The Chocolate Mouse Trap (Chocoholic Mysteries, No. 5) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

JoAnna Carl (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 6, 2006

With tasty chocolate trivia!

Chocolate shop owner Lee McKinney is so tired of "inspirational" e-mails from party planner Julie Singletree that she's ready to strangle her with the cord of her own computer mouse. But she's shocked when somebody actually kills the woman - and steals her computer. After all, the e-mail list Julie set up was for professionals in the party food business. As tangled connections emerge, so do more attacks. Lee smells a rat - and it's not made of chocolate.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In the fine tradition of Diane Mott Davidson."
-- The Commercial Record (MI)

About the Author

JoAnna Carl is the pseudonym of a multipublished mystery writer. She spent more than twenty-five years in the newspaper business, working as a reporter, feature writer, editor and columnist. She holds a degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma and also studied in the OU Professional Writing Program. She lives in Oklahoma but spends much of her summer at a cottage on Lake Michigan near several communities similar to the fictional town of Warner Pier.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 325 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press; 1 edition (January 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786281308
• ISBN-13: 978-0786281305
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #253,335 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #98 in Books > Large Print > Mystery & Thrillers

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

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All the Trapping of Another Winner, September 15, 2005

By 

Mark Baker (Santa Clarita, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Chocolate Mouse Trap (Chocoholic Mysteries, No. 5) (Mass Market Paperback)

Lee McKinney has recently joined the Seventh Major Food Group. No, the FDA hasn't added another level to the pyramid; it's a group of local merchants who are involved in fancy food and parties. Organized by Julie Singletree, a woman trying to get a party planning business going, the group exchanges tips via e-mail. Julie also uses their e-mail list to forward inspirational messages several times a day. Lee has had enough of the spam when the news breaks - Julie has been murdered and her computer stolen.

Lee fully intends to stay out of this investigation. After all, Julie lived in a neighboring town. But the morning after the funeral, several members of the group are hit by a computer virus. Another has her shop broken into and her computer's memory erased. As things continue to escalate, Lee can't keep her curiosity to herself and begins nosing around.

As if all this weren't enough, Joe and Lee are trying to work out the details of their upcoming wedding. Joe wants a big fancy affair and Lee just wants a few family members and close friends. Meanwhile, Aunt Nettie's sister-in-law contacts the shop hoping to find a job for her son, making Lee feel very insecure.

This series always entertains, and this book was no exception. The plot was a study in contrast. Some things jumped out and were obvious before the characters saw them; others were smack-your-head-how-could-I-miss-that moments. By the end there were lots of clues pointing to the killer, so chances are the reader will miss some if not all of them. Lee's "tong tangles" are kept to a minimum, mostly sprinkled into a few tense scenes.

The chocolate chats this go around were quotes about chocolate. It might be about time to drop the trivia and focus on the mystery. While it was a fun gimmick, it won't be missed.

Like candy, you can't read just one. I'm already hungry for the next volume.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Computer clues, October 12, 2005

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Chocolate Mouse Trap (Chocoholic Mysteries, No. 5) (Mass Market Paperback)

Lee McKinney has an active e-mail correspondence with other people in her area who work in the food industry. She is getting tired of receiving "inspirational" e-mails from Julie Singletree and is trying to think of a way to cut her out of the chain. Just as she writes a tactful brushoff e-mail, Lee discovers that Julie has been murdered. Full of self-reproach, Lee begins to do her own investigation and she discovers that other people in her e-mail group are having computers stolen or information erased. A subplot in this book has to do with a disagreement on wedding plans between Lee and Joe. Lee wants a small, simple wedding and Joe wants a big bash where he can invite all of his friends and family. As usual, there is chocolate trivia interspersed throughout the book and the descriptions of the chocolates which are produced at Aunt Nettie's chocolate shop are enough to make your mouth water. This is another enjoyable addition to the series.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Kill the Gimmick, January 2, 2006

By 

A Reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chocolate Mouse Trap (Chocoholic Mysteries, No. 5) (Mass Market Paperback)

This installment wasn't as good as the previous ones, mainly because it was fairly easy to figure out who the killer was early in the story. It was also kind of ironic that the other characters whined constantly about Julie's "nosiness," but had no problem with the exact same thing from Lee.

It's time to kill the stupid "tongue tangling" gimmick already. It's annoying enough as it is, but now it's starting to seem forced, as if the author is trying too hard to throw them in there just for the sake of throwing them in. And if that's not bad enough, she calls even more attention to it by having Lee repeat the correct word/sentence several times afterwards, as well as over-exaggerating peoples' responses to it. And can we stop with the overuse of exclamation points? Not everything everyone says is an exclamation.