This month I pulled a book from the shelf that I have wanting to read for months. The day I picked it up to read the author emailed me to ask if she could visit the blog. She will be stopping by on September 3. That means I have the perfect reason to read the next book in the series that I couldn’t squeeze in last month 🙂
Death Is Like a Box of Chocolates
(A Chocolate Covered Mystery)
1st in Series
Cozy Mystery
Setting – Maryland
A Berkley Prime Crime Mystery
The Berkley Publishing Group (September 2, 2014)
Published by The Penguin Group
Cover Illustration by Mary Ann Lasher
Cover Design by George Long
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0425267233
E-Book ASIN: B00IOE4K5U
Whether it’s to satisfy a craving for chocolate or pick up the hottest new bestseller, the locals in charming West Riverdale, Maryland, are heading to Chocolates and Chapters, where everything sold is to die for…
Best friends Michelle Serrano and Erica Russell are celebrating the sweet rewards of their combined bookstore and chocolate shop by hosting the Great Fudge Cook-off during the town’s Memorial Day weekend Arts Festival. But success turns bittersweet when Main Street’s portrait photographer is found dead in their store, poisoned by Michelle’s signature truffles.
As suspicion mounts against Michelle, her sales begin to crumble and her career seems whipped. With Erica by her side, Michelle must pick through an assortment of suspects before the future of their dream store melts away…
Includes Scrumptious Chocolate-Making Recipes!
The rules for Just For Fun Reads say no review necessary but I really liked this one and want to tell you about it.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Note – Make sure you have chocolate handy while reading!
This series blend two of my most favorite things – BOOKS! and CHOCOLATE!! Michelle Serrano and Erica Russell have opened Chocolates and Chapters combining a bookstore with a chocolate shoppe. What could be better?
West Riverdale, Maryland is the place to be for Memorial Day Weekend. The town is hosting an Arts Festival and a Fudge Cook-off. Michelle and Erica have been basically volunteered by the mayor to run the entire cook-off and they are on the general planning committee for the Arts Festival as well. Their friend Denise, a photographer, is also involved. She is waiting for her big break. She hopes to have a gallery showing of her work in D.C. soon.
Her dreams turn to dust when she is found dead, apparently poisoned by Michelle’s chocolate truffles. Michelle is obviously the first suspect but the evidence quickly starts to point to Erica’s brother-in-law. Faced with having their store shutdown until the killer is found Michelle and Erica start their own investigation not just to save their shop but to save the Memorial Day celebration too.
Kathy Aarons does a great job introducing us to all the characters for this new series. There are quite a few and fleshing them out enough for the reader to become engaged is not an easy task. There is plenty of room for them to evolve is future installments.
She has also whipped up quite a mystery sprinkled with plenty of diversions to keep us readers guessing. I was speechless as I reached the end.
I am truly looking forward to getting to know these characters much better. The next book in this series, Truffled to Death,
*This book was from my private collection.
Sounds good to me. I will add it to my evergrowing t-b-r list. 🙂
I agree, mention books and chocolate and I’m in. (Thrown in a Beagle, and I’d have to get up off my sickbed, go find a bookstore and buy this.! 🙂 ) Going to put it on my wish list.
Mmmmm – books and chocolate – heaven on earth 🙂 That TBR list keeps growing and growing.
Yum! This book is on my TBR and I definitely would want to have chocolate handy. Though of course I always want to have chocolate handy!