Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; [Audio CD]; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496706430; [9781977369611]
Kensington Publishing; [Tantor Audio]
352 Pages
$7.99; [$22.99]; $4.74 Amazon
September 25, 2018
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Christmas is Bailey King's favorite time of year. For her first Yuletide in Harvest, Ohio, the former big-city chocolatier is recreating a cherished holiday treat: peppermint combined with molten white chocolate. But her sugar high plummets when her former boyfriend walks into the candy shop she now runs with her Amish grandmother. New York celebrity chef Eric Sharp and his TV crew have arrived to film an authentic Amish Christmas. Bailey's not about to let her beloved town -- and Swissmen Sweets -- be turned into a sound bite. Unfortunately, she gets more publicity than she bargained for when Eric's executive producer is found strangled to death -- and Eric's the prime suspect.
With Bailey's sheriff deputy boyfriend out to prove Eric's guilt, her bad-boy ex tries to sweet-talk her into helping him clear his name...and rekindle their romance to boost ratings for his show. Now, between a surplus of suspects and a victim who wasn't who she seemed, Bailey's edging dangerously close to a killer who isn't looking to bring joy to the world -- or to Bailey -- this deadly Noel...
✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽
Bailey King left her job in New York city as a high-end chocolatier to return to Harvest, Ohio, after her grandfather died and help her grandmother run their chocolate shop. Now she also has help from her grandmother Clara's young cousin, Charlotte, too. Bailey's surprised when a film crew shows up at the shop unannounced, along with her ex-boyfriend, chef Eric Sharp, and more so when she soon discovers from the ebullient producer, Rocky Rivers, that they're there to film the shop and Bailey and Eric's reunion as a couple.
Except they aren't a couple. And Bailey has no plans to film anything, regardless of Eric's promises to the producer. But when Rocky asks for a private meeting with Bailey to discuss it the next morning, she agrees. Still, she doesn't expect to find Rocky's body in the gazebo, strangled with a string of twinkle lights...or the fact that Eric is standing over the body, holding the end of the lights. When Eric professes his innocence, she's inclined to believe him, even if Deputy Sheriff Aiden Brody doesn't. So Bailey, along with the help of her newly-arrived best friend Cass, and a pet pig named Jethro, are vowing to get to the bottom of the mystery and find a killer who just might get away with murder after all...
This is the third book in the series and I have to say that I like it much better than I did the first two. Bailey is coming into her own, and I found the dialogue between Cass and everyone else to be the most humorous part of the book. Her conversations with Bailey are the best part of the book.
As for the mystery, there were enough twists and turns to keep me interested, and with layers to Rocky that were peeled back one at a time until we found out the truth. While I figured out the identity of the murderer early on, it still was fun to watch Bailey pick up the clues and put everything together. Add in a little bit of intrigue to the mix, and it was a nice mystery altogether.
All in all, it gave us something to look forward to in the next book but without leaving us the dreaded cliffhanger, which I absolutely despise. That in itself is a reason to keep reading this series, and I will definitely do so. Recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/Premeditated-Peppermint-Amish-Candy-Mystery/dp/1496706439/ref
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3334757115
More on Amanda Flower's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/f/amanda-flower/
No comments:
Post a Comment