Occupation: Former restaurant critic, reluctant food truck worker
Darcy Burnett, the protagonist in my new mystery series, Death Of A Chocolate Cheater, will do just about anything for chocolate. She’s highly addicted to the substance and begins each day with a double-shot of mocha and ends it with a bite of Sees chocolate. Unfortunately, she hasn’t found any support groups for her illness (other than a group that meets at Sees Candy, where she snags free samples.)
Darcy has done a lot of research to justify her addiction, and she’s found that chocolate offers many health benefits. It’s a valuable energy source (one chocolate chip gives her enough energy to walk 150 feet, the length of her average Sees store.) Unfortunately, it would take her about seven billion chips just to get out of bed in the morning.
While working in her Aunt Abby’s tricked out school bus that now serves gourmet comfort food, Darcy learns that her aunt has signed them up for the San Francisco Chocolate Festival contest. She thinks a review of the festival for the “Chronicle” might get her her job back, so she dives into the research and finds other health benefits from chocolate. It alleviates depression, lowers blood pressure, relieves PMS (cures crabbiness), plus it has iron, helps prevent tooth decay, has antioxidants, minimizes aging,” and probably cures morning breath, soccer flop, and irritable bowel syndrome. Darcy is down with all that.
Of course, none of this is written on a chocolate bar label, but that doesn’t matter to Darcy. Even if chocolate came with a warning label that said, “This will kill you instantly,” she’d ignore it, because everything tastes better with chocolate. When Aunt Abby experiments with chocolate-covered bacon, potato chips, pizza, and carrots for the chocolate contest, Darcy agrees—they’re all better dipped in chocolate.
Today Darcy took a three-hour Chocolate Tour of San Francisco to learn more about the melt-in-your-mouth treat, hoping to gain an edge over the other competitors in the Chocolate Contest. After she listened to a lecture on where chocolate comes from (which sort of took the mystery out of it for her), she found out that, contrary to popular belief, chocolate was discovered by the Aztecs, not Mrs. Mary See. They took the drug in drink form (like Darcy and her mochas), and believed it gave them super powers (which it sort of does, right?) Then “Hershey” Cortez got hold of it, took it to Spain, and added a bunch of fat and sugar, making it addictive. Finally the Americans got ahold of it, added even more fat and sugar, and voila— chocolate addiction became widespread.
Darcy doesn’t go into all the “bean to bar” details for the newspaper article—that’s way too much information (sort of like knowing where babies come from.) But she gains a new vocabulary with words like conching (stirring), tempering (melting), and lecithin (a chemical). Unfortunately none of her new words turn up in a crossword puzzle.
The tour did teach Darcy the proper way to eat chocolate. Apparently she’d been eating it all wrong. She was taught how to use all her senses to enjoy the full experience.
- Listen—it should snap when you break it.
- Look—it should be brown (unless it’s white chocolate which isn’t really chocolate).
- Smell—it should smell like, well, chocolate.
- Touch—if it melts in your fingers, you’ve been holding it too long.
- And finally Taste—see if you can identify a “lingering banana with pound cake flavor” or “a rich green forest that’s been fertilized with sugar.”
In spite of all this, Darcy still prefers to just pop it in her mouth and eat it.
Her favorite part of the tour was the gourmet chocolate tasting by such exclusive chocolatiers as Recchiti Confections, Cocoa Bella, Chocolatier Blue, Neo Cocoa, and dozens more. After eating chocolates “infused” with ganache, cardamom, chili pepper, Nutella, quinoa, flax, and Dom Perignon (Oprah’s favorite), Darcy felt like Lucy Ricardo working on that conveyor belt and stuffing in as many chocolates as her mouth would hold. But she hopes all of this research helps her Aunt Abby win the Chocolate Festival Contest.
Of course, that’s when the body of one of the chocolate judges turns up, floating in a large vat of melted chocolate. . .
You can read more about Darcy in Death Of A Chocolate Cheater, the second book in the “Food Festival” mystery series, published by Obsidian. The first book in the series is Death Of A Crabby Cook.
GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment by 12 a.m. eastern on June 10 for the chance to win a print copy of Death Of A Chocolate Cheater. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. Three (3) lucky commenters will be randomly selected. Winners will be notified within 48 hours after giveaway closes and you will have three days to respond after being contacted or another winner will be selected. Make sure to check your SPAM folder.
About the author
Penny Pike AKA Penny Warner is the author of the food truck mystery series, Death Of A Crabby Cook and Death Of A Chocolate Cheater, featuring Darcy Burnett and set in San Francisco. Her next book, Death Of A Bad Apple, comes out in 2016. Contact Penny at www.pennywarner.com. Penny is also the winner of the 2014 Agatha Award For Best Children’s/Young Adult Novel.
Yes please Dru, this chocoholic would love to win that copy of the book.
I loved the first novel and would love to win this Dru!! Thank you for the chance!!
I would love to win this, thanks for the chance!
Chocolate should be considered as one of the food groups. My Hershey nuggets dark chocolate keep me going all day.
Yay! I just discovered “The Code Busters Club” for my Juvenile collection at the library & was proud PW’s award for it. Now I find an adult series she writes that I’m dying to read. I’m such a chocoholic that this must be my next TBR book. I’m crossing my fingers to win. lol share it with the library once I’ve read & reviewed it. Cross my heart!
I love See’s chocolate. Sadly or luckily, depending on how you view it. The closest store is too far for frequent trips. I would love to win this. Thanks for the chance!
Love this series. And chocolate – oh yeah.
Yum! sounds like a delicious read!
This book sound delish. I cant wait to take a bite out of it and start reading 🙂 It is on my TBR List now.
I love chocolate! Nothing could be better than chocolate with a touch of murder. Thank you for the giveaway.
myrifraf(at)gmail(dot)com
Love books with themes based on chocolate, thanks for the chance 🙂
One of my fave foods chocolate wrapped in a mystery!
Ooooo! 3 winners! Maybe I can be one.
Sounds like an entertaining read. Thanks for the opportunity!
LoL like the steps for tasting. LoL thank you for the chance.
I love this series. Thank you for the chance
Moonbay7399@gmail.com
oooh, chocolate!
Oh how YUMMY chocolate, the other food group
This sounds like a good book – chocolate and a mystery. Thank you for the chance to win
Love it! Thanks for the giveaway!
Need some chocolate. thanks.
This is a series with which I can really identify!
Chocolate makes a good book better!
As chairman of a fundraiser named “Chocolate, Chocolate, and More…” I need this book! What fun! What a great series Penny-sure to be a huge hit as well as a boost to the Chocolate industry. 😉 Can’t wait to read this.
Thanks to Dru and Penny for the opportunity. 🙂
I would love to have a copy. Thanks for the giveaway. I just love this series.
Love, love, love chocolate and would love to read the book! It sounds like a fun read.
lizc@mac.com
Love this feature and giveaway. Thanks.
I’m a chocolate and mystery lover. Thanks for the chance to win this one.
Can never get enough of ‘foodie’ mysteries! Thanks for the giveaway!
Sounds great, especially for us chocolate addicts! I’d love to consume this one!
You had me at chocolate!! 🍫🍫🍫
Love Chocolate! This should be a winner of a cozy!!!
Thank you for the chance,
I also love chocolate and would love to read this cozy mystery!
I’m a chocolate addict. lol Sounds great.
I can’t eat chocolate, but I can and do enjoy reading about it!
Oh goodness what a perfect name for a book I love dk choc and this is a title of a book that my husband would just shake his head if i were reading ! Would love the chance to get this mystery.
Thanks for all of your comments! Love Dru Ann’s blog! Hope you all win!
Who wouldn’t want a book about a chocolate addict ? I would love one and thanks for the offer.
My parents went to a class to learn how to eat chocolate properly and they said that having one piece of quality chocolate was better than having two of sub-par chocolate. My thoughts are why not just eat all three?
Floating in a vat of chocolate?
What a waste…….of chocolate!
Thanks Dru for introducing me to this author. I would love to have the opportunity to read her wonderful works involving chocolate. I think chocolate should be the national food for the U.S. robeader53@yahoo.com
I loved the first book and can’t wait to read this one. This sounds yummy, chocolate makes everything better…except maybe the dead body in it.
Sounds delicious
Finger licking good!!!
You’re all so … dare I say … sweet … ;0
Food trucks, chocolate, pets, mystery, what is not to love in this great sounding story/series.
Cynthia B.
Thank you for the opportunity to win this book 🙂
What a way to go, in a vat of chocolate! It sounds like I would enjoy reading all about what Darcy learns of chocolate (one of the primary food groups, along with peanut butter), as well as watching as she tries to find out who murdered the chocolate judge…thanks for the chance to win this!
I love chocolate and this book sounds interesting. Thanks for the chance to win a copy.
A ‘must-read’ for me!!!!
Thanx for the chance!!!
This sounds like a great new series.
Anxious to read this series.
I would think having the job of chocoltier would be heaven. Imagine that smell all day. Thanks for the giveaway.
Sounds like yummy fun! Thank you for the opportunity to win.
I didn’t know there was a proper way to eat chocolate—-I just like to slowly savor it. Thanks for the contest.
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com
Thank you for the giveaway opportunity!
You had me at chocolate.
Like to get in on the ground floor of a new series.
thanks for the chance.
I love the description “reluctant food truck worker”.
I hope there really is a chocolate festival going on in San Francisco because I’m in. And I completely agree that chocolate should be a required food group!
Chocolate + mystery!
Our Swiss family business is associated with a famous brand name in Peru, so chocolate is in my genes so to speak. Anything chocolate gets my attention, including your series. Count me in.
I agree with Darcy–just pop the chocolate in your mouth and enjoy. Sounds like a great new series.
Haven’t read any of these but I am a chocoholic mystery reader.
contest is closed.