| Another
Review at MyShelf.Com |
|
The Chocolate Castle Clue Obsidian Lee McKinney Woodyard has been back in Warner Pier for a few years now, and loves her job as manager at TenHuis Chocolate. The chocolate shop belongs to her Aunt Nettie who is like a mother to her. Lee’s life is happy with the job and her loving husband, Joe, who is a part-time lawyer and full time boat yard owner. Lee and Dolly Jolly, a worker at TenHuis Chocolate, are cleaning out a storage garage when Lee comes across an old trophy. It is a trophy that belonged to the Pier-O-Ettes, a singing group that Nettie belonged to in high school and for a while after. The Pier-O-Ettes are having a reunion after 45 years and Lee happily brings the trophy, along with some other memorabilia that had been stored with it, to the group during their first get together at Nettie’s. When a member of the group screams at the sight of the trophy, Lee knows something is wrong, but the other members aren’t talking and the trophy is soon the least of Lee’s concerns. An elderly woman, Mrs. Rice, known for her vile temper, dies in a one-car auto accident that turns out to have actually been murder. The police question the Pier-O-Ettes because of a past connection with Mrs. Rice’s late husband, who died under mysterious circumstances, coincidentally also 45 years ago. Nettie asks Lee to pose some questions to her friends because she knows some of them are lying or omitting facts about their whereabouts when Mrs. Rice was killed. Will stirring the pot help Lee to find the killer, or will it put her and the others at risk of being next? As usual, author Joanna Carl has written a carefully crafted mystery that makes for a fun whodunit read. There are characters from earlier books in the series who lend an ambiance of familiarity to readers of the “Chocoholic Mystery” books, and there are new characters, specifically the Pier-O-Ettes, who bring with them a touch of freshness to the small town, even though they lived there years ago. I enjoyed this book very much for the pace of the plot, as it was neither rushed nor too slow, for the characters, new and old, and for the consistency Carl brings to her work. There are never sloppy writing mistakes or loose ends left hanging. The plot points are clever and ring true. Protagonist Lee is smart and brave, and her malapropisms are amusing. This book is a real winner, and will appeal to all cozy mystery
readers. You just can’t go wrong with a book by JoAnna Carl
(who also writes as Eve K. Sandstrom Reviews of other titles in this series The Chocolate Puppy Puzzle #4 [review] |
|
| Reviewed
2011 |
),
as she is a truly gifted mystery writer. One warning though: If
you like chocolate at all, have a stash ready for when you read
this book! Otherwise, you’ll have to put this page-turner
down long enough to run to the store when the chocolate cravings
hit! Enjoy!