Summary
Bailey King puts her life as a chocolatier in New York aside to travel to Harvest, Ohio. Bailey’s Amish grandfather is sick. Even though she is up for a huge promotion at work, family comes first.
When she gets to Ohio, Bailey discovers that a developer, Tyson Colton, is trying to buy out her grandparents’ candy shop, Swissmen Sweets. After an argument with Bailey’s grandfather, Colton is found dead in the kitchen of Swissmen Sweets. As her grandfather’s health makes him too weak to be a viable suspect, Bailey becomes the sheriff’s top choice.
In order to stay out of jail, protect her family, and get back to New York to save her job, Bailey’s going to have to figure out who really killed Tyson Colton. There’s no shortage of suspects, from the other Amish store owners Colton tried to buy out to his own son. Bailey has her work cut out for her!
Review
I loved this! It was a great cozy with interesting characters and some fun humor. Great all the way around.
The Amish pieces were a nice contrast to Bailey’s usual world in New York as well as the world of most readers. There was a great balance with Bailey as she understood the community because of her family, but at the same time she was outside it. I think Bailey’s struggle with issues of faith when faced with the faith of her grandparents and the Amish community could be a fascinating aspect of future books.
I really enjoyed the mystery. In general, I find mysteries stressful when the protagonist is the main suspect. But I liked the other pieces of this – the characters, the setting, the candy, the potential romance – so much that it balanced the tension well.
My only complaint is that I have a couple questions I don’t feel were answered in the solution to the mystery. I’ve gone back and re-read sections to be sure I didn’t just skim too quickly over something, but I still didn’t find complete satisfaction with the solution on the murder. Maybe this is because I read an unedited review copy. Perhaps this last 5% of the solution will be resolved when I read this in a final copy – which I will. I’m looking forward to spending more time with Bailey and her family and friends. I already have book two, Lethal Licorice, in my shopping cart to pre-order before its February 2018 debut.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Kensington for providing an electronic review copy in exchange for an honest review. I honestly adored this book!