Customer Reviews

Chocolate Dipped Death (A Candy Shop Mystery)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Annual Confectionary Competition has become a staple of winter in the small town of Paradise, Colorado. Abby Shaw is doing her best to carry on the tradition. As the new owner of the candy shop Divinity, it is her responsibility to run the weekend. Things are running okay until Savannah Horne arrives.

Savannah hasn't been in town since high school, but memories are long in Paradise. When she was here, she made life miserable for everyone. Twenty years later, Abby thinks that Savannah might have changed, but the rest of the town isn't ready to forgive.

When Savannah wins the first night of the contest, Evie Rice is furious. The two women used to fight over everything in high school, and neither is quite ready to let the old rivalry go.

The next morning, however, Savannah disappears. After a day of searching, Abby finds her body. The list of suspects is long, including the obvious like Evie and Savannah's sister, who is hardly upset at her sibling's death.

Also on the suspect list is Abby's cousin Karen. Karen has been acting rather strange since Savannah showed up the first night and the evidence seems to keep pointing to her. While Abby had no intention of getting involved, she quickly determines that she will have to find the real killer to keep her cousin out of jail. Abby's resolve is only reinforced when the case takes a very personal turn.

Meanwhile, tensions in the family are brewing over Divinity. Abby inherited the shop from her aunt, and some of the cousins think they had more of a right to own the shop. Can Abby keep the peace and the store?

This is the second book in the series, and another good light read. The plot did seem to bog down a little during the search for Savannah phase since it's obvious to the reader what the outcome will be. But once the body is found, things kick into high gear. The story weaves all over the place with one red herring after another until Abby finally puts everything together. While at first I thought the ending was great, the more I've thought about it, there are several loose ends that were left unresolved in the rush to finish things.

In the first book, Abby was struggling with her recent divorce and seemed a bit harsh at times. She's really smoothed out here and is a very likable heroine. The family story lines are interesting and add depth to the story and Abby. I'm interested to see where the author goes with these plot lines.

My biggest gripe is a matter of timing. There are several times when Abby seems to live through the same time twice, having left the shop in late afternoon then suddenly doing something at 2 PM, for example. This is something that really bugs me, and it happened several times. It doesn't affect the timeline of the story, but it did pull me out of an otherwise well written book.

The inclusion of six recipes will just be icing on the cake for readers with a sweet tooth.

While not perfect, this book is still enjoyable.

I didn't read Sammi Cater's first book, "Candy Apple Dead," but was delighted to feel that maybe I hadn't missed much in this second book. It was a fast moving read from the beginning which I really enjoy. I think most of us have gone to school with someone similar to Savannah Vance Horne.....no surprise she ends up dead. Abby Shaw, our heroine, has the right amount of spunk to deal with the whole situation, but I did find her cousin Karen MORE than annoying and nasty about a situation she should have let her husband explain, instead of going off on a rampage like a lunatic for most of the book. I have no idea why Abby would even want her back to work in the store! I'm sort of use to the fact that all mystery writers seem to have their leading lady fall for the sheriff..... no exception here, but I am rooting for her. One thing....where does Abby find time to make all the candy that she needs to sell in the shop when she is hardly ever there? Also, I believe Ms. Carter needs to follow through with the ending. A few questions were left unanswered and it leaves the reader wanting more info which is not forthcoming. I know we would like to know more about who Jason was and who Miles really was, BUT the big question that I felt should have been answered earlier on ....'was Savannah making her own candy for the contest or having it made and if she was, where was it being made since she was living in a hotel!' Was I the only one who wondered about that since Evie and others had asked a few times to have it looked into? That would have been nice to know. I'm looking forward to this authors third book in Paradise. Sounds like the town I grew up in!

I enjoyed the setting in this book becuase my wife and I are "foodies", so a story that has a candy shop in it piqued my attention. The dialog is realistic especially in explaining the multiple motives for the murder of the "cheat", Savannah Horne. I did not come up with much sympathy for Savannah, because she was a somewhat unsympathetic murder victim (I kind of felt that she had it coming to her). However, I did enjoy Sammi Carters protaganist, Abby, and will give her another chance in the next book. Just please give us a little more reason to be upset with the murderer!

In the 2nd book in the Candy Shop Mystery Series, it appears as though Abby Shaw is not the only person to return to her roots in Paradise, Colorado after a long absence. Town pariah, Savannah Horne, has returned to enter Divinity candy shop's annual contest. When she comes in first place in the semi-final round, more than a few feathers are ruffled. It seems that Savannah is widely despised for cheating with several "attached" men, and her general attitude of nastiness hasn't earned her many friends. Most people in town are eager to see her leave, and when she ends up dead, the list of suspects keeps growing by the minute. Topping the list is Abby's cousin, Karen, who found her husband having drinks with Savannah at a local bar. Karen has been acting strangely lately, and Abby fears that Karen has murdered Savannah over an event in their past. Abby begins to investigate, hoping to clear her cousin's name, and hopes to find the real murderer in the process.

This series is a light, fun read. I enjoy reading about the aspects of running a candy shop, and missed a bit of that from the previous book. More of this book was spent outside the actual shop, and I missed some of the information regarding making the candy and running a business. Beyond that, the mystery was good. I do agree with a previous reviewer that thought the ending was rushed, and what information "Jason" knew was not fully explained at the end. I do look forward to more books in this series, and am interested to see the relationship between Abby and Jawarski develop.

The first book in the series is called "Candy Apple Dead". Enjoy!

Abby owns and runs a candy shop that she inherited from her aunt. In this shop, there is some delectible candy, and the making of it really sounds good! And there are also recipes!

In this cozy candy shop, a candy-making competition is underway. Of course, this is a murder mystery, so there has to be murder. (I will not say who is murdered, you have to read the book to find out.) Why is he/she murdered? Does it have anything to do with the candy-making competition? Jealousy because of the winner, or jealousy because of something else? Or something totally different?

There are adventures in this book, and also good-sounding candy. The small town seems so quaint and cozy and homy. I would love to live in Paradise.

This is the second book of this series. The first book, "Candy Apple Dead" is also wonderful. I love Abby, and I think you will, too. If you like small-town candy cozies, then I would recommend this book.

Colorado! This wonderful, fun book takes place in Paradise, Colorado. I felt like I was actually there!

I enjoyed this book while I was reading it, but I though the ending was really weak. Nothing was really ever explained, except in very wide generalities, so you were left wondering why the murder occurred, what the victim found out, and who Jason was.

I also started to find Abby's sympathy for the victim somewhat annoying. By her own admission, she didn't like this person...so it just didn't sit right how much she seemed to mourn this person after she was killed.

It's a cute series though, so hopefully it'll continue to improve.

This second book in the Candy Shop series by Sammi Carter was even better than the first. I like the little town of Paradise where Abby has inherited Divinity, the candy shop her Aunt left to her. We are becoming more familiar with the citizens of Paradise and the town in this second installment of the series.

The story is about Savannah who comes back to Paradise with her husband after being away for many years. Savannah is not remembered fondly by the people in Paradise, because of her pranks and behavior when she lived there. Since Abby has also been away for years before coming back to run Divinity, she relates to Savannah. After winning a candy contest, Savannah disappears. Abby organizes a search for her. The story is well written and makes you want to continue to read late into the night. My only problem was the ending. We are left knowing what happened, but we don't know why. Many loose ends are tied up by Abby saying we will never know what really happened. The unanswered questions kept me from giving this book five stars, but I did enjoy it and plan to continue with the series. This is a light cozy read that cozy lovers will enjoy.

Okay, as a dog owner and lover of dogs I have some issues of the depiction of Abby's dog. We NEVER got a physical description of the dog other than 'he wagged his stubby tail'. So I never knew what breed he was. From checking a few reviews here I figured out he is a Dobie. Emphasing that would have helped the story line-for ex. when Abby regretted not taking him with her when she was confronted by the murderer. All dogs are individuals-I never got the sense of this dog's personality or at least quirks. Abby neglects this dog. In my opinion the neglect borders on abusive. He RARELY gets out of the small apartment except to go the bathroom. He is destructive because he is not excercised regularly and he is not an intregal part of Abby's life. The writer acts like this is okay because Abby doesn't get mad when he destroys things!
It was obvious who the murderer was from page one but that didn't particuliarly bother me. I was bothered that we did not get a satisfying denouncement. All we got was "I wasn't sure we'd ever know the whole truth". What the....! That's why I read mysteries; so eventually I will know the whole truth. To me, that's just lazy writing. The writer had such a great opportunity for characterization but she never explored the characters in depth. Abby's relationship with her brother was not developed and so it seemed unrealistic when he so staunchly came to her aid. The tension of similarities and differences of these two characters could have made this story so much richer.
Abby's personality didn't make sense to me. Do people really tell relatives off like that?-Especially when you are dependent on their help? Abby did not validate the feelings that the other characters had when Samantha did cruel things to them. The writer tried, slightly, and failed to make Samantha mult-dimensional.
This could have been a great story if the writer had given 100%.

I liked this cozy. Sammi Carter has a dry sense of humor that shines through this book. There were suspect aplenty but I did guess the murderer fairly early. There were great recipes in the back of the book but I would have liked more glimpses into chocolate candy making.

I loved the main character, Abby Shaw. When questioned why she would give up being a corporate attorney to run a candy shop, I loved her answer. You will need to read the book to find out what her retort was. There seemed a little too many suspects but that's OK.

This is such a good follow up to Candy Apple Dead. It was good seeing all of the characters, and someone ones as well.

In this go around, Abby is still running the candy shop that her Aunt Grace had left her. She has to be part of a candy contest, just to make sure things run smoothly. When Savannah wins the first day of the contest, others are really mad, I mean steaming. It seems that nobody like Savannah, at all. It's fair to say that most of the town hates her. She left town just after High School, and nobody liked her back then for what she did (you have to read the book to find out). When she came back, nobody likes her and most of the town still holds grudges. She wins day one of the contest, and someone said that Savannah is cheating, she disappears, and is found dead. It's up to Abby to find out who killed her and why.

This is such a charming read. Usually, my complaints with cozy Mysteries is that all of them are the same. One can be substituted for another. I'm glad to say that this is not the case with this series. There isn't any over the top romance, and not that much fluff to it, like most cozy Mysteries are. This series actually has substance and depth to it.

I really like Carter's writing style. It flows at an even and realistic pace. There are not a lot of plot twists, but for this series, you don't really need it. Carter has the ability to hold your attention to the very last page. I also liked how we are able to get into Abby's thoughts. At one point we have access to Abby's memory and learn how she and her Aunt Grace made candy together. That was a nice, down home feeling.

This is such a good series. If you like cozy mysteries that have actual depth, and are a fun read, then you must start this series and enjoy the ride, I know I am.