When Udderly Delightful Ice Cream shop manager Riley Rhodes is summoned to Penniman’s Moy Mull Castle, it’s the cherry on top of a successful summer season. The gothic pile built by an eccentric New England Gilded Age millionaire has been transformed into a premiere arts colony by Maud Monaco, a reclusive former supermodel. As part of Moy Mull’s Fall Arts Festival, Maud is throwing a fantasy ice cream social and hires Riley to whip up unique treats to celebrate the opening of an exhibit by Adam Blasco, a photographer as obnoxious as he is talented.
But when Adam is found dead behind the locked door of Moy Mull’s dungeon, Riley realizes there’s more than one suspect who’d wanted to put the malicious photographer on ice.
Mint Chocolate Murder by Meri Allen is the second novel in An Ice Cream Shop Mysteries. It can be a standalone if you have not read
The Rocky Road to Ruin. I like Riley Rhodes
who is a former CIA librarian (and spy) who now managing Udderly Delicious Ice
Cream Shop in Penniman, Connecticut.
Riley creates ice cream flavors that have lines out the door at the ice
cream shop. The setting of Moy Mull
Castle is unique. An eccentric millionaire
recreated a medieval castle in Connecticut.
It was a hotel for a time. Maud
has brought back the Scottish charm and the antiques found in the attic. The festival seemed like it was fun with
plenty of delicious treats. I did feel the
pacing was slow. We follow Riley through
her day-to-day routine leading up to the festival. The author’s detailed descriptions further
bog down the story (do we have to know what each person is wearing along with hair
color). The murder does not occur until
almost a quarter of the way into the book.
By the time the victim was killed, I already knew who would die and who
committed the crime. I am baffled as to
how the title tied into the story. Mint chocolate
ice cream is not a flavor mentioned in the book (pumpkin spice is mentioned
several times). There are a number of
characters in the story. It is
challenging trying to keep track of all of them (just like in the first
book). There are delectable ice cream
flavors including the colorful unicorn ice cream (you will find yourself heading
to the freezer for a pint). Mint Chocolate Murder is a colorful cozy with a fun
fall festival, a modish ex-model, a disrespectful photographer, appetizing ice
cream, a curious crime, a striking castle, and a sharp-eyed sleuthing
librarian.
Kris
The Avid Reader
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