Lori C. (dollycas) reviewed on 6/10/2023 + 704 more book reviews

Dollycas's Thoughts

As usual, Eastport Maine is the place to be. We arrive just in time for the Arts Festival featuring all kinds of art, music, demonstrations, food, and games. The Chocolate Moose has a booth selling their sweet treats but truthfully Jacobia âJakeâ Tiptree and Ellie White have something more important on their minds, the new competing bakery across the street and its owner Brad Fairway. He has been doing some irritating things to take customers away from Jake and Ellie and rumor has it he has big plans after he puts them out of business plus for some reason he looks familiar to Jake.

Ellie decides to try to reason with the man one more time but instead, she finds his dead body. It isn't long before the murder weapon is determined to be her gun and without a strong alibi, she knows she is going to be arrested for a murder she did not commit. Jake is not going to let that happen. They have done it before, they will do it again. They are going to catch the killer before Ellie has to spend any time behind bars. Or will this killer catch them first?

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I really enjoy the characters in this series. Jake and Ellie are fun and smart and their lives are certainly not what you would expect for a couple of small-town bakers. Ellie's husband is away a lot but she is right at home among Jake's family. In this story, Jake's father has a bug up his . . . . I mean a crazy idea that it is time for him and Bella to move out into an assisted living place. There is something going on with Sam and Mika that brings him home for a couple of nights. Jake is trying to be supportive of everyone and hoping they all get their lives back on track soon but she has to concentrate on helping Ellie most of all. All these characters continue to develop nicely and have important roles in the story.

The mystery in Death by Chocolate Marshmallow Pie has ties to Jake's former life which really ups the ante for her to find the killer. Is someone from her past on her trail? Is it her fault Ellie is being framed? Is the rest of her family in danger? The state police don't seem to have any other suspects so she has no choice but to get involved. And when Jake gets involved and takes Ellie along the level of suspense and the level of hilarity increases rapidly. Oh, my stars! These girls put their lives at risk as well as others in a madcap ending that had me on the edge of my seat until the final harrowing moment.

As always the story is filled with chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. Ellie is trying to find the perfect recipe for a Chocolate Marshmallow Pie for her daughter. I am not much of a baker anymore but I wanted to jump in the book and give her a few suggestions. I would have also loved a piece of the one that was finally served.

The ending to the story was very interesting. It tied up a lot of loose ends and had a surprising development along with a happy announcement. I am afraid this may be the end of the series. I sure hope I am wrong because since finding this series it has been one of my favorites. I would love to keep visiting these characters for a good long time.

Death by Chocolate Marshmallow Pie is a well-written and well-plotted cozy mystery that was completely entertaining. With genuine characters and twisty mystery, I was happily glued to the pages until the final word.

I highly recommend the entire series!

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