Book Review: The Chocolate Cat Caper

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Chocolate Cat Caper     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
JoAnna Carl
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Cozy   Woman Main Character   Amateur Sleuth
Series: Chocoholic Mysteries # 1
Signet, March 2002, $5.99, 240 pp.

Lee McKinney was considered a trophy wife because she came from an impoverished background and married a very wealthy Texas bachelor. She left him when the marriage went sour and refused a financial settlement so she was more financially impoverished than before her marriage. Her aunt Nettie, who lives in the Michigan resort town of Warner Pier, hires her to manage her chocolate business.

Clementine Ripley, a world famous and widely detested defense attorney, orders a few thousand dollars in specialty chocolates for a party she is throwing. Lee delivers the candy to her and is a waitress at the party whose Clem dies from cyanide poison injected into one of the chocolate candies. With her and her aunt’s reputation and freedom on the line, Lee decides to do some sleuthing and manages to become a hostage to the killer.

Do not eat THE CHOCOLATE CAT CAPER on empty stomach. The descriptions of the individual pieces of candy are so mouth-watering; one will gain weight just from reading about them. JoAnna Carl has created a delicious mystery starring a heroine who will endear herself to the audience. This is the beginning of what looks like a terrific new cozy series.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner