DEATH BY CHOCOLATE MALTED MILKSHAKE

Gal pals try to rescue their sweet shop by solving a murder.

Jacobia Tiptree (Death by Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake, 2018), known to fellow residents of Eastport, Maine, as Jake, is proud of The Chocolate Moose, where she and best friend Ellie White sell only the finest homemade confections, with a Down East touch, of course. If only the little shop made money. The friends have high hopes for rising sales when they install a machine that makes hand-spun milkshakes, complete with Ellie’s secret ingredient. And they’re looking forward to creating a wedding cake, based on the bride’s favorite whoopie pie recipe, for kindergarten teacher Sharon Sweetwater’s wedding to hunk Andy Devine, of the Coast Guard. But the discovery of Toby Moran’s corpse, accompanied by one of the Moose’s signature shakes, can’t be good for business. And when Andy is arrested for the murder of Moran, his fiancee’s abusive ex-boyfriend, it looks like the wedding may be off, whoopie pie finale and all. Faced with the prospect of losing their dream, and with Ellie’s husband's plan to move their family to Bangor once The Moose is closed, Jake and Ellie do what any self-respecting small-town shopkeepers would do: set out to crack the case themselves. But exonerating Andy and saving the wedding and The Moose may just put Jake and Ellie in the path of a killer who won’t hesitate to strike again.

Graves’ second case of chocolate murder offers fans of the genre a trifecta of coziness: plucky heroines, sweet treats, and just enough puzzlement to keep you on your toes.