Chocolate Dipped Death (A Candy Shop Mystery)

*WARNING: CONTAINS A FEW SPOILERS*

There's no use sugarcoating it-no one in Paradise can stand Savannah Horne. The former local girl is now the trophy wife of a ridiculously wealthy businessman. And she's swept back into town just in time to enter Divinity's Tenth Annual Confectionery Competition-and stir up trouble. But someone bent on sweet revenge will guarantee that Savannah won't make it out of Paradise alive, trapping Abby in a case sticker than her gooey taffy.

Blackmail, deceit, poisoned candy and a hit and run Oohh My!!!

I liked this book alot. It was an enjoyable read and I liked the way the murder was conducted, it was a well thought out process. The killer was a bit cliche, however I did like the underlying true identity to the murderer's character. I also liked how "Karen" the cousin to "Abby" got her turn in the hot seat for a while during this book. I'm not sure what it is about her, but she gets under my skin a little, so seeing her in some hot water felt a little satisfying. ;)

I felt there was a few unnecessary side plots though that deviated from the track of the book. For example when "Abby's" niece gets her tongue pierced and "Abby" has to go with "Dana" to tell her father what she did. Did we really need a whole chapter to tie family drama together?

I did like how the last few chapters really had me on the edge and wanting to race to the end, espeically after chapter twenty. The dramatic ending was also very well played out. So far I find this book has the best ending in the series. It's very suspenseful and adventurous.

This book did leave me with a few questions at the end though; For example, where the heck was "Jawarski" when "Abby" needed him? and how exactly were "Miles" and "Jason" connected in "Miles's" past? I guess we'll never know...

A few of my favorite quotes from the book are...

"I launched into my speech, it took me a few seconds to realize that the only one listening was max (the dog) but at least he had the good manners to stop chewing the toilet brush and pay attention."

"The only way out of this was to figure out a compromise they could both live with. Maybe I could convince Miles and Savannah to forgo the public apology if I met them over coffee. Maybe I could convince Evie to stop crying foul. And hey! After that maybe I could spin straw into gold!"
--There is also a wee little typo on page 66. It should read Evie Rice not Evie Rich. :)