BLOG TOUR: Death by Chocolate Frosted Doughnuts by Sarah Graves @KensingtonBooks @TLCBookTours #deathbychocolatefrosteddoughnut

Cozy mysteries are truly among my favorite books to just take a break from it all. They are surprisingly light, have great characters, and fun settings. They usually have a good sense of humor, despite the murder central to the story. And overall they just feel like a palate cleanser of sorts!

In Sarah Grave’s Death by Chocolate Frosted Doughnut, the annual pirate festival coincides with the death of a popular food critic, and local bakery-owner Jake is the prime suspect! A fun read full of sweet treats, a bit of murder, a lot of local hi-jinks, and a few recipes!

About the Book

When a pirate festival blows into their small town, bakeshop owners Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree and her best friend Ellie White expect they’ll be busy baking up a storm, but instead they find themselves marooned in a new murder investigation after someone kills a well-known food writer and TV personality . . .

Everything is shipshape at Jake and Ellie’s new waterfront bakery, The Chocolate Moose, especially now that the annual Pirate Festival is dropping anchor in their quaint island village of Eastport, Maine. Jake and Ellie are ready for the bounty of tourists sure to flood their shop. But their plans quickly sink when the body of celebrity foodie, Henry Hadlyme, is discovered in the Moose’s basement.

Jake and Ellie are horrified, but their shock turns to dismay when Jake is pegged for the murder. Now, to clear Jake’s name and save the shop, Jake and Ellie must swashbuckle down and figure out who among Henry’s numerous enemies scuttled him in the cellar. Was it a long-ago jilted sweetheart’s vengeful relative? His long-suffering personal assistant? Or perhaps some bitter-as-dark-chocolate unknown enemy, now aboard the mysterious ship lurking in Eastport’s harbor?

Alas, dead men tell no tales, so Jake and Ellie will have to get to the bottom of the case on their own and find the real killer before anyone else is forced to walk the plank…

Reflection

This is the third book in Grave’s Death by Chocolate Mysteries, but I was surprised and excited to learn that it is actually a spin-off of a previous series featuring the same characters about home renovation and homicides. Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree actually traces her roots in Eastport, Maine back over a decade, to when she and her son fled a bad situation with Jake’s husband and settled in Eastport. Jake purchased a beautiful fixer-upper, and later opened a bakery with her best friend Ellie, The Chocolate Moose. I loved getting the back story as to why Jake is in Eastport, since a lot of cozy series just drop you in, assuming you’ve read them all.

The story picks up midway through the annual pirate festival, when lots of tourists have come to Eastport to experience the town and partake in the delicious food and pirate-themed events. Jake gets into a pretty public argument with Henry Hadlyme, a celebrity chef, food writer, and podcaster who is in town looking to cause problems with the local food scene. I loved that Jake did not back down and definitely spoke her mind, repercussions be damned!

But when Jake discovers Henry’s body in her basement, things go from bad to worse. Henry has been stabbed with an antique cutlass, and given Jake’s public argument with Henry and his location in her basement, Jake quickly finds herself the number one suspect. Now, Jake and Ellie must find a way to solve the murder and clear Jake’s name.

I loved a lot about this book. The tiny town of Eastport overflowing with visitors celebrating the pirate festival, the family surrounding Jake and the fun townspeople, and the descriptions of the food (don’t read this hungry!). I also liked the clues that started popping up: a mysterious boat, an explosion, a list of suspects cropping up all festival. This isn’t just a murder case, there is definitely more going on and I was really intrigued the whole way through. And the ending does not disappoint!

A fun cozy mystery that will definitely carry you away to the quaint town of Eastport.

Thank you to Kensington Books and TLC Book Tours for my copy. Opinions are my own.