In Cold Chocolate: A Southern Chocolate Shop Mystery

In Cold Chocolate by Dorothy St. James is the third story in A Southern Chocolate Shop Mystery series. In Cold Chocolate can be read as a standalone if you are new to the series. Charity Penn owns The Chocolate Box in Camellia Beach, South Carolina where she is currently finishing up renovations to the shop. The sea turtles will soon be hatching so Penn has created a delectable treat in their honor that is flying off the shelves. On the night of the hatching, Cassidy Jones is killed, and it looks like antagonistic Jody Dalton is responsible. Penn would love to avoid this investigation, but Jody’s son asks her to please help his mommy. Despite being warned to keep her nose out of the case, Penn is soon knee deep in suspects. I wanted to give this series another chance after not having been enthralled with Asking for Truffle. Charity Penn is a nice character and I just love the descriptions of the chocolates that she creates for the shop (they have me pining for a chocolatey treat). The island sounds like a lovely place to live, but there are too many mean people in this story for my liking. There were some slow sections that could have been peppier and some areas that could have been eliminated completely (seemed like filler). It was interesting to learn about the hatching of sea turtles. I had no idea they were considered a delicacy (that is just terrible and disgusting). I see why they need people to keep an eye on the hatching ground. The mystery was uncomplicated, and the guilty party can be identified before the coroner removes the body. I did enjoy the dog, Stella and her antics. She was a delightful addition to In Cold Chocolate. While In Cold Chocolate was not the right fit for me, I suggest you obtain a sample to judge for yourself. In Cold Chocolate is a light-hearted cozy mystery with sun, sand, sweets and sea turtles.

I missed the second book in this series so I had to go and buy it. Not much in the way of spoilers but just enough information that I realized I had skipped a book. The third book in this series remains as amazing as the first. I absolutely am a fan of the series. Still not the most popular resident of Camellia Beach, Charity Penn continues to poor her heart into her shop, the Chocolate Box. Still not the most adept in the kitchen, she is finding her way with new additions she is coming up with on her own. She just needs Bertie to help her make the ideas come together into the yummy treat she knows they can be. She continues to have an excellent head for business but her heart gets her into as much trouble as ever as she promises Harley's son, Gavin, that she will help his mom out of a bit of trouble she found herself in and she'd do it in under a week. All of this while her shop is being renovated and she's volunteered to be an observer of the sea turtles and their hatching under the oversight of her best friend Althea. Unfortunately, someone is stealing the eggs. With a few mysteries on her hands, a little boy's hope weighing on her shoulders, and her biological family back to playing games and trying to steal back her shop, Penn has more on her plate than she can possibly handle. I literally could not put this book down. I read it out loud - to everyone. If you called me? I read a snippet to you. Then, I hung up. The school year has just gotten started so thankfully, there hasn't been much in the way of homework or I've no idea what my kid would have done. Probably asked her brother to help her. I definitely recommend it. Once again, there are recipes at the end of the book. This time, they are Penn's Moon Benne Wafer Cookies, Bubba's Spicy Cocoa Pork Tenderloin, and Bertie's Cheer-Me-Up Chocolate Chip Pancakes. Thank you to Dorothy St. James, NetGalley, and Crooked Lane Books for giving me the chance to read this and share my thoughts and opinions with others.