As stormy weather puts a freeze on business at Lickety Splits, Kate McKay doesn’t waffle around scooping up new clientele at a historic hotel. But her hopes of becoming the Hudson Valley’s reigning ice cream queen melt fast when murder checks in . . . From the moment Kate arrives at the imposing Mohawk Mountain Resort, not even luggage brimming with hot fudge can sweeten her stay. Instead of … savoring alone time with her on-again boyfriend Jake and leading workshops on whipping together delectable frosty treats, she finds herself stranded at the isolated hotel with a small group of nutty characters—and a dead body. When the corpse of wealthy cosmetics executive Bethany La Montaigne is suddenly found following a blackout, any of the five strangers trapped with Kate and Jake could be the killer. Chilled to the core, Kate vows to discover whether the victim’s mortal enemy was a smooth-talking playboy, bubbly millennial, mousy librarian, charming Englishman, or the Mohawk’s creepy general manager . . . Bethany’s life was chock full of scandals and there’s little doubt that someone refused to endure another taste. With just a sprinkling of clues, it’s up to Kate to bring justice to a culprit who believes that revenge is a dish best served cold . . . Includes mouthwatering ice cream recipes from the Lickety Splits Ice Cream Shoppe!
more
Intriguing! Kate and her boyfriend, Jake, head to the Mohawk Mountain Resort for an event where Kate will do presentations on ice cream and for some relaxation. Unfortunately, the weather is terrible and a big tree falls down behind them blocking the road from coming or going. The few guests that were able to make it are at dinner when the power goes out. After dinner, one of the guests is found stabbed to death. Now Kate and Jake are stranded in the resort with a killer. Kate investigates the remaining guests to see if she can figure out the killer. An intriguing mystery with interesting characters, who all seemed to have some kind of a connection to the victim, and interesting lessons on ice cream. I enjoy this series with the ice cream trivia bits at the beginning of each chapter. I hope to read more of this series and see what kind of intriguing flavors Kate creates next. I’m also rooting for Kate and Jake’s relationship to work out!
I read Game of Cones three times before I decided to write this review. The idea of having an ice cream shop owner conduct an ice cream-making class while staying at what is supposed to be a high-end hotel sounds sweet and is enough to catch a reader’s attention but in truth is gets a bit sour once you read the story.
Kate and her boyfriend arrive at the hotel just as a storm hits and find themselves cut off from any help. At first, things go okay, they meet the guests who will be attending Kate’s lectures and demos, and even though they are an eclectic group, they seem excited and happy to be there and are looking forward to making and eating lots of ice cream. This is wonderful for Kate and thrills her even with a storm raging. But soon after they settle in, a murder occurs, and now they find themselves locked up with a killer on the loose.
Most of the book’s characters are average; I like the mystery surrounding the hotel’s manager more than the murder mystery aspect. However, I do not care for Kate’s boyfriend. His sudden show of temper when he thinks things are not going his way should be a warning to Kate. How many abused women forgave an abuser when he first yelled or displayed a bad temper only to find themselves beaten and worse later on?
The mystery was okay but not great. Even in a hurricane, the police would have been up the mountain, clearing away the debris as soon as they received the call that a murder had taken place. People would not have been left on their own to possibly mess with the evidence and dispose of anything incriminating. As far as I am concerned, the killer was easy to figure out right from the start. Ice cream aside, without a reasonable investigation and some concrete evidence, no plot will work, and unfortunately, I found this one lacking on many fronts. Overall, Game of Cones is an okay, easy, and quick read but is not overly exciting, and I hope it improves with the next installment.
In this next book of the series Kate is headed to a secluded resort to lead a workshop all about Ice cream, how to make it, picking flavors that match and more. Her boyfriend Jake has come along to act as an assistant as well as spend quality time with his girl in a mini vacation. The two reach Mohawk Mountain Resort during a storm, a tree falls in the road behind them stranding them and all those who are already there for the weekend workshops. The two find themselves surrounded by some very odd characters but hope to make the best of the weekend while waiting for the storm to end and the road to be cleared. When a female guest is murdered the first night everyone can’t help but look at each other. Kate knows that one of the guests or resort people has to be the killer but who and why needs to be answered. Kate and Jake stay close to one another and preform the workshops.but as they do they look at the guests to see if they can co.e up with any clues. The two know they must figure things.out before something else bad happens and they end up on the wrong side of a killer.
Kate MacKay and her maybe boyfriend are headed up to the Mohawk Mountain Resort for an ice cream themed weekend. Kate is giving several sessions on ice cream to promote her Lickety Splits ice cream shop. The weather is stormy and halfway up the narrow road a large tree falls on the road behind them. This leaves them with no escape. Unfortunately, this leaves a small group of people who already arrived and no staff who had the day off.
This is the first book I read in the series. It reads well as a stand-alone. I enjoyed the characters and the mystery.
Synopsis:
In Cynthia Baxter’s fourth Lickety Splits Mystery, ice cream shoppe owner and amateur sleuth Kate McKAy doesn’t waffle around scooping up new clientele at a historic hotel, but her hopes of becoming the Hudson Valley’s reigning ice cream queen melt fast when murder checks-in!
From the moment Kate arrives at the imposing Mohawk Mountain Resort, not even luggage brimming with hot fudge can sweeten her stay. Instead of savoring alone time with her on-again boyfriend Jake and leading workshops on whipping together delectable frosty treats, she finds herself stranded at the isolated hotel with a small group of nutty characters–and a dead body.
When the corpse of wealthy cosmetics executive Bethany La Montaigne is suddenly found following a blackout, any of the five strangers trapped with Kate and Jake could be the killer. Chilled to the core, Kate vows to discover whether the victim’s mortal enemy was a smooth-talking playboy, bubbly millennial, mousy librarian, charming Englishman, or the Mohawk’s creepy general manager…
Bethany’s life was chock full of scandals and there’s little doubt that someone refused to endure another taste. With just a sprinkling of clues, it’s up to Kate to bring justice to a culprit who believes that revenge is a dish best served cold… (Goodreads)
GET A COPY
Review:
The characters are well rounded and well developed. In this book, Kate and Jake head off to a historical hotel, where Kate is supposed to give some demonstrations for ice cream and its history, and spend some alone time with Jake. But when a storm hits and a fallen tree strands them at the hotel, things get a little tense. And when one of the guests is killed, they really have their hands full trying to figure out the murderer. Kate has to try and get close to the remaining guests and see who had the most reason to do the deed. It was good to spend time with Kate and Jake again, they have to figure out where their relationship is headed.
The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and I could picture the ice cream treats in my mind’s eye. The mystery was well plotted, and even though there were a limited number of suspects, I was still surprised at who the culprit was.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well plotted cozy mystery. Trying to solve the mystery and trying some of the ice cream recipes is a good way to spend your time.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Kensington Books, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.