Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Death by Chocolate by Carol Lee

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Things are brilliant for baker and recently divorced Myra Bailey. Living the typical life in her sleepy little town of Fish Creek Falls she’s finally opened up her dream coffee shop bakery, Dessert First. She is excited things are going so well… until she stumbles over the body of Barbara the owner of the only other bakery in town.

Suddenly Myra finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation (her chocolate cake was found at the scene of the crime!) headed up by her hunky neighbor Detective David Bentley. With the help of her best friend Lizzie, together they are armed with their smart phones and their natural wits, Myra decides to take it upon herself to find the real murderer in order to clear her name and drive customers back to her bakery.

As things heat up on the murder trail, in the kitchen and between Myra and the Detective, it’s a race against time to put the real murderer behind bars and get back to baking.


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My Thoughts: Death by chocolate? That title sure grabbed my attention! I've been in the mood for reading mysteries and thrillers, and cozy mysteries have been calling out to me the most. What better way to get into the genre than by reading a mystery book that is tied with chocolate too? 

This was a quick yet delightful read. The author gave enough details to give the reader a sense of the type of world this story took place in. Fish Creek Falls was a small town where everybody knew everybody. There was only one bakery shop until Myra, the main character, moved into town and opened one up of her own. The few interactions that Myra had with various characters were well done too. I was able to picture the type of person each character was. Now, the problem of the story of learning who the real murderer was could have been stronger. I only suspected two characters out all of the ones that were intended to confuse the reader. However, it was still fun reading the climax of the story. 


Though I enjoyed this cozy mystery, I did have a problem with the ending. First, the true motive of the murderer was too weak. I could have seen how this "motive" could have been enough for someone to commit murder (having a Hot Fuzz movie flashback...), but it would have been better if it was further explained. It turned out to be more petty than an actual motive. Next, the ending abruptly ended. Right after learning who the killer was, the story ended. Yup, just like that without any farewells to the reader. It wasn't even a cliff-hanger type of ending. It was as if the author gave up and refused to continue.  It had me yelling, "What?! That's it?!" *sigh* I guess I was expecting a stronger resolution. 

In all, this was not that bad. I was quite entertained from beginning to end. It was not perfect, but the book was able to grabbed my attention. It was a great way to get my toes wet into the cozy mysteries genre. I rate this book: 



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