The Chocolate Frog Frame-Up by JoAnna Carl, a review

The book: A good, quick read if you enjoy nice, happy murder mysteries

The author: Worth reading

Review:

I have read a number of JoAnna Carl's Chocoholic Mysteries and absolutely adore them. I find the characters to be likable, even with their often exaggerated physical characteristics. The first victim in this book, for example, is described as looking like a frog. The main character, Lee McKinney, works in her aunt-through-marriage's chocolate shop. She is a quite tall former beauty pageant contestant who has the delightful habit of twisting her words into oddball malapropisms when she is startled or stressed. I have yet to read the first book in the Chocoholic Mysteries, so I do not know whether a medical reason is given for her twisted tongue, or whether that is just one of her quirks. In either event, I am glad to see someone other than me be responsible for any snickers when unexpectedly inappropriate words are used. Lee's aunt is a feisty yet somehow refined lady who provides a lot of the small-town information to fill the reader (and, of course Lee) in on the details.

In this book, the froglike character, um, croaks, and Lee finds herself involved because her boyfriend appears to be getting framed for the murder.

There are pages of chocolate facts spread throughout the book, to the great delight of those of us who are real-life chocoholics. Lee also provides a general description of any of the chocolates mentioned throughout the course of the story, and there are more than a few of them in any story involving a chocolate store! The end result is that I typically want to send my husband out to buy some chocolate before the book is even finished. As much as I love these books, I might have to lay off of them for a while until I can fit into my pants once more.

The only downside that I have come across, in my opinion, is that these mysteries do follow a certain chronological sequence. Even though they are fine as stand-alone reading material, I recommend anyone just starting to delve into this series to start from the beginning and read them in order. Otherwise, you might do as I did with this book, and eliminate characters as suspects simply because you've already seen them introduced as the good guys in later books by JoAnna Carl.

All in all, I find the Chocoholic Mysteries to be enjoyable, somewhat lightweight reading material on days when you just want a nice, happy murder mystery to tide you over. The Chocolate Frog Frame-Up does not disappoint.