Welcome to Torte–a friendly, small-town family bakery where the pastries are delicious…and, now, suspicious. It’s almost spring in Ashland, Oregon, and the town is preparing for the Shakespeare and the annual Chocolate Festival. Business is cookin’ at Torte, and the store is expanding as Jules’ team whips up crèpes filled with mascarpone cheese and dark chocolate. Torte stands a chance of … stands a chance of being this year’s confectionery belle of the ball! Life couldn’t be sweeter–unless murder taints the batter.
Evan Rowe, of Confections Couture, makes a chocolate fountain that would put Willy Wonka to shame, and his truffles are to die for–literally? Yes, the world-renowned chocolatier has just turned up dead…right after sampling a slice of Jules’ decadent four-layer chocolate cake. Now all eyes are on Jules as she tries to find the mysterious ingredient in her own recipe. Can she sift out the truth before another contestant bites the buttercream?
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It’s a winner! Fudge and Jury is the first book of the series that I have read but it won’t be the last! I loved it! The characters are so great that they are sure to become life long friends; I was impressed with the ensemble from the first page. The writing held me throughout the book from the mystery that had me stumped to the details that I could visualize and almost smell. At first I was a little concerned when I realized that one character spouted Shakespeare, but I was pleased to see that even though others followed his model, the use of Shakespearean quotes was not excessive; a touch of the Bard is fine. I am looking forward to catching up with other books and to seeing where her relationship with Carlos goes. I want to meet that guy! Now I need to go make something chocolate!
I requested and received an advanced readers copy of this book via NetGalley. This review is completely voluntary; I review all books that I love and I completely loved these characters and their story.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Everyone at Torte is excited for the annual Chocolate Festival as the shop will have a featured role at the event. They also are having new ovens installed and a little painting and reorganization taking place while the shop is closed for the festival. So it is all hands on deck to get everything done.
Jules and Helen are handling the festival and are getting their booth set up when chocolatier, Evan Rowe, of Confections Couture, is making the rounds of the neighboring booths. Soon after he samples a cake at the Torte booth the man keels over dead. At first, it is thought the man died due to his peanut allergy but Jules adamantly states there are no nuts in the cake and there was no cross-contamination. It wasn’t her cake so now she is out to find what killed Evan Rowe before all her plans are fudged up for good.
Each book in I become more engaged and invested in these characters. Helen Capshaw really treats her staff like family and having Jules home working side by side with her mother is so heartwarming. The people they bring in their lives like Thomas, the Professor, and Lance all bring their own personalities to the story. We are also introduced to some eclectic characters unique to this story. All the dialogue rings true and all the interactions are meaningful. Sadly Carlos has returned to his ship.
The mystery this was a puzzler with a whole festival full of suspects. Who had contact with the famous chocolatier? Did they pull off the perfect crime? I was following right along with Jules right up to the big reveal. The whole thing was very well-plotted and written. The pages were literally flying.
There are delightful chocolate descriptions throughout the book. My mouth was watering and I was truly craving chocolate of any kind by the time I reached the end of the book. The author does include recipes in the back of the book and this time she includes a savory one too, Chicken Apple Sausage Quiche, I can’t wait to try.
Fudge and Jury is my favorite book right now in this series as I continue my quest to catch up on this series.
This series has quickly become one of my favorites. I loved getting to see more of the relationship between Jules and her mom. I can’t wait to see that the next book has in store for me!
How does she do it? Each book gets better and better! Ellie Alexander, your the best!