Sometimes the best way to know a person is by asking questions, where you can learn more about what makes them tick. Get to know Charity with her answers below.
What is your name?
– – Penn. Not Penny. Just Penn.
How old are you?
– – Old enough to not like that question. Just kidding. Why should I be vain about my age? I’m 37.
What is your profession?
– – I’m the proud owner of the Chocolate Box, the world’s best chocolate shop. You should come and try my latest creation—my dark chocolate and spicy bonbon fires. They are delicious!
Do you have a significant other?
– – I seem to have bad luck when it comes to men. They’re either cheating jerks or killers (or both.) But there is one guy in my life I wouldn’t mind getting to know better. Please tell me he’s not going to turn out to be a killer.
What is his name?
– – Harley Dalton. Harley is short for Harleston, which is an old Charleston name.
What is his profession?
– – He’s a surfer and a lawyer and a total hunk.
Any children?
– – Alas, no.
Do you have any sibling(s)?
– – Yes! My father keeps getting married and having more and more kids. It’s kind of ridiculous. I’m the eldest. My closest sibling is my half-sister Tina. I love her to pieces, even if she does try to meddle in my life. I don’t need her help finding a man, thank you very much. And I don’t need her help solving this latest mystery. Sleuthing can get dangerous. Grandmother Cristobel would kill me if I was the reason anything happened to her favorite grandchild.
Cats, dogs or other pets?
– – I have a five-pound papillon dog named Stella. She was a gift from a now ex-boyfriend. He thought I needed a dog to carry around with me in a Gucci purse, which is silly. Dogs are living creatures, not accessories. Stella is a bit of a handful. She sometimes bites. She always barks. She’s a rescue dog, and I don’t know her history. But we’re learning to live together. Who am I kidding? She’s my first pet, and I love her like I’d never thought I’d love an animal. I’d never give up on her.
What town do you live in?
– – Camellia Beach, South Carolina. It’s a small beach town located about fifteen minutes from historic Charleston. The town isn’t much to look at. It’s a small, rundown community. But the more time I’ve spent living here, and the more I’ve gotten to know the islanders, the more I’ve fallen for the island’s subtle beauty. There’s no place in the world quite like Camellia Beach.
Do you rent or own?
– – I own the building that houses the Chocolate Shop and live in one of the two apartments above the shop with my roommate and business partner, Bertie Bays. I inherited the building from my grandmother. My uncle and two aunts don’t think I deserve their mother’s legacy and are contesting the will. It’s not a fight they’re going to win, though. My grandmother chose me to keep her shop open and that’s what I intend to do.
House or building complex?
– – I live in a commercial building that’s over a hundred years old. There’s the Drop-In surf shop and the Chocolate Box chocolate shop on the first floor. On the second floor you’ll find my apartment and next door is the apartment that the sexy Harley Dalton rents. The two apartments are connected by a wide porch that overlooks the marsh at the back of the island.
What is your favorite spot in your house?
– – That’s an easy one. It has got to be the commercial kitchen on the first floor in the Chocolate Box. Although I’m not the best cook in the world, I feel at peace when I’m working in the kitchen with my lovely chocolates. It’s Heaven on earth for me.
Who is your best friend?
– – Althea Bays. She’s my roommate’s daughter. We have very little in common. She owns a crystal shop and believes in all sorts of silly woo-woo stuff like ghosts and magic. I don’t believe in any of that. But what I do believe in is that friends are true to each other and have each other’s backs. Althea believes that too. While she’s super touchy-feely and I’m not, I kind of wish I was more open to giving and receiving hugs. I think just being around her is helping me become a better person.
Amateur sleuth or professional?
– – Amateur sleuth. I’d much rather focus all my attentions on my chocolate shop, but things keep happening on Camellia Beach that need my attention.
Whom do you work with when sleuthing?
– – I’m lucky that nearly everyone in the community is ready to lend a helping hand. My BFF Althea Bays loves helping me solve a mystery. My half sister, Tina, came into town just recently and insisted I let her help me out. Having her in town made me nervous, though. I was afraid something might go wrong and she might get hurt.
Favorite meal?
– – This is hard to answer, because I love to eat. Since I’ve moved to the coast, I’ve been devouring anything with seafood in it. Fresh shrimp directly from the dock is awesome.
Favorite dessert?
– – Dark chocolate, of course!
Favorite hobby?
– – The local police would say that my favorite hobby is sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong. But honestly, I’d much rather set up an umbrella on the beach and lounge in a beach chair with a good book.
Favorite vacation spot?
– – The beach. I’m living in paradise. I have no desire to travel.
Favorite color?
– – Green, like Harley’s eyes.
Favorite author?
– – Elizabeth Peters. Aren’t her mystery novels the greatest?
Favorite sports team?
– – Sports? I’m not a fan.
Movies or Broadway?
– – Broadway. Live action is magical.
Are you a morning or a night person?
– – I’m a morning person, unless it’s too early. I don’t want to get up in the middle of the night. It has to be morning. Six o’clock or later.
In two to three sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
– – Because I have a shop to open, I wake up early. After indulging in a delicious breakfast that my roommate, Bertie Bays, usually makes, I take Stella for her morning walk/bark-fest. She loves chasing and barking at the marsh rats. Bertie and I then head down to the Chocolate Box’s kitchen where we’ll make up truffles and bonbons to sell that day. Once the shop opens, it’s rush-rush with the morning crowd. But things slow down by lunch, and sometimes I’ll even head out for a walk on the beach. If not for the occasional murder, it’d be the perfect life.
You can read about Charity in Playing With Bonbon Fire, the second book in the “Southern Chocolate Shop” mystery series, coming March 13, 2018. The first book in the series is Asking for Truffle.
Chocoholic Charity Penn must smoke out the killer to stop her newly inherited beachside chocolate shop from going up in flames in Dorothy St. James’ decadent follow-up to Asking for Truffle.
Chocolate shop owner Charity Penn is finally settling into life in the quirky South Carolina seaside town of Camellia Beach cooking up chocolate treats. She’s even helped organize the town’s lively beach music festival which has brought rollicking crowds eager to dance the Carolina shag. That is, until one of the band’s lead singers is found dead beside a beach bonfire.
While also trying to balance the amorous attention of music star Bixby Lewis, in town for the festival, and her quest to perfect a new hot flavored bonbon, Charity dives into the investigation. Though it’s more spice than sugar when she discovers a threatening note, comes across decades of age-old secrets, and Bixby comes into the line of fire when a gas grill explodes on the deck of a beachfront house.
Now Charity must turn up the heat and catch the killer before her chance melts away in Playing With Bonbon Fire, the delightful second Southern Chocolate Shop mystery served up just right for fans of JoAnna Carl and Joanne Fluke.
Purchase Link
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Giveaway: Leave a comment below for your chance to win a print copy of Playing With Bonbon Fire. U.S. entries only, please. The giveaway ends March 13, 2018. Good luck everyone!
About the author
Dorothy St. James is the author of the White House Gardener mysteries. For the past twenty years she made her home on Folly Beach, an artsy island community in South Carolina with her sculptor husband. Dorothy is a member of Mystery Writers of America (MWA) and the International Thriller Writers (ITW). This is her third Southern Chocolate Shop mystery.
All comments are welcomed.
I love cozy mysteries and would love to win and read this book! Thanks for offering this chance!!!
I’d love to visit Charity Penn’s chocolate shop in the seaside town of Camellia SC. Dorothy St. James will give Joanne Fluke competition. I’ll have to look for “Asking fr Truffle” so I can read it first.
Being a resident of SC (and in Charleston itself), I always love reading mysteries in my neck of the woods, and having read the White House Gardner series, I’d like to try another series by Dorothy. Thanks for the giveaway!
Thank you for introducing me to Dorothy St. James. Playing With Bonbon Fire sounds like a fun read. Thank you for this chance.
I enjoyed the answers to those questions! Thanks!
Other than the barking, it sounds as if it’s a wonderful life! I too prefer live performances over movies!
sounds like an interesting book!
Just bought the first one recently and would love to own the second book, thanks for the giveaway! Fun interview!
Enjoyed the Q & A.
I wonder if there are any other apartments available in the block? Sounds like the perfect place to live! But it would have to be close to the chocolate shop! Just smelling chocolate is stress relieving. 🙂 Sounds like a wonderful book and I will have to read it!
Thanks Dru Ann for today’s selection. Thanks Dorothy for the wonderful “visuals” about the book AND the chance to win a copy!.
I love the setting & can’t wait to read this new series.
I like cozy mysteries and chocolate
Books sound really good. Hope to read it soon. Thanks for the chance. Cozies are my favorite type of book.
Southern Chocolate Shop, Bonbons, cozy mystery, can’t lose!!!! Thank you for the chance to win a copy.
wfnren at aol dot com
I enjoy reading cozy mysteries. Thanks for having the giveaway.
I have yet to read a book by this author so welcome the chance to do so.
Yes, please!
What a great cozy mystery which I would enjoy. Thanks.
Chocolate and mystery–two of my favorite things. I missed the first book, so I’m looking forward to reading it and all about Penn’s inheritance and chocolate business.
You’ve got me, just on the setting. A S.C. beach community sounds like heaven!
A cozy set with a chocolate shop? Sounds delectable!
Don’t get too close to that bonfire or your bonbons will melt!
Thank you for adding another author to my list of authors to check out. I am not familiar with Dorothy St. James but from the information in your blog, it won’t be that way for long. Thanks for the chance to enter your giveaway.
Sounds like a good book.
I loved the first book in the series. Would love to read the latest book.
Really loved the first one in this series. Thanks for the chance to win this one. Great blog!
Look forward to reading this series.
I’d love to visit the Chocolate Box.
Hey Dru, I would love to be your lucky winner.
already on my Wish List……
thank you for the giveaway!!
I really like the cover, and chocolate.
Yum, dark chocolate is my favorite, too!
You had me at chocolate! I’d be delighted to win this book!
Sounds like a perfect book to read while nibbling on bonbons and sipping wine.
Thanks for the chance to win it.
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com
I fell for Penn in the first book and loved her in this one. I especially enjoy the fact that so many people in this small town have opened their arms to her. NOTE: I am not entering the contest. I will be buying and ebook version of the book and have read an ARC via NetGalley. That access had no influence on my opinion.
Sounds like a winner.
A new author and series for me 🙂
Chocolate, the South and a Mystery….so up my alley. thank you for the chance to win a copy
This sounds like a fun series! Don’t think I have read anything by this author so far. Thank you for the chance to win!
I haven’t read anything by this author but the mystery sounds great. Please enter me.
Marilyn ewatvess@yahoo.com
**** WINNER ****
Playing With Bonbon Fire is Kay Bennett
Congratulations