Even after three years, inhaling the crisp scent of paper and ink, mingled with hints of cedar, vanilla, and chocolate as I step through the front door, brings a smile to my face. Opening a book and chocolate shop at the foot of the Rocky Mountains was what I dreamed about all those years I slaved as a banker in Missoula. The first day the store opened I mailed a box of Strychnine Strawberry chocolates to my former, not so favorite, boss at the bank. You can imagine my thoughts on that occasion.

Actually, the chocolate shop was a last minute addition when my twin sister, Hanna, announced she was getting divorced and was moving to Montana. She was a chocolatier at our parent’s gift shop and restaurant in Frankenmuth, Michigan and suggested we sell her handmade chocolates at the bookshop, Murder and Mayhem. That’s when I came up with the idea of Killer Chocolates. I love to read mysteries, and death by poisoning is my favorite way for an author to kill off their victim. That was the inspiration for naming all the chocolates after poisons.

Mom blamed me for taking her chocolatier away and didn’t speak to me for a few weeks. Not an altogether bad thing. Unfortunately, my Oma convinced her to start talking to me again. My parents and Oma immigrated from Germany in the seventies. You know that movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding? My brother, Hanna, and I were like those Greek kids. While all our friends watched Saturday morning cartoons, we were stuck at German school until noon.

Our days here have a good routine. My focus is on the books, while Hanna makes the chocolates. I’m no chocolatier, but I’m reasonably competent helping my sister. You didn’t grow up in my mother’s house without at least a rudimentary education in baking, cooking, and chocolate making. But as much as I love running the shop, my true passion is solving mysteries. I like to think of myself as a modern-day Miss Marple. My friend Jane and I love puzzling out the identity of the killer in the mysteries we read.

Hanna and our dog, Miss Watson, aren’t morning creatures. They usually arrive right before the shop opens. I prefer to stop at the local bakeshop bright and early for something sweet and a side of gossip on my way to work. There’s not much that happens in Harriston that doesn’t end up being fodder for the rumor mill. You have to be careful what you say, and whom you say it to. Family ties are plentiful in the village and they run thick and strong, like caramel sauce over toffee cake.

We have some wonderful, quirky neighbors, including a widowed pastor, Tom. He’s actually rather handsome, in a rugged kind of way. But my luck with men hasn’t been good and I already have one divorce under my belt. A youthful mistake I’d prefer not to repeat. It’s probably just my imagination, but sometimes it almost seems like Tom is flirting with me. Imagine, a pastor flirting with me, Alex Wright. What an idea.

It’s only a couple of weeks before Christmas and tonight is the monthly Sleuth book club meeting. Jane is leading the discussion of M.C. Beaton’s The Wizard of Evesham. Unlike Agatha Raisin’s village, ours has never had a murder. Actually, aside from the occasional break and enter, and bit of teenage vandalism, there’s not much crime in our cozy village. I do wish there was a bit more excitement in my life. It would be interesting to apply my powers of deduction to a real crime. But you know what they say. Be careful what you wish for.

A Christmas Candy Killing, A Killer Chocolate Mystery #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: October 2022
Purchase Link

Their chocolates are to die for—but things aren’t so sweet when a real killer comes to town, in this debut mystery perfect for fans of Joanne Fluke and Laura Childs.

Identical twin sisters Alex and Hannah are the owners of Murder and Mayhem, a mystery bookshop that sells their famous poison-themed Killer Chocolates. But now, there’s a real killer in their midst. Shortly before Christmas, their septuagenarian neighbor, Jane, confides to Alex that a murderer from a true-crime show has taken up residence in the village. Unfortunately, she’s also shared her suspicions with town gossip Netta. The next morning, Alex shows up at Jane’s house to watch the show, but instead discovers Jane’s body, with a box of Killer Chocolates nearby.

The sheriff quickly zeroes in on two suspects: Alex, a beneficiary in Jane’s will, and Zack, a handyman who was seen leaving the crime scene. But Alex maintains her innocence and sets out to draft a list of other potential suspects—townsfolk who’d recently been seen arguing with Jane.

When Alex gets hold of Jane’s journal, she begins to understand the truth. But a bearer of ill tidings is arriving early this year—and Alex just might not make it to Christmas.

Meet the author
Christina Romeril is the author of A Christmas Candy Killing, her debut novel and the first in the Killer Chocolate Mystery series. The series is set in Montana at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, one of her favorite places to visit. She and her husband live a few hours away in a small village in Southern Alberta. When Christina isn’t writing she loves to hike in Waterton Lakes National Park, or just hang out there eating gourmet hot dogs and ice cream. Christina is a former banker and the daughter of German immigrants. Any similarity between her family and her fictional characters is purely coincidental. You can find out more about her at her website at christinaromeril.com.

All comments are welcomed.