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caitief's review
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
cherylanntownsend's review
3.0
Lee McKinney is an accountant for a family run chocolate shop. She seems to be loosely related to nearly everyone in town.. and that’s a good thing.
Recently being offered a position on the local library board gets her involved in two murders, almost immediately. Having a police chief as an uncle and a penchant for solving cases immediately gets her into investigating the whodunnit.
The who that dunnit feels she’s too close to finding them out and tries to create an “accidental” car crash, but fails.
Meanwhile, her husband has been spending some extra time with an old high school flame just as the new library director stokes up some flickers in Lee’s libido.
There’s a lot of loose ends in this book, but probably the biggest is the title. Nothing about a chocolate book is ever mentioned.
Recently being offered a position on the local library board gets her involved in two murders, almost immediately. Having a police chief as an uncle and a penchant for solving cases immediately gets her into investigating the whodunnit.
The who that dunnit feels she’s too close to finding them out and tries to create an “accidental” car crash, but fails.
Meanwhile, her husband has been spending some extra time with an old high school flame just as the new library director stokes up some flickers in Lee’s libido.
There’s a lot of loose ends in this book, but probably the biggest is the title. Nothing about a chocolate book is ever mentioned.
kenna_ainjo's review
1.0
**SPOILERS**
I liked certain aspects of the story, but overall it wasn't to my taste. In a mystery I like to be able to try and figure it out, and in this one the essential evidence wasn't known to the protagonist until the end, so as a reader I basically had to guess based on the various clues and on which characters were being focused at during times in the plot that indicated that they weren't the culprit.
Also, I thought that the "chocolate" motif was cool, except that it had nothing to do with the story except for the fact that the protagonist likes and works with chocolate, and so the author also put chocolate trivia in there. Calling the book "The Chocolate Book Bandit" seems weird. Chocolate could be part of the series title, but the title is "The Chocolate Book Bandit," not "Chocolate Mysteries: The Book Bandit." It just struck me as a weird title.
The adultery subplot also through me off, because everything indicated that Joe was not just into Meg for the innocent-ish reasons he described. He kissed the woman in the street. I don't think that the protagonist should have taken that so lightly and given it credence. And if she did out of worry that she would upset her husband or something, then showing some fear or unrest that he'll leave her would've been appropriate to the situation if it wouldn't be out of character. It just felt like the author was trying to wrap of the subplot so that the book could end on time.
I liked certain aspects of the story, but overall it wasn't to my taste. In a mystery I like to be able to try and figure it out, and in this one the essential evidence wasn't known to the protagonist until the end, so as a reader I basically had to guess based on the various clues and on which characters were being focused at during times in the plot that indicated that they weren't the culprit.
Also, I thought that the "chocolate" motif was cool, except that it had nothing to do with the story except for the fact that the protagonist likes and works with chocolate, and so the author also put chocolate trivia in there. Calling the book "The Chocolate Book Bandit" seems weird. Chocolate could be part of the series title, but the title is "The Chocolate Book Bandit," not "Chocolate Mysteries: The Book Bandit." It just struck me as a weird title.
The adultery subplot also through me off, because everything indicated that Joe was not just into Meg for the innocent-ish reasons he described. He kissed the woman in the street. I don't think that the protagonist should have taken that so lightly and given it credence. And if she did out of worry that she would upset her husband or something, then showing some fear or unrest that he'll leave her would've been appropriate to the situation if it wouldn't be out of character. It just felt like the author was trying to wrap of the subplot so that the book could end on time.
skinnypenguin's review
3.0
A good cozy mystery.
Lee is asked to join the library board and when she attends her first meeting one of the other board members is found dead in the basement of the library. It looks like an accident but than is ruled suspicious. She starts asking some questions and wonders who could have killed the woman. She digs deeper into the woman's background and the background of the rest of the board.
The library clerk is also killed and an attempt is made on Lee's life.
While dealing with all this she has seen her husband with an old flame and is very suspicious of his behavior. She is also attracted to the new director of the library board. She tries to keep everything under control and figure out who the killer is. Family and friends are also trying to help and since it is a small town everyone seems to know everyone else's business, which can be good and bad.
Lee is asked to join the library board and when she attends her first meeting one of the other board members is found dead in the basement of the library. It looks like an accident but than is ruled suspicious. She starts asking some questions and wonders who could have killed the woman. She digs deeper into the woman's background and the background of the rest of the board.
The library clerk is also killed and an attempt is made on Lee's life.
While dealing with all this she has seen her husband with an old flame and is very suspicious of his behavior. She is also attracted to the new director of the library board. She tries to keep everything under control and figure out who the killer is. Family and friends are also trying to help and since it is a small town everyone seems to know everyone else's business, which can be good and bad.
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