of even more turmoil. Before the new franchise even opens, Mr. Holcomb has competition: Colonel Cluck is setting up shop here too. Then, a butcher knife is missing and so is Banion! It's anyone's guess who will ruffle this killer's feathers next . . .

Editorial Reviews

Review

The reader can settle into Hemlock Falls comfortably. (Armchair Detective) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: Wheeler Publishing; 1 edition (March 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587246201
• ISBN-13: 978-1587246203
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,315,307 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Will deep fat fried chicken come to Hemlock Falls?, June 8, 2003

By 

Dawn Dowdle "Mystery Lovers Corner reviewer" (Lynchburg, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fried by Jury (Paperback)

Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle - [e-mail]
6/8/03

Fried By Jury
By Claudia Bishop
ISBN: 0425189945
5/03
232 pages

Hemlock Falls, New York, sounds like a town I'd like to visit. I'd definitely enjoy a visit at the Inn at Hemlock Falls run by sisters Meg and Quill. I think that's why I enjoy this mystery series so much. It's set in a place I could see myself visiting.

Meg is the chef at the Inn and Quill is the manager. In this book the town's mayor, Elmer Henry, tries to convince Meg to judge the Fry Away Home contest being held in town. Meg emphatically refuses. She is appalled to be asked to judge a deep fat frying contest. Harry Holcomb of Holcomb's Wholesome Fried Chicken wants celebrity chef Banion O'Haggerty to judge the contest. Unfortunately O'Haggerty wants more money than Holcomb is offering. Elmer will have to come up with the difference. He'd rather Meg do it -- he wouldn't have to pay anything. Holcomb is opening the town's first Holcomb's Wholesome Fried Chicken. O'Haggerty arrives and decides to stay at the Inn. Meg hates O'Haggerty. Then Holcomb's most hated rival, Colonel Cluck, is setting up shop here, too, and decides to stay at the Inn as well.

O'Haggerty is found dead. Meg and her fiance, Andy (and the town doctor), are suspects. Meg and Quill jump into action to help solve the murder. Sheriff Myles Hales, who Quill sees on a regular basis, is not happy when Meg and Quill try to help. He even calls in an old friend he once worked with, Jordan Bellemarin, to run the investigation as he was too connected.

The setting in this book really assists this story. Having everyone staying under one roof helps in the investigation and "snooping." The characters are very well developed and life-like. The plot always has plenty of twists and turns. I definitely couldn't figure this one out ahead. I also like that Quill, who does most of the detecting, is smart. I don't like books where you can't figure out why they can't see what's right in front of them. I never feel that way in this series.

I highly recommend you read this book. It is the greatest in a long line of great books in this series.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A disappointment, July 24, 2004

By 

Reader in New York (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fried By Jury: A Hemlock Falls Mystery (Paperback)

I've read most of the Hemlock Falls mysteries and have enjoyed them. But this one has a disjointed plot. There are loose ends that go nowhere; serious questions are unanswered; and the mystery is solved only with 2 revelations out of left field at the end. It looks as if the author (and her editors) fell down on this one.

It's a good thing that most of the others are much better.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Typical Hemlock Falls Mystery, July 29, 2003

By 

Louis M. Perdue (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fried by Jury (Paperback)

This is a typical entry in this series. I have come to enjoy reading this series more for the events in the lives of Meg & Quill et al than for the mystery itself.

In this story a master chef, hired to judge a fried food contest in Hemlock Falls, is found dead, and, as usual, there are suspects galore to sort through. And, as usual, at least one of the sisters' acquaintances is a possible suspect meaning that they must involve themselves in the mystery to save them.

I rated this one 3 stars as opposed to 4 as I figured the mystery out midway through the book; otherwise, it would have been 4 stars as it was enjoyable as most of the books in this series have been for me.