Thursday, December 18, 2014

Death is Like a Box of Chocolates

Title: Death is Like a Box of Chocolates
Author: Kathy Aarons
Published: September 2nd 2014 by Berkley
Format: Paperback, 304 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: A Chocolate Covered Mystery #1

I know it was me when it came to this book. I had the hardest time keeping all the characters straight. Who was married to whom? Who was whose sibling? Was she the Mayor or the woman that worked in the hardware store? Was he the war veteran or the book author? I now know that I should have taken notes.

Michelle Serrano and Erica Russell own a combined bookstore and chocolate shop. Their small town is gearing up for a Fudge Festival with the renowned Hillary Punkin coming to judge their small competition. One yay from her and Michelle knows that her shop will get the recognition that it needs to bring in to the next level.

All that comes crashing down when Denise, the local photographer, is found dead in the chocolate shop while eating a box of Michelle’s confections.

What ensues is a tangled tale of who wants whom dead, who is blackmailing whom, and the reason behind Denise’s murder. I got lost somewhere in the middle and if it was not for the recap in the last chapter I would still be wondering whom everyone was and how everything was solved. Since this is the first book in a planned series, I am going to assume that Kathy Aarons was just setting the stage of West Riverdale, Maryland and that once her readers are invested in the characters, the future books will have a more laid back feel without packing too much in and the rush to the end of the book.

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