The Chocolate Snowman Murders: A Chocoholic Mystery

Another yummy Chocoholic read. Reminds me of good times in Saugatuck, MI with my grandma and fun down on the lakeshore in Douglas. Can't wait to read the next in the series.

With the Winter Arts Festival just days away, Lee Woodyard and her husband Joe are busy helping the rest of the committee put the finishing touches on events. One thing Lee takes on is picking up Fletcher Mendenhall, the juror who is coming in to judge the art show. When she arrives at the airport, she finds him drunk. But the worst part is that he makes repeated passes at Lee and won't take no for an answer. Fed up, Lee drops him off at a hotel. But that isn't the end of things. The next morning, Mendenhall is found murdered in his room. Since Lee was the last person to see him, she becomes the only suspect. That would be bad enough if key evidence didn't keep showing up in her possession. Can Lee find out who really committed the murder before she is arrested? I love books where the murder victim truly deserves to die, and that was the case here. That helped pull me in to the book from the beginning. Things get off to a fairly quick start, and they keep moving from there. The ending was a complete surprise. And we got to see many of the series regulars, who were in top form. Lee's "tongue tangles" were kept to a minimum. The new characters were interesting. I was hesitant about leaping with the series to hardcover, but I'm glad I did. This entry in the series will satisfy its many fans.

I love Christmas murder mysteries. I'm not sure why I love them so much. Perhaps it is because the mysteries I tend to read are of the cozy/amateur sleuth type and they make me feel warm and cozy. Not sure what that says about me. But it is my reality and Joanna Carl has added to my Christmas happiness with The Chocolate Snowman Murders. I haven't read her books before, but will be searching them out now that I've read this one. Lee McKinney Woodyard doesn't really want to serve on the Warner Pier Winter Arts Festival committee, but she agreed and it is a commitment she must keep. Besides she is the owner of TenHuis Chocolade and dedicated to her business and community. And she loves living in a `happening' place, even if she has to help make things happen. The Arts Festival is proving to be difficult. There are egos, changes to the schedule, time commitments that go awry, and then there's Fletcher Mendenhall, the arts festival juror who shows up in town drunk. Lee takes things in stride and leaves him to sleep off his `drunk'. Lee doesn't give him another thought until her husband, Joe tells her that the juror is a corpse, as in dead. This is a case of death by desk lamp. Since Lee was one of the last people to see the victim alive, she's in a predicament. Then another body turns up (murder by snowman) and the situation becomes dire. Lee must solve the case before more bodies turn up. The Chocolate Snowman Murders is perfect for your Christmas mystery reading. You'll smile. You really will. And you'll be glad you sat down and read it. Then you'll want another of Carl's books. Armchair Interviews says: A good holiday read.

Lee McKinney Woodyard, manager of her Aunt Nettie's Tenhuis Chocolate shop, is the treasurer on the committee organizing the annual Warner Pier Winter Arts Festival known in Western Michigan as WinterFest. Every year an art show is sponsored, but this year a juror breaks a leg and cannot participate. He obtains a substitute retired Professor Fletcher Mendenhall. Lee's husband Joe offers to pickup the former academia, but when he gets tied up, she gets him. To her horror Fletcher pulls out a flask and starts drinking. Her discomfit turns to shock and horror when her visitor turns drunk and amorous while she is driving amidst heavy traffic. She finally leaves Fletcher at a motel to sleep it off. Lee tells Joe who decides to visit the professor to inform him to leave his wife alone. Fletcher fails to answer his phone or the knock on his room's door. Joe has the desk clerk unlock the door. They find Fletcher dead on the floor; his head bashed in and his cell phone missing. Lee and Joe become immediate suspects even before the victim's cell phone is found in her possession. Lee concludes that someone is setting up her and Joe to keep the cops from this clever culprit. She intends to investigate in the hopes of going where the police are ignoring so as to clear her and Joe. JoAnna Carl writes scrumptious regional amateur sleuth tale with delightful chocolates to sweeten the plot. Life in a small Michigan town especially from the perspective of a chocolate shop proprietor is vividly depicted; as everyone knows everyone; yet the key is not everything so one can still conceal nefarious felonious deeds, in this case murderous activity from their neighbors. The investigation is credible (more so than Lee's previous inquiries) as the heroine believes the killer is playing police by leading them increasingly towards the Woodward couple with the motive being the deceased's unwanted amorous escapade. THE CHOCOLATE SNOWMAN MURDERS is a charming cozy. Harriet Klausner

Carl's book is a good read for a lazy afternoon, an airline flight or a cozy evening before the fire. It includes a bonus of chocolate trivia which even chocoholics may not know. I didn't. Lee McKinney Woodyard finds herself once again serving up an entrée of mystery with a dessert of chocolate. Throughout the story, Lee offers various chocolate treats to those she encounters. Her descriptions made me long for some fine dark chocolate. Carl is an experienced writer who draws the reader quickly into a small town drama and introduces us to characters who might be familiar to all of us. We know there will be trouble as soon as the cast is known. In this case, The Warner Pier Winter Arts Festival is just days away. The judge of the art show has backed out and the substitute flown in at the last minute is far from satisfactory. Lee and her husband, Joe, are suspects in the shenanigans that follow. The writing contains just enough humor to cause a smile or a laugh every once in a while. by Judith Helburn for Story Circle Book Reviews reviewing books by, for, and about women