#FlashbackFriday – Death by Chocolate Snickerdoodle (A Death by Chocolate Mystery) by Sarah Graves #Review / #Giveaway @KensingtonBooks @SarahGraves2011

On Flashback Fridays I will share with you
the books I was not able to review
when they were first released that have been screaming at me
from my To-Be-Read bookshelf.

Death by Chocolate Snickerdoodle (A Death by Chocolate Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Setting – Maine
Kensington Cozies (February 23, 2021)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1496729196
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1496729194
Kindle ASIN ‏ : ‎ B089N4S1WF

Jake Tiptree and Ellie White are fired up for Eastport, Maine’s Maine’s annual cookie-baking contest, but when a cunning killer and a devastating fire threaten to ravage the quaint island town, Jake and Ellie must dip into another homemade homicide investigation before all they love goes up in smoke . . .

As co-owners of Eastport’s beloved waterfront bakery, the Chocolate Moose, Jake and Ellie know their customers expect them to cream the competition. But they’re really just in it for fun, hoping to get Jake’s daughter-in-law baking again. Those plans collapse when fearsome local curmudgeon Alvin Carter is murdered, and every crumb of evidence points to Tiptree family friend—and all-around sweet guy—Billy Breyer.

Billy’s sisters beg Jake and Ellie to prove his innocence. After all, lots of folks had gone sour on Alvin, whose popularity ranked somewhere between a toothache and the plague. But just as the ladies begin sifting through the suspects, a series of grass fires blaze across the island, threatening catastrophe. Could someone be trying to hide the truth about Alvin’s murder?

Now, Jake and Ellie will need all their courage—and an extra dash of that downeast Maine stubbornness—to sniff out the real killer before anyone else gets burned . . .

Includes a Recipe!

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Jake and Ellie really have their hands full in this Death by Chocolate Mystery. The town’s annual cookie-baking contest is right around the corner and they are hoping that putting Mika in charge of the entry will cure her baby blues. Her husband Sam has some blues of his own. His employee Billy Breyer found one of their client’s dead body when he arrived for work and sadly all the evidence points to him as the killer. The victim was not a nice man and had made his share of enemies. So with a long suspect list, Jake and Ellie agree to do their best to get Billy out of jail and the real guilty party there in his place.

Wildfires, wild wills, and wild rides! Sarah Graves takes us readers on a wild trip to find out who killed cranky old Alvin Carter and why.

Jake and Ellie are great characters with their fingers in everything that happens in Eastport, Maine. They are smart and creative but have a real tendency to leap into action without thinking through all the consequences that can occur as they try to get to the truth and a killer.

I really enjoyed that Sam and Mika had a bigger part in this story. So many women deal with baby blues, postpartum depression, baby brain, etc. following the birth of a baby. I appreciated the way Ellie and Jake helped her see her way through a tough time.

Jake’s stepmother is also having issues and the whole family knows it but it is hard to get through to a woman as independent as Bella. The author did an excellent job with this situation.

I also like meeting Billy’s sisters, Anna and Helen. These are young women with hopes and dreams with plans to make them come true. Their Aunt Prunia, such an appropriate name, has totally different ideas for their future. The girls and their brother Billy have had tragedy in their lives and I was thrilled to see such positive attitudes from all of them.

Pinning down a killer this time was really tough especially with grass fires popping up everywhere. Ellie and Jake took some crazy risks. I wanted to jump into the book and reel them in but that being impossible I scooched up to the edge of my seat a few times as the pages flew. I was 82% into the book when a bird hit a window and from there I was sitting up straight and everything in the room around me disappeared. I was caught spellbound by what was happening on the pages. Things settled down by 93% and things were explained and cookie-baking winners were revealed but it took me a couple of minutes to catch my breath.

Death by Chocolate Snickerdoodle was a blast to read. I think Ms. Graves hit it out of the park with this story. I loved it!

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About the Author

Sarah Graves lives in Eastport, Maine, in a 200-year-old house much like Jake Tiptree’s. After 20 years of home repair – and yes, it really does make you think about murder! – she has handed in her toolbox and returned to her first love: chocolate. When she’s not cooking or baking something delectable, or writing about it, she tends a huge garden or shovels snow, depending upon the season.

Also by Sarah Graves