The Chocolate Jewel Case (Chocoholic Mysteries, No. 7)

A fast read; very enjoyable and typical of the author. A very difficult book to put down........... Mrs. Toby Brust

I have read all the books in the series and was anxiously awaiting the chance to read this one. Unfortunately, this is still a good book but definitely not up to par with the rest of the series. Too much time is spent with the murder mystery and too little on chocolate facts and, most importantly, the many interesting residents of Warner Pier.

I just discovered this series last month, and have read all 7 books. This one was much more fast paced and took place in a very short time span compared to some of the other books. I thought it was Great and I read it in 2 sittings. As always, I love Joanna Carl's books and this proves to be an easy entertaining read. I'm anxiously awaiting book 8!!

The Chocolate Jewel Case is the seventh book in Joanna Carl's mystery series called Chocoholic Mysteries. You can find the author's website at http://www.joannacarl.com. I really enjoy this series of little mystery books set in a little Lake Michigan resort town somewhere near Holland (I always think of a combination of Saugatuk, Douglas, and Grand Haven with a touch of Manistee thrown in). The stories are pretty enjoyable, and they are short enough to read in a couple of days, even when you are busy (I believe they are all under 250 pages). The main character is Lee, a woman raised in Texas who moves to Michigan to live with her aunt and help her aunt run a gourmet chocolate shop, following Lee's divorce. So Lee is out getting a second chance at life, and tries to make the most of that chance. And - she solves mysteries when they arise at the shop or in the small town. In this particular book, Lee has been married to her second husband for some three months. They are living in the long time family farm house, about 100 years old, old fashioned, and rather small. And - most horribly for a pair of newlyweds - they have no privacy, because they have been inundated by long term house guests. There is an older aunt in one spare room, and two teenaged girls in the other. They have a guy staying on their porch. They have another guy staying in the yard in an old camper. Only one bathroom. They are having a bad heat wave, with very high humidity, and no air conditioning. The house has no soundproofing, so if anyone in the house moves or talks, everyone knows it. There is even only one television, and everyone wants to watch different things. And then the mystery begins with a man who has been dead and buried for decades knocking on the front door. And then it goes on to include murder and jewel thieves! All sorts of crazy stuff happens - and most of it a lot of fun for the reader!

Lee and Joe Woodyard have a house full of guests. Just what every newlywed dreams of, right? There are the two teens working at TenHuis Chocolade, Joe's two mysterious friends, and Joe's aunt. All this in an old house that only has one bathroom. But housing issues aren't the only thing on Lee's mind. There has been a string of robberies in town recently. Since it's the start of the summer season, many of the summer people are returning to find their cabins have been robbed. Jewels and antiques are the prime targets. Lee's been pretty busy making sure her guests are provided for and running TenHuis Chocolade since Aunt Nettie is in Europe on her own honeymoon. But then fate takes over and Lee is forced to care about the robberies. And there's the strange man who shows up claiming to be Joe's dad, who died 30 years ago. And the body found floating in the lake. What is going on? The books in this series have always been light and fun, but this book turns out to be too light. The plot seems to be meandering all over the place. While it does come together in the final third, the lack of focus early on hurt the book. The story doesn't suffer from a lack of characters. Even so, I spotted the villain earlier then I should have. And the number of characters means that series regulars like Aunt Nettie and Lee's best friend are noticeably absent. The characters that are here are fun, however. The chocolate chats this go around spotlight a few non-fiction books on chocolate. They sound tempting. Still, this is one "feature" that I wouldn't miss if they took them out. This is one of the weaker entries in the series, yet it is still fun enough to please fans.