|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
Summer has arrived in Warner Pier with a heat wave and a crime spree. Temperatures are high for a town where most people do not have air conditioning so tempers are short. In addition, the recent string of burglaries has people concerned about their safety. While all of these crimes have occurred when the houses have been empty there is the fear of a home invasion. As this is not something most people have worried about in Warner Pier, the natives are concerned about the pace of change and whether progress is trying progress. Lee McKinney Woodyard has her hands full and has no time for such concerns. Her aunt is off on her honeymoon, the air conditioners at work are slowly dying and her house is full of summer guests. As some of these people are her husband’s friends from his former life, Lee does not know their histories. This does cause moments of concern as some of her houseguests have moments of strangeness and one of them has a handgun. Then while having dinner with a neighbor, Lee and husband Joe witness a jewel theft. While no one is harmed, a lot of expensive jewelry is missing. None of the witnesses got a good look at the thieves but Lee believes she can identity the feet of one of the criminals. She is determined to find the criminals and restore the missing jewelry. When a body is discovered in the lake, she becomes determined to solve this murder as well as the burglaries. The Chocoholic Mystery series is one of my guilty pleasures. These are definitely cozies and focuses on chocolate trivia and family and communal relationships. Sometimes a peaceful break from reality is enjoyable and relaxing. That said, I found THE CHOCOLATE JEWEL CASE very disappointing. Unlike the rest of this series, very little of this book has to do with TenHuis Chocolade, the family business, nor does this book include the entertaining characters that appeared in its predecessors. The list of characters that helped make this book appealing but do not appear in THE CHOCOLATE JEWEL CASE is quite long so I will not list them. But readers of the series should be forewarned that a lot of familiar faces are missing. A lot of the things that originally drew me to the series are missing from THE CHOCOLATE JEWEL CASE. In addition to those elements listed above, the plotting of this book is not as strong, Lee’s adventures seem unrealistic and the book has tangents that do not improve the storyline. I was originally disappointed that this book was so short, but once I started reading it I was glad it was short as that meant it would be over much faster. Ultimately THE CHOCOLATE JEWEL CASE seems to imply that the only part of the series author JoAnna Carl values is Lee and that Lee is strong enough to carry the book on her own. This belief is not true. Hopefully Carl will learn this lesson so that any future books in the series live up to THE CHOCOLATE JEWEL CASE’S predecessors.
Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, August 2007
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
