Title: Death by Chocolate
Author: Julie Anne Lindsey
Publication Date: March 2012
Publisher: Knight Romance Publishing
Series: The Killer Confection Series Book 1
Source: ARC provided by the author
Julie Anne Lindsey's Death by Chocolate is a wild ride of mistakes and murder. When Ruby Russell discovers that her husband is having an affair she cooks him up a special Viagra laced treat and finds him dead the next morning. As Ruby continues to dole out dangerously delectable baked goods the body count rises higher and higher. Together with her best friend, Charlotte, Ruby tries to cover her tracks until she can escape following her son's wedding but will she be able to get away with murder with an investigative reporter meddling about and her therapist putting the pieces together?
Death by Chocolate is full steam ahead from the very first pages. It amazed me how quickly Ruby piled up a body count using her baked goods to tempt people. Of course she never intentionally killed anyone but she never stopped adding special ingredients to her recipes either. I love how in the beginning she comes across as a housewife who has simply had enough but as the book continues her history reveals her to be much more cunning than she first appears. The same is true for her friend Charlotte in an even more dramatic fashion. The exploits of the two friends are strangely funny considering the circumstances as they react in extreme ways to small events and generate even larger problems as they try to cover up previous mistakes.
The supporting characters in Death by Chocolate are great too. My favorite is Ruby's therapist, Dr. Kessler. I love how he becomes more and more concerned about Ruby's behavior considering their past history yet he is unable to substantiate his suspicions enough to go to the authorities. Emma Eaken, the reporter, is another fun character as she tries to connect seemingly random deaths to create a big story and boost her career. One character that I didn't really care for was Michael, Ruby's son. I didn't really understand his approach to introducing his fiance to Ruby with the knowledge of what happened the last time he brought a major change into her life. It seemed he would have been a bit more apprehensive or sensitive to the situation considering Ruby's fragile mental state.
Overall, Death By Chocolate
is a really fun book with crazy characters and a fast moving plot. The only thing that was missing was the recipe for Ruby's famous chocolate zucchini muffins.
- Author Site: www.julieannelindsey.com
- Julie's Blog: Musings from the Slush Pile
- Julie on Twitter: @JulieALindsey
Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Bookstore links are generally affiliate links and I do earn a small amount for each purchase. Other affiliate links will be noted in the post.
That sounds like yummy fun - great title and great review!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by! Death by Chocolate was a really fun book to read and Julie is great fun to connect with :-)
DeleteCongrats, Julie! I'm looking forward to sinking my teeth into that one ... :)
ReplyDelete