As soon as I saw "librarian glasses" as a descriptor I knew it was a dud. Lazy writing!

Really 3.5. Very good cozy mystery. ( )

Michelle Seranno and Erica Russell are co-owners of Chocolates and Chapters, a bookstore and gourmet chocolate shop. They will soon be celebrating the one year anniversary of their renovation with a Great Fudge Cook-Off which has snowballed into a part of a town-wide Memorial Day weekend celebration. They are very busy and Gwen, the mayor, just keeps piling on more. Good think Erica loves to organize. When their friend, neighboring storeowner and fellow committee member Denise is found dead with a box of Michelle's chocolates, her store gets shut down. It is time to solve this murder to get Michelle off the hook and her store back in business.

I liked the fact that there was a team of sleuths involved in this mystery. Not only Michelle and Erica were nosing around, but Erica's brother and best selling crime author, Ben (aka Bean), helped out with his many connections. One step forward and two steps back happened throughout the book with a few suspects but not as many as in other books I have read. Crazy reporter Reese, computer whiz Zach and police detective Bobbie all added to the story and filled out this little town. I enjoyed following the life of the townspeople, the attempts to try and solve the mystery as well as the festival they were planning. The suspect became apparent near the end of the story and the reason behind it was quickly unveiled. I will check out more in this series. ( )

Good mystery with good characters and chemistry. I would like to read more in the series. And who doesn't like chocolate. ( )

Well, this one was a surprise. I admit I went into this one–based on it's title–with the idea I'd read a chapter or two and mark it DNF and move on.

Michelle and Erica share a double shop space: Michelle runs a chocolate shop on one side, and Erica has a bookstore on the other. Michelle comes into her shop early one morning to find a fellow business owner dead in the seating area, a victim of poisoned chocolates - Michelle's chocolates.

I'm going to start with what I liked and what I found pleasantly surprising. I loved the characters: Erica is Fulbright Scholar smart, without being socially inept or awkward and Michelle is a very smart, capable business owner who dropped out of community college. Best of all, Michelle doesn't love kids.

Now, I know anyone reading this who has kids just gasped a little bit. Michelle doesn't hate kids, and neither do I: she just doesn't think all of them are automatically cute and adorable. As someone who made an informed choice not to have kids of her own, it's refreshing to finally read a strong, independent MC who isn't sighing or cooing over every child, or talking about their biological clock. Michelle has a wry wit about kids that I identified with, and when push came to shove (and she couldn't get out of it), she babysat Erica's hellion nephews and enjoyed it.

Erica's brother Benjamin (Bean) is, I think, the intended romantic interest for Michelle and I love him - he's shockingly smart too; a journalist and an author and not once does he try to tell his sister and Michelle to stop doing their thing. He treats Michelle like an intellectual equal and the chemistry between the two of them is the best I've seen in a cozy in awhile. Michelle's brother is a recurring character too and he's a veteran who left part of his leg back in Afghanistan. These are not cookie-cutter characters.

The murder mystery was really well-plotted too - lots of suspects, and some ugly secrets come out. The resolution was surprising and a little bit heart wrenching. Another really nice change of pace.

What I didn't like is a much shorter list and nothing shocking: TSTL moments once or twice and Michelle is a bit over-the-top about the quality of her chocolates: confidence is one thing, arrogance another. Lastly, no one ever explains why Denise (the victim) was in Michelle's shop in the first place.

Overall, I identified with this cozy on a level I haven't with many others in a very long time and I had a great time reading it. I am genuinely looking forward to the second book and I hope it's as good as this one. ( )

Like many small town cozy stories, the town is preparing for a local event. In this case it is the Memorial Day Great Fudge Cook-off. The main character, Michelle, is in charge of this event during the Memorial Day weekend festivities. The news that Hillary Punkin, a celebrity pastry chef from a cable cooking network has Michelle nervous, since Hillary can make or break her business with a one word.

In the midst of the preparations, a local photographer, Denise, on the brink of her career taking off with a Washington D.C. gallery showing is found dead in Michelle's chocolate shop, apparently poisoned from a box of Michelle's chocolates. Michelle is fighting to keep her business afloat, so she and her business partner Erica begin their own investigation. Yet, the Mayor and town businesses are rabid to have a successful Memorial Day celebration since they need the tourist business they anticipate.

Side stories are Erica's old high school flame and why they are still angry with each other after all these years, and Michelle getting warm and fuzzy feelings around Erica's brother, a world renowned reporter home visiting.

Michelle, curious but skittish, she feels most comfortable when she is making chocolate and is mortified when having to do a cousin's x-rated chocolates for her bachelorette party. Erica, the level headed and driven business partner and room mate. She is an integral part of the story and in some ways she is as much a main character as Michelle. Officer Bobby, Erica's high-school sweetheart who may/may not be pining for Erica is an interesting character. Leo, Michelle's brother and an Afghanistan war vet missing a leg. So much potential with this character and I really hope Leo gets more page time! Benjamin "Bean" Russel, Michelle's childhood crush and Erica's brother who is the well known reporter and newly a published author. At least he isn't the cliche cop boyfriend. Of course, there is a question as to how long he will stick around and if he is an adrenaline junkie reporter. Finally there is Reese, a local blog reporter who has had a grudge against Michelle since high school and keeps implicating Michelle as the killer on her blog.

The setting of West Riverdale seems like most any other small town, except it is somewhat close to D.C. So it doesn't do much more than be the backdrop. The plot is on par for a cozy...what could a local photographer have done to get killed? The pacing was steady with multiple suspects and the investigation, Michelle in danger, and the subplots sprinkled throughout. The climax had a twist regarding the killer, which I only partially got right. The wrap up was short but endearing.

This debut novel for a new cozy mystery series combines chocolate, books, murder, and sweet romance in a small town. What's not to love?

Ratings: Excellent - A fun read, I enjoyed it!

Obtained Through: Publisher for honest review

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http://mysterysuspence.blogspot.com ( )