Scoop! Category:  Mystery/Suspense Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Type: Fiction Pages: 299 Copyright: March 3, 2009 ISBN-13: 9780425226438 When a champion hedge cutter is electrocuted after accidentally slicing through a power cable, obit reporter Vicky Hill suspects foul play. If there’s one thing Vicky has learned in her career as an obituary writer, it’s how to spot something fishy at a funeral—and plenty is amiss at the service for Gordon Berry. The man was a champion hedge cutter. And people are to believe he electrocuted himself by striking a power line with his own clippers? At the reception, there are rumblings of foul play—not to mention a fistfight between Jack Webster and the local lothario, Dr. Frost. In her quest for a scoop, Vicky confronts everything from bad dates to mortal danger. But when someone gets hold of her own nasty secret, will she break the story—or get broken!

News and Sentinel 3/8/09
An obituary writer continues to pursue her goal of a front-page story in "Scoop!" by Hannah Dennison.
Vicky Hill lives in a sleepy English town, Gipping-on-Plym, full of farmers and not much else. Vicky is assigned to write obituary stories, but longs to get the scoop on a real story. At a funeral of a hedge cutter who somehow died after clipping a power line, Vicky suspects foul play. The deceased's sister believes her brother's body was moved - he wouldn't have cut there when signs were clearly posted and he wasn't supposed to be in the area. Then when a fistfight breaks out between a doctor who might be a bit too hands on with his patients and another man, Vicky sees the doctor mugged shortly afterward. As Vicky goes in search of her scoop she finds shady dealings going on, a paramedic who wants to woo her, a handsome sailor Vicky would rather woo, and more than a bit of danger.
Vicky's story is a cozy mystery with a dash of Bridget Jones-type humor thrown in. Fans who enjoy a mystery yarn without the violence should check this one out and its predecessor, "A Vicky Hill Exclusive."
"Scoop!" is published by Berkley. It is $6.99 and 300 pages long.



The New Mystery Reader
Vicky Hill spends a lot of time trying to emulate her hero, Christiane Amanpour. That’s not easy to do in Gipping on Plym, a small rural town 2 ½ hours away from London.
Vicky works for the Gipping Gazette. (Well, even Christiane had to start somewhere!) She has to take her big stories where she can find them, and this week that happens to be at a funeral. Vicky is convinced that veteran hedge cutter Gordon Berry’s electrocution death was no accident, and sets out to discover what really happened. To do this she indulges in what she sees as a bit of harmless flirtation with the local paramedic, Steve Burrows. Unfortunately Steve attaches a great deal more meaning to a curry house date than Vicky intended.
Also working at the Gazette is Vicky’s arch-rival Annabel Lake, who’s not too squeamish about how she gets her scoops, and would happily steal Vicky’s exclusive if she could. While juggling the amorous Steve and Gordon’s son, a handsome naval officer, Vicky stumbles across what she’s convinced is evidence of a drug ring right here in Gipping on Plym.
How to find out more without losing her exclusive? Contact Chuffy McSnatch, of course. Chuffy is a high-class forger and buddy of Vicky’s father, who’s living in Spain at present due to a misunderstanding between himself and various law enforcement agencies. (Vicky’s decision to make her way in the world within legal bounds has always been a disappointment to Dad, aka “The Fog”.)
This is a light-hearted look at crime in a small town, which sits on the line between Nancy Drew and Miss Marple and should please both the Young Adult and Adult reader in search of a pleasant way to pass a few hours.