The Chocolate Jewel Case [Hardcover]

JoAnna Carl (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2008

Copyright Eve K. Sandstrom, 2007. Publisher: Signet Author: JoAnna Carl Edition: regular print (not large print).

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Signet (2008)
• ISBN-10: 0739486969
• ISBN-13: 978-0739486962
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,783,592 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

JoAnna Carl is the pseudonym for a multipublished mystery writer. She spent more than twenty-five years in the newspaper business.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Familiar characters, thin plot, August 19, 2007

By 

Trixie Belle (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chocolate Jewel Case (Chocoholic Mysteries, No. 7) (Mass Market Paperback)

I was really looking forward to this installment of the Chocoholic Mystery series. The town of Warner Pier has been experiencing a rash of break-in thefts. Lee McKinney-Woodward, newly married, doesn't have a lot of time to spend worrying about the burglaries. She has a house full of guests, and her new husband, Joe Woodward, is busy with his boat making business. Joe's father has been dead over twenty years, but a man claiming he is Joe's father shows up on lee's doorstep. Before she can break this news to her new husband, she has another scary experience. Lee and Joe are tied up at a dinner party while their host is relieved of some very expensive jewelry, Lee decides to investigate. I knew who the culprit in this mystery was from very early in the book, and the twists and turns added by the author were interesting but did not add to the mystery. Many of the characters who are usually so much fun in the series (Lee's Aunt, Lee's best friend, etc.) were absent from this book. Not my favorite in this series. You could probably pick this up at a discount(used) or at the library for free if you really must read it.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the Jewel of the Series, August 27, 2007

By 

Mark Baker (Santa Clarita, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Chocolate Jewel Case (Chocoholic Mysteries, No. 7) (Mass Market Paperback)

Lee and Joe Woodyard have a house full of guests. Just what every newlywed dreams of, right? There are the two teens working at TenHuis Chocolade, Joe's two mysterious friends, and Joe's aunt. All this in an old house that only has one bathroom.

But housing issues aren't the only thing on Lee's mind. There has been a string of robberies in town recently. Since it's the start of the summer season, many of the summer people are returning to find their cabins have been robbed. Jewels and antiques are the prime targets.

Lee's been pretty busy making sure her guests are provided for and running TenHuis Chocolade since Aunt Nettie is in Europe on her own honeymoon. But then fate takes over and Lee is forced to care about the robberies. And there's the strange man who shows up claiming to be Joe's dad, who died 30 years ago. And the body found floating in the lake. What is going on?

The books in this series have always been light and fun, but this book turns out to be too light. The plot seems to be meandering all over the place. While it does come together in the final third, the lack of focus early on hurt the book.

The story doesn't suffer from a lack of characters. Even so, I spotted the villain earlier then I should have. And the number of characters means that series regulars like Aunt Nettie and Lee's best friend are noticeably absent. The characters that are here are fun, however.

The chocolate chats this go around spotlight a few non-fiction books on chocolate. They sound tempting. Still, this is one "feature" that I wouldn't miss if they took them out.

This is one of the weaker entries in the series, yet it is still fun enough to please fans.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Weak Link in Series, October 4, 2007

By 

C. M. Mcmahon "Cathy Mac" (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Chocolate Jewel Case (Chocoholic Mysteries, No. 7) (Mass Market Paperback)

I have been a fan of these Chocolate mysteries since Chocolate Cat Caper, and have usually enjoyed the mysteries, even when the chocolate trivia and Lee's tongue twisters were slowing the story progress down. This book was a real challenge to finish for me. It took me almost a week, when I can generally finish a book of this caliber in a day or two. Lee was unbearable to read and her tongue twisters were beyond belief. If the author dropped this annoying habit, it would not be missed by many readers. Also, the constant complaints about the heat actually distracted me from the story quite often. Lee seemed to be in an awful mood for the entire book, stomping around everywhere, as it was described. Also, the author had a habit of ending all of Lee's sentences with exclaimation points, giving the impression that everything she was saying was by yelling or shouting. Combined with the stomping, this just enforced the impression of anger. Lee also took lots of time away from the shop, and if the heat wave was so terrible and the a/c was broken, I think that as acting manager in her aunt's absence, she should have been at work a heck of a lot more. The book just pushed the bounds of believability, even for this type of book.

I will maybe try the next in the series, but if there are no real improvements, and the return of some of the core characters, I may have to rethink. I would recommned this book only to true fans of the series.