Candy Cane Crime (An Amish Candy Shop Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
Short Story (Novella)
Setting – Ohio
Publisher: Kensington Books (October 27, 2020)
Print length: 84 pages
ASIN: B08C9DQJVV
A candy-striped caper . . .
Christmas is coming all too quickly for Harvest, Ohio’s famous chocolatier, Bailey King. Thanks to her new cable TV show, her shop has more candy orders than she can handle this holiday season. Fortunately, her beloved Cousin Charlotte is happy to take the Candy Cane Exchange off Bailey’s to-do list. After all, Charlotte has come to Harvest from her conservative home district to find her future outside of her family’s influence. What better way than by taking on the Englisch task of pairing the sweet notes everyone is exchanging with a peppermint treat, just in time for Christmas Eve delivery? But when Charlotte discovers some of those delicious missives are for her, suddenly she’s staking out the festive postbox, hoping to catch her secret admirer in his intriguing tracks . . .
When Charlotte sees something underhanded going on beneath the merrymaking, she enlists the help of Sheriff Deputy Luke Little to find out if her unknown correspondent is none other than the town’s biggest suspect. And the surprising truth about her suitor’s identity has her contemplating leaving her Amish roots behind forever . . .
Recipe Included!
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Christmas at Swissmen Sweets is a busy time. Online orders are flooding in along with all the people stopping by to pick up goodies for the family celebrations. Chocolatier Bailey King is worried they won’t get all the orders filled especially because she needs to make a quick trip to New York to promote her new cable television show Bailey’s Amish Sweets. Then Margot Rawlings comes into the shop and wants Bailey to handle the Candy Cane Exchange fundraiser she has organized to raise money for new costumes for the Christmas pageant. For one dollar residents can arrange to have a candy cane with a personal note attached for the person of their choice. Swissmen Sweets had already donated a supply of candy canes and Bailey tells Margot she just can’t take on anything more. Margot is a pushy woman and doesn’t understand why Bailey can’t handle getting the notes from the dropbox and attach the notes to the candy canes. Seeing her cousin Bailey stressed out, Charlotte steps up to take on the tasks required.
Charlotte is excited about her new Christmas assignment and visits the dropbox several times a day to collect the notes and the money. She gets flustered when she sees someone, a secret admirer, wants to send her some candy canes. She goes a little crazy wondering who her secret admirer could be. So much so, with a little help, she sets up a stakeout to try to find out who it is. But what she sees is a crime being committed. She talks Sheriff Deputy Luke Little into helping her catch the candy cane criminal in the act. She also learns the identity of her secret admirer.
Another quick trip to Harvest and just in time for the holidays.
I love that Charlotte was featured again in this story. The shy conservative young lady who is still on her extended rumspringa is getting a little more independent each day. She has a huge decision to make and the events that take place in this book are not going to make her decision any easier. I enjoy reading a story from her point of view because she has a unique voice when it comes to the world around her. She has immerged as a very strong character in this series, and I like where the author has taken her. I am excited to see what Charlotte’s future holds for her too.
No murder in Harvest this time though. A crime is uncovered and the mystery of Charlotte’s secret admirer and that was more than enough to keep me totally entertained.
The short novellas that take place between the full-length books are a real treat. There is always something happening in Harvest and this holiday story is a great way to help get people in the Christmas spirit.
Candy Cane Crime
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About This Author
Amanda Flower, a two-time Agatha Award-nominated mystery author, started her writing career in elementary school when she read a story she wrote to her sixth-grade class and had the class in stitches with her description of being stuck on the top of a Ferris wheel. She knew at that moment she’d found her calling of making people laugh with her words. She also writes mysteries as national bestselling author Isabella Alan. In addition to being an author, Amanda is an academic librarian for a small college near Cleveland.
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