Monday, October 10, 2016

Tortie Shorties on Mystery Monday


Welcome to this week's edition of Tortie Shorties on Mystery Monday!

We hope you enjoy our choices.


Behind Chocolate Bars (A Chocolate Covered Mystery Book 3) by Kathy Aarons

From the publisher: Best friends and business partners Michelle and Erica have a monstrous to-do list as they prepare for the annual West Riverdale Halloween Festival. Their shop, Chocolates and Chapters, will have a booth at the event, where Michelle will serve spooky delights while Erica displays an assortment of spine-chilling books. Thank goodness the teenagers from Erica’s comic-book club are chipping in to help. But one of their volunteers winds up in trouble after a woman’s body is found in an abandoned house—with the teen’s superhero key ring close by. 

The teen swears he didn’t do it, but he’s obviously hiding something—leaving Michelle and Erica with a witch’s cauldron of questions. Soon they discover that the dead woman was tricking a whole bunch of people out of more than just treats. Now these two friends must go door-to-door if they hope to unmask a killer…

Tortie Shorties Review: Chocolates and Chapters, owned by best friends Michelle and Erica in West Riverdale, Maryland, is the setting for the Chocolate Covered Mystery series. The town is preparing for it's annual haunted house to benefit the Boys and Girls Club when a dead body is found in an abandoned house and Dylan, the shop's teenage intern and comic book club member, is the prime suspect. The victim had been dating Dylan's father as part of an online dating scheme that ended up leaving many unhappy people in its wake, leaving no shortage of suspects for Michelle, Erica and friends to sift through.

One of my favorite characters in this series is Michelle's brother Leo. Leo raised Michelle following the death of their parents in a car accident, then lost a leg in Afghanistan and now suffers from depression and PTSD. Leo has recently had a motorcycle accident, spiraling him into depression once again as he becomes extremely overprotective of his loved ones, especially Michelle. And the saga of Coco, the brown tabby kitty cared for by the entire town, continues as her kittens are born and a Kitten Shower is held to help them all find their forever homes. Michelle has the honor of naming one and of course chooses Truffles (yes, I teared up a bit)...but will she be able to take the little guy home?

Advance warning: while reading this book thoughts of chocolate will invade your senses. Resistance is futile so go ahead and pop a truffle or two into your mouth. We won't tell.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.



From the publisher: Science is about solving puzzles. Why should solving a murder be any different? Dr. Bree Watson (aka Gabriella Catherine Mayfield-Watson) is comfortable solving chemistry problems. She isn’t comfortable finding her boss dead and being a suspect in his poisoning. Now she’s juggling: • A sexy marketing manager—who may, or may not—be a contract killer. • A handsome lead detective whose interest goes beyond the case. • The dead man’s cranky cat. • A goose-chasing dog in hot water with an animal rights group. • The search for the perfect cupcake recipe. • And, of course, someone who wants her out of the picture. And she thought getting a Ph.D. was hard.

Tortie Shorties Review: Readers with an affinity for science will enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at the life of a chemist...except for that whole problem of finding your boss dead in his office and being the #1 suspect in his murder. Bree certainly has her hands full trying to clear her good name while also dealing with office politics, a pair of mysterious yet hunky love interests, and the addition of the victim's cat to her home. With the "Undercover Cat" subtitle I was hoping the book would revolve more around Sherlock the cat, yet the role he plays in uncovering key clues and the killer's capture is quite clever. By the end Bree's future looks quite interesting and hopefully Sherlock will continue to be her furry sidekick!

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.

11 comments:

Fur Everywhere said...

I just started The Cupcake Caper, so it's nice to read your review. I haven't gotten to the cat yet, but am looking forward to reading about him!

Momma Kat and Her Bear Cat said...

Now why am I hungry for something with sugar?!?!
ps - Bear's still meowing about your selfie from yesterday, Mudpie :)

Hannah and Lucy said...

Mum feels like some chocolate having read about the book!

The Menagerie Mom said...

These sound like such fun to read! I am especially intrigued by Behind Chocolate Bars, but perhaps that's because I'm in a huge Halloween mood lately, or perhaps because I'm hungry. Thank you for sharing these wonderful reviews with us, Melissa and Mudpie!

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Melissa (and Mudpie). I'm looking forward to reading Behind Chocolate Bars and who could resist chocolate while reading? :)

Unknown said...

These both sound great! The chocolate book sounds really yummy, and it's set in my home state, so I'm wondering how on earth I have missed hearing about it till now. I also love chemistry, so the Cupcake Caper sounds like a winner too! Thanks for sharing!

Colehaus Cats said...

Our Mom won't let us have chocolate but we bet she'd let us sniff your first book and that's almost as good, right? Mmmm, cupcakes and puzzles and science-y capers.

pilch92 said...

Behind Chocolate Bars sounds like a good book. That is so sweet that they name one of the kittens Truffles.

Three Chatty Cats said...

Cats and chocolate -- in book form? It's just too much for me to handle!

Dragonheart, Merlin, Devi, and Chloe said...

Those sound like interesting books! Thanks for the reviews!

Unknown said...

Interesting book that we should all read. Something to keep light of everything on a gloomy day. I'm sure students from http://www.smartpaperhelp.com/ find this book very astonishing and lovable to read.