Playing with Bonbon Fire by Dorothy St. James is the second book in the “Southern Chocolate Shop” mystery series. Publisher: Crooked Lane Books, coming March 13, 2018.

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.

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Cryptic threatening notes, harmful antics, Bertie acting strange, a crazy stalker fan and trying to come up with her own chocolate is on Penn’s plate as she investigates the latest murder, in her new home town, with help from an unlikely source.

This is a well-written mystery that immediately grabbed my attention and I could not put the book down, quickly becoming a page-turner. The comfortable tone and pacing was on par with how well this multi-plot story was being told. Who would want to kill a songwriter? Penn is on the case when her worry concerns two friends. The author did a great job in setting the stage with visually descriptive narrative that placed me in the middle of all the action as I watched chapter after chapter, someone causing harm to Penn in an attempt to deter Penn and her friends from discovering the truth. It was fun watching it all play out as a few strategically placed twists lead to the killer’s identity and more surprising was the motive that started it all. Everyone had a pivotal role in the telling of this tale and I especially liked that several questions were answered. This was a fun book to read and I can’t wait to read the next book in the delectably charming series.

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FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.