In Dorothy St. James’s third delectable Southern Chocolate Shop mystery, a new batch of chocolate and troubles of the heart cause a string of disasters for the Chocolate Box’s new owner, Charity Penn.The vintage seaside town of Camellia Beach, South Carolina seems like the perfect place for romance with its quiet beach and its decadent chocolate shop that serves the world’s richest dark … richest dark chocolates. The Chocolate Box’s owner, Charity Penn, falls even further under the island’s moonlit spell as she joins Althea Bays and the rest of the turtle watch team to witness a new generation of baby sea turtles hatch and make their way into the wide ocean.
Before the babies arrive, gunshots ring out in the night. Cassidy Jones, the local Casanova, is found dead in the sand with his lover Jody Dalton—the same woman who has vowed to destroy the Chocolate Box—holding the gun. It’s an obvious crime of passion, or so everyone believes. But when Jody’s young son pleads with Penn to bring his mother back to him, she can’t say no. She dives headfirst into a chocolate swirl of truth and lies, and must pick through an assortment of likely (and sometimes unsavory) suspects before it’s too late for Penn and for those she loves in Dorothy St. James’s third rich installment of the Southern Chocolate Shop mysteries, In Cold Chocolate.
more
Charity Penn is excited to join her best friend Althea to watch a new generation of sea turtles hatch and make their way to the ocean. Before the babies can hatch the watch team needs to cover a porch light that a careless person has left on. If the light stays on the baby turtles can become confused and go away from the ocean. Jody Dalton is determined to handle things her way. A few minutes after Jody leaves the nest area gunshots rang out in the night. Jody is found standing nearby the dead body of a man she’s been seeing. Jody and Harley’s son is understandably upset and asks Penn to clear his mother’s name.
This is a delightful read! The mystery has several red herrings to keep the reader entertained and invested in the storyline. I love how Stella, Penn’s pup, and Penn have finally bonded. Also, I am happy that Penn has started to let people get close to her, such as Harley. Althea and her mother are equally enjoyable characters. The secondary storyline about the sea turtles was also a delight and informative which greatly added to the setting and overall storyline.
This is the third book in the series but can be enjoyed as a stand-alone mystery. I recommend this book to mystery and chocolate lovers (recipes are included in the book). I received an ARC copy through NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own and have been not been influenced in any way.
This was a nice little escape. Penn is back and now she is trying to clear Jody (a woman who hates her) of murder. These are easy-to-read books and there is also the added mystery of Penn’s mother. Most of the characters are likeable. The ones that aren’t are those you are meant to hate. I like the mystery within a mystery, but feel kind of bad about Penn’s family.
If you like cozies, this one is fun and includes baby turtles!
I received this book from NetGalley.
This is the first book in this series that I have read and I loved it. Penn is under attack by her snooty relatives who are trying to take her chocolate shop away as well as the land that it is on. She is also helping solve a murder that happened down the beach as well as finding the person who is stealing the turtle eggs. It’s fast paced and I was unable to put it down! I have already purchased the other books in this series