Fudge Bites (Candy-Coated Mysteries #7) by Nancy CoCo

Fudge Bites

(Candy-Coated Mysteries #7)

by Nancy CoCo

Kindle Edition, 320 pages

Published October 1st 2019 by Kensington Books

Goodreads synopsis:

Halloween on Mackinac Island is a season of fun tricks, but finding a corpse is no treat for fudge shop owner Allie McMurphy . . .

NIGHT OF THE REALLY DEAD

It’s late October, off-season for tourists, but locals are up and lurching for the annual zombie walk charity event. Though everyone’s living it up, trouble is a just a few pawprints away. Allie’s followed the bloody tracks of her calico cat, Carmella, to a body in the alley behind the Historic McMurphy Hotel and Fudge Shop. Unlike the island’s other walking dead, this one’s flatlined for good. It seems that someone is using the zombie fest as the perfect backdrop for murder. Now amateur sleuth Allie and dreamboat officer Rex Manning must use every trick in their treat bag to unmask a killer in disguise. 

***

4.5 Stars

This is the seventh book in the Candy-Coated Mysteries series by Nancy CoCo.

This is my first look into the Candy Coated mystery series and I have to say I did enjoy it.  The discovery of the body was done well even though particularly gruesome when you think about it. You don’t usually think too much about blood in a cozy mystery. So, when a calico cat goes traipsing through the stuff, you take notice.

Allie is a fudge maker and part-time sleuth in idyllic Mackinac Island, MI. Apparently, fudge is a thing there. It is a popular export. Our lead spends the book pomdering whether to stay on the island or go to Chicago for the winter. Her dream is to stay on the island year round but that doesn’t seem a feasible idea as far as the funds and actually having money to live on during the winter.

I wasn’t a fan of the love triangle, if you want to call it that. One guy was practically blackmailing Allie to get her to move back to Chicago with him while police officer, Rex seemed pretty ambivalent most of the time. I wasn’t feeling the need to root for either of them in getting the affections of Allie. I wanted to like one of them. I am leaning toward Rex. The other guy just seemed like a player.

The mystery was interesting to follow. You feel the sock in the gut when the explosions rip through Allie’s place and you wonder with her if all her dreams have just literally gone up in flames. I need to go back and read more of this series just to keep up on who all the recurring secondary characters are. Since this was my first foray into this world, everyone was a suspect.

Great series. Definitely one to dig into, especially as Halloween approaches.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.