A STUDY IN CHOCOLATE

Bean to Bar Mysteries Book 5

by

AMBER ROYER

Cozy Culinary Mystery / Women Sleuths / Romance

Publisher: Golden Tip Press

Date of Publication: January 27, 2023

Number of Pages: 260 pages

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Felicity Koerber’s bean to bar chocolate shop on Galveston’s historic Strand is expanding, as it has become a gathering spot for the community, despite having been the scene of multiple murders. Artists she met while doing a chocolate sculpture are now working out of the shop. So when Felicity is invited to tea by an eccentric art collector, she’s intrigued, especially when she gets asked to pose for a portrait done with chocolate on chocolate. Only, where there is a murder the next day at the same historic house where the tea was held, one of Felicity’s artist friends becomes the main suspect.

When the killer threatens that unless Felicity unravels the murder, one of her two love interests will be the next victim, she finds herself unwittingly at the center of a puzzle with a Sherlock Holmes-obsessed murderer who wants to be the next Moriarty – and wants to cast Felicity as Sherlock.

Felicity starts finding unexpected connections between her friends and acquaintances and must deal with the idea that someone who knows her is a murderer. At the same time, she has to keep her business running, despite construction dust and unruly customers – and an unexpected order for thousands of truffles.

Satchmo the retired police-dog-turned-therapy dog returns to help her sniff out a few clues, and the kidnapping of Ruffles, the quirky artist’s cat, helps lead Felicity into the puzzle. Can Felicity solve it in time to protect the people she cares about from becoming additional victims?

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This newest installment in the Bean to Bar mystery series has me knee-deep in chocolate, murder, and misdirection.

I adore this series for several reasons – all of the chocolate talk, Knightly the bunny, and mysteries that make me think and try to sort out the clue and unearth the killer before that person is revealed in the book. I don’t always guess the correct person, but I have fun trying to sort through the clues and try and figure out which ones are red herrings and which ones are fact. I have to admit that I did suspect who the killer might be, but there were red herrings that threw me off and pointed me in other directions. I need to stick with my gut instinct. I appreciated how the story unwinds at the end when the killer is discovered, and everything falls into place.

There are a couple of different mysteries that happen in this book. Outside of who killed Mitch, who isn’t who he claims to be, to the history of the Wobble House and the secrets it hides. I love historic homes and the secrets that they hold. There is a lot of interesting architecture, secret passages/rooms, and so much more. These are not things you usually find in today’s home. I am sure there will be more secrets discovered over time.

We still have a love triangle between Felicity, Logan, and Arlo. I believe that she is getting closer to deciding, and I am on #TeamLogan. Arlo is comfortable because he is the past, but I think Logan is the future. However, Felicity might have other ideas when she finally decides. Perhaps in the next book? She has said she will make a decision by Autumn’s wedding, which is in a month or so. I’ll be curious to see who she chooses.

I have enjoyed each book in this series and look forward to more on the island of Galveston and many more chocolate-infused treats. We give this book 5 paws up.

Amber Royer writes the Chocoverse comic telenovela-style foodie-inspired space opera series and the Bean to Bar Mysteries. She is also the author of Story Like a Journalist: a Workbook for Novelists, which boils down her writing knowledge into an actionable plan involving over 100 worksheets to build a comprehensive story plan for your novel. She also teaches creative writing and is an author coach.

Amber and her husband live in the DFW area, where you can often find them hiking or taking landscape/architecture/wildlife photographs.  If you are very nice to Amber, she might make you cupcakes.  Chocolate cupcakes, of course! Amber blogs about creative writing techniques and all things chocolate.

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Signed copy of A Study in Chocolate +

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