Mint Chocolate Murder by Meri Allen: A Book Review
This was my first book I read in the Ice Cream Shop Mysteries by Meri Allen and it was such an enjoyable experience. There were castles, interesting and quirky characters, humour and of course, ice cream.
The second book of the series, Mint Chocolate Murder finds ice cream shop manager Riley hired to cater an art show at the town’s castle owned by a former supermodel and widow to a royal. Unfortunately, the main photographer who’s work was being celebrated is found dead the next day in the castle’s dungeon, and Riley’s friend is the main suspect.
Riley getting involved with the help of some nosey neighbours provided a revelry in the plot and the pace of the mystery was perfect. Although I figured out who the killer was probably mid-way through the novel, the little nuggets of clues throughout the story, along with the red herrings made this a fun cozy mystery.
But where was the mint chocolate chip ice cream in the book? My favourite ice cream flavour was a missing element and it would have been natural to assume that that would have been included in the story. There were a lot of references to pumpkin spice ice cream so my only criticism would have been the title changed to reflect that. Other than that, this series has some of the best cover art, though!
Thank you St. Martin’s press for the arc and finished copy. Thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.
Book Description
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.
As Penniman fills up with Maud’s art-world friends arriving for the festival, gossip swirls around Blasco, who has a dark history of obsession with his models. Riley’s curiosity and instincts for sleuthing – she was a CIA librarian – are piqued, and she wonders at the hold the cold-hearted photographer has over the mistress of Moy Mull.
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 put the malicious photographer on ice.