Reviewed by Angela Richardson
The Chocolate Mouse Trap is the fifth book in The Chocoholic Mysteries series by JoAnna Carl. This is the first one I have read and I was very curious how Carl was going to mix chocolate and murder mysteries. The combination sounded as though it could be delicious or nauseating (personally I suspected the latter).
This book (and I am guessing the others, due to her frequent reminiscences of past murders) revolves around Lee Mckinney who works in her aunt's chocolate shop. After meeting a party planner, Julie, that has passed some business her way, she is now being inundated by her "inspirational" emails. That is until Julie's killed.
When all the people on her emailing list are plagued with computer problems and then more attacks start to happen, Lee feels she has to investigate. Why would a harmless food industry emailing list be the target of an attacker? She's determined to find out, even if it means risking her own life.
I have to say, this book is quite bizarre. It's basically a cosy murder mystery, but Carl inserts these chocolate quotes between chapters and I wouldn't like to be caught with her main character Lee, when she's on a chocolate lecture. All she has to do is name a chocolate and you get a detailed description of it after. It is all an extremely strange idea and definitely not very good to read while you are trying to diet. I bought 2 bars of chocolate in a day because of this book! Or perhaps that's the idea and she gets commission from a chocolate company!
Overall, the basic book is a good one, it kept me interested, and although the pace did tend to lag occasionally, I thought it was a good read. I just found all the chocolate facts and details to be a bit strange, but then there must be a chocoholic market out there as this is the fifth in the series.
Rating: 3/5
Like this? Try The Forever Summer by Suzanne Macpherson
