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The Chocolate Moose Motive (2012)

by JoAnna Carl(Favorite Author)

3.75 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0451238028 (ISBN13: 9780451238023)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

NAL Hardcover

series

A Chocoholic Mystery

review 1: The story was very disjointed in my opinion. One minute Lee is yelling at someone, then she is laughing - the situation did not change. The ending was rushed and not satisfactory. This book veered away from the chocolate production, except to enter descriptions of a piece when someone took it. Really? Bland descriptions interspersed in the book, no real talk about the chocolates.Also, the "tongue twisting" has gotten old. Not only does Lee do it, but after each occurrence we are hit over the head with an explanation. "Oh my twisted tongue" - we get it, we don't need an explanation each time. I feel these are crutches the authors use when they can not develop a scene or character, just like Sefton's knitting series where the coffee drinking is absurd. (quit that series many... more books ago). The characters in this series have not grown, the town and chocolate shop are stagnant. I had skipped a few books for the above reasons, then picked up this entry, will not continue this series.
review 2: A scrumptious mystery! Taken from my review at RomanceJunkies.com:Since the death of her uncle, Lee McKinney Woodyard has taken over as business manager of her Aunt Nettie’s company, Ten Huis Chocolates, working alongside her aunt. As a young girl, she spent summers with her aunt and uncle, working for them at their business. Later, when her own marriage broke up, they took her under their wing again. The chocolate shop became a secure haven for her. Living in Warner Piers, she had met and married her present husband, Joe. The company, known for their delectable chocolates, has rapidly grown. Although Lee could have used some help with the bookkeeping, she had put off hiring anyone. That is, until the day she literally ran into Forsythia ‘Sissy’ Smith at the supermarket. Hearing an altercation in the aisle next to hers, she went to the rescue and bumped carts with Sissy, allowing her to escape her father-in-law, Colonel Ace Smith, who was giving Sissy a hard time. Although Lee knew Sissy looked familiar, she did not place her until she ran into her vehicle as she was leaving the parking lot. Exchanging information, she saw Sissy’s full name and realized who she was.Living in the small town of Warner Piers, Sissy is the granddaughter of the town’s only remaining hippy. Her home had once been a commune, but now Sissy lives there with her young son and her grandmother, Wildflower Hills. Wildflower is a taxidermist, who runs the business from her home. Sissy had married Buzz, the son of a wealthy summer person, one of the people who spent their summers at the small resort town. Growing up, the girls of Warner Piers were warned not to get involved with the summer residents, but she had fallen in love and they had married, despite his father’s disapproval. As she and her grandmother returned home from a trip one day, they made a gruesome discovery; Buzz’s dead body was lying in front of the fireplace. He had been shot to death. The local sheriff had wanted to arrest her, but she had an airtight alibi. Still this does not keep many of the locals from believing that she killed her husband. Unable to concentrate with the notoriety, she had quit her job, which is one of the things her father-in-law is using against her in his attempt to gain custody of his grandson. He had tried to have her declared an unfit mother, but visits to her home by social services had proved him wrong.She is getting her life back in place and is happy to be working as a bookkeeper for Ten Huis Chocolates when Ace’s housekeeper, Helen, who was trying to help Ace in his fight against Sissy, turns up dead after sending a text to Sissy to meet her. Finding the body and believing that the killer may be nearby, Sissy had run to Lee and Joe’s home. Previously, she had gone to Joe, a part-time attorney, for advice. When someone breaks into Sissy’s home while she is not there, Lee gets involved. In the past, her tendency to involve herself as an amateur sleuth in certain cases had met with success. But someone is trying to keep a dark secret from being disclosed and is not above killing a nosy chocolatier. Will Lee find the killer before it is too late? Was the text from Helen, or was Sissy set up and lured to the site of the body?An intriguing tale, THE CHOCOLATE MOOSE MOTIVE, the twelfth book in talented author Joanna Carl’s CHOCOHOLIC series, is an exciting, suspense-filled cozy mystery. This story is made even more special by the addition of a delicious chocolate recipe as well as some little known facts about chocolate. Lee’s investigation leads to more questions as she gathers clues leading up to the successful unveiling of the villain by the end of the book, where all of the loose ends are nicely tied up. Lee has one problem though. Whenever she gets nervous, she unwillingly substitutes the wrong word into her speech, for instance, frying instead of flying. This often leads to embarrassing, and at times, hilarious, results. Although she corrects herself, she worries about how her listener perceives her and her mistakes. Packed with witty repartee, murder, burglary, secrets, humor, chocolate, interesting characters and a fast-moving plot, this light, cozy mystery is one you will not want to miss. The one drawback is that reading this book will leave your mouth watering for chocolate. So be sure to have some handy. For further insight into the series’ background and for additional enjoyment, I advise reading the entire delightful series. However, each book, including this one, can be read as a standalone. Do not miss it!Dottie, RomanceJunkies.com less

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