Confections, Clues, and Chocolate by Kathleen Suzette (Book 3 in A Pumpkin Hollow Candy Store Mystery), eBook, 132 pages
From GoodReads: Every year Pumpkin Hollow gleefully awaits its grand Halloween ball, an affair that’s more dazzling than any other in this town that celebrates Halloween 365 days a year. But this year, as lanterns glow and shadows dance, the festivities take a chilling turn when one of the revelers is destined for the city morgue. With Halloween approaching, Mia Banks, with her keen sense of observation, and her nosy—er, um, inquisitive sister Christy, are once again plunged into a tantalizing mystery. The victim, Beverly Dubois, seemed to be the epitome of innocence—a gentle spirit adored by many. But as the sisters delve deeper, they unravel layers of deceit, hidden motives, and dark secrets. Was it envy, revenge, or something more sinister that led to Beverly’s untimely end? With the clock ticking and a murderer on the loose, can Mia and Christy unmask the killer before someone else has their last dance? Join the sisters in this sweet cozy mystery, where masks will fall, and the true face of evil might be someone you least expect.
The story was cute and it really did leave you wondering who-done-it. That is one thing I truly enjoy about this author's writing. Sometimes I call it, sometimes I don't. This was one that I didn't call. The victim is introduced, as the description says, as a gentle spirit only to find out just prior to her death and then after that she had a horrible tendency to rub people the wrong way and seemed to piss off the whole town at one time or another. The characters are exactly as I imagine small towns to be. Like I just heard in an episode of Virgin River, something like "the internet is slow but the gossip is fast". That's what this town is like. Everyone knows or wants to know everyone else's business! I think I've said it about this author before that sometimes I struggle that the main character is married to a cop and I can't imagine even in a small town that it would fly for a detective's wife and sister-in-law to run around asking prying questions about a case to potential suspects. I was left feeling at the end that it was a 4 star read. It wasn't bad, not my favorite, but we left off at Halloween night so I kind of want to know what this town does when it isn't Halloween season.
4/5 Stars
2024 Reading Challenge: 5/50 complete
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