Charity
Penn is the recipient of a mysterious letter, informing her
that she has won a trip to Camellia Beach in South Carolina
where she will receive free cooking lessons at the Chocolate
Box, a local chocolate shop. Since she hasn’t entered
any contests, Charity (who prefers to be called Penn) is immediately
suspicious and puts her friend from school, Skinny, on the
case. Alas, poor Skinny, he is murdered and left in a giant
vat of chocolate in the same shop!
A guilt-ridden
Penn goes to Camellia Beach to try to find out what happened
to her friend. The locals become hostile when she asks about
him, and they claim he was a druggie who brought crime to
their usually crime-free seaside town. Penn sticks around
to take the chocolate making cooking classes and finds herself
charmed by the elderly Mabel Maybank, who owns the shop. Unfortunately,
before Penn can get anything more than classes and hugs from
Mabel, Mabel, too, dies, leaving Penn with more questions
than ever.
Drawn
in by the quirky locals and the small town sense of camaraderie,
Penn sticks around to find out what’s going on, and
is in for a huge surprise when she learns that she is the
one to inherit the Chocolate Box, much to the dismay of Mabel’s
children. Will the local police, or the detective assigned
to investigate be of any help, or will Penn, whose own life
is now in danger, have to take matters into her own hands
to find the killer before he or she strikes again?
Now I
read a lot of mysteries. I mean a LOT. I can usually, or at
least often, sniff out the killer and the motive by the half-way
mark of a book. That did not happen this time, as there were
so many viable suspects and motives that I considered setting
up a white board with a suspect list and a chart of means,
motive, and opportunity. But I couldn’t put the book
down long enough to set all that up, and instead just kept
reading and reading until way past my bedtime!
I highly
recommend Asking for Truffle as your go-to book for a great
September read. It would also make a fabulous back-to-school
gift for the mystery loving teen in your life, or as a recommendation
for a book club. The story is appropriate for all ages teen
and up, and while I think it would mostly appeal to women,
there are men who would like it, too. The readers who will
most enjoy it are those who are both mystery bookaholics and
chocoholics. I fall into both categories and if there is a
12 step program for either, I don’t want to know about
it!
Get your
copy as soon as you can, and don’t forget to pick up
some gourmet chocolate to have on hand while you read about
all the yumminess!
Reviews
of other titles in this series
Asking
for Truffle #1
Playing
with Bonbon Fire #2
In
Cold Chocolate #3 |