And yet another mystery/crime book taken off the shelf of Stef Streatfield, what a surprise. Maybe my collection isn't as eclectic as I like to think. Like my previous full book review, it is a new series that I got from Goodreads so even though it was similar to others I have read, I hoped something would make it stand out against the others.
The Chocolate Cat Caper is the first book in JoAnna Carl's series A Chocoholic Mystery which is told from the point of view of Lee McKinney, who has gone from being a trophy wife to a wealthy Texan to an independent young woman, keeping the books for her aunt's chocolate business.
Rating: 7
Recommended To: Chick lit lovers
Favourite Characters: Lee - interesting protagonist; Joe - intriguing romantic interest
Favourite Part: He went on to the outside door, opened it, and stepped back to let me out. Or I thought he was going to let me out. I stepped forward and he stepped sideways, and we bumped into each other again. Suddenly we were standing in the doorway, nose to nose. This time neither of us moved. We stood just there.
The moment would have passed if either one of us had reacted normally. Or maybe we did react normally.
Recommended To: Chick lit lovers
Favourite Characters: Lee - interesting protagonist; Joe - intriguing romantic interest
Favourite Part: He went on to the outside door, opened it, and stepped back to let me out. Or I thought he was going to let me out. I stepped forward and he stepped sideways, and we bumped into each other again. Suddenly we were standing in the doorway, nose to nose. This time neither of us moved. We stood just there.
The moment would have passed if either one of us had reacted normally. Or maybe we did react normally.
It was a heck of a kiss. - Page 160
Good Points: The idea and background; the story; the random facts
Bad Points: Lee and Joe's relationship; really quick
The Chocolate Cat Caper centred around Lee McKinney, a young woman who has recently divorced from her wealthy Texan husband and moved in with her aunt because she is now completely broke. To get herself back on her feet, her aunt gives her a job to keep the books for the luxury chocolate business/shop; Lee doesn't handle the chocolate unless they are rushed off their feet in the shop or she is delivering mass chocolate orders in her van. When Lee delivers an order of her Aunt Nellie's chocolates for Clementine Ripley's - a high powered lawyer - party, Clementine dies having been poisoned by one of the chocolates Lee brought to the house. Lee then has to help the police find evidence that it wasn't her aunt's fault or anyone's from the chocolate business.
Good Points: The idea and background; the story; the random facts
Bad Points: Lee and Joe's relationship; really quick
The Chocolate Cat Caper centred around Lee McKinney, a young woman who has recently divorced from her wealthy Texan husband and moved in with her aunt because she is now completely broke. To get herself back on her feet, her aunt gives her a job to keep the books for the luxury chocolate business/shop; Lee doesn't handle the chocolate unless they are rushed off their feet in the shop or she is delivering mass chocolate orders in her van. When Lee delivers an order of her Aunt Nellie's chocolates for Clementine Ripley's - a high powered lawyer - party, Clementine dies having been poisoned by one of the chocolates Lee brought to the house. Lee then has to help the police find evidence that it wasn't her aunt's fault or anyone's from the chocolate business.
Though this book bears some resemblance to the book I have just read, Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, with a focus on the food in their job, chocolate in this book and cookies in the other, rather than crime, like in Stephanie Plum, the story appears to be well thought out with its unpredictability throughout as it all fits together well. Lee McKinney has a well thought out background with an ex-husband who momentarily appears in the book and rebuilding her life back up from the bottom; Lee is not the only character with a well thought out background that shapes the story and allows it to progress, Joe's past, with his history with Lee and his ex-wife (Clementine), contributes to the story because Joe worries about how his past will affect Lee, and Lee's aunt, Nellie, is already established as being a successful business woman in a small town, providing an already established place for Lee to grow into. As well as the background of the characters Carl has created, the idea behind Aunt Nellie's business appears to be well researched with a demonstration of this research being shown through the various chocolates mentioned and the machinery used.
I love how the story focuses on Lee trying to clear her aunt's good name when Clementine is poisoned which differs from the other books because they are generally just looking into the crime that has occurred and it hasn't affected them personally on this level, unlike Lee. Throughout this story, Lee is constantly trying to find evidence that it wasn't her aunt's fault that Clementine was poisoned and this could be read as a great love of family on Lee's behalf, implying that family is important, which is also suggested with Lee working for her aunt, who took her in when she had nothing.
Much like how Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder has recipes within the story, The Chocolate Cat Caper contains chocolate trivia that fit into certain subjects that are relevant to what is happening in the story at the time, such as when there is a discussion of crime, there is a section on trivia about crime that involved chocolate. I love the bits of trivia because I thoroughly enjoy learning new things because it's interesting and it's something different that I didn't necessarily know already. One piece of trivia that I found interesting was that the Spanish kept chocolate a secret for nearly 100 years but in 1615 Princess Maria Teresa gave her fiancé, Louis XIV of France, a gift of chocolate and the secret was out (page 178). I didn't know this beforehand and passed it on immediately to those around me because it brought up any other interesting facts other people had to hand.
I adored Lee as a character because, much like the other female leads in chick lit books, she had a strong sense of herself and appeared confident even though she was single and despite being broke, was working to earn her own money, not sponging off an ex-husband. She also came with a past, she wasn't just this two dimensional character, she had a history with her husband and she expressed feelings about him and about others in her life while she developed new feelings for Joe.
Though I didn't find Joe as appealing as Lee, he was still intriguing because he had more to him than other characters as information was given about his past - his relationship with Clementine and how that affected those around them - and how he used to be a lawyer but gave it in and the reason why he did this. This made him interesting as questions were formed in my mind about him, such as what he did and why he's there in fact, and they were answered over the course of the book, which made me want to read more.
Despite like Lee and Joe as characters, I felt their relationship was a tad forced; they knew each other briefly in the past but not well then Lee came back and they suddenly kissed. It was just too quick for my liking; it would have been different if they had been an item when they were younger, like Stephanie and Morelli in the Stephanie Plum series, then they broke up but slowly grew together again, it would have been similar to that of Stephanie and Morelli but would have been a bit more believable for me.
Another thing I didn't like about The Chocolate Cat Caper was that everything happened so fast; it took forever for Clementine to be killed (despite being mentioned in the blurb) and I thought it was going to happen in the first chapter then once she was dead, everything happened very quickly within such a short amount of time from solving the murder to Lee and Joe's relationship. This made the book really really easy to read and though I liked it, it was over too soon for me, I would have liked just a bit more depth to it.
He went on to the outside door, opened it, and stepped back to let me out. Or I thought he was going to let me out. I stepped forward and he stepped sideways, and we bumped into each other again. Suddenly we were standing in the doorway, nose to nose. This time neither of us moved. We stood just there.
The moment would have passed if either one of us had reacted normally. Or maybe we did react normally.
It was a heck of a kiss. - Page 160
I know I said their relationship was too forced for me, I do love this part of the book where Lee and Joe kiss because it's so unexpected amongst the chaos that is Clementine's estate with her PA panicking and everything. My favourite line has to the last one though, "It was a heck of a kiss", because that just implies to me how much Lee felt in that kiss in so few words as she clearly enjoyed it and wasn't repulsed by it so a seed is implanted for their relationship to start properly and if it is less forced in the next books then I will be happy.
I intend to read more of these books because I enjoyed the story and the characters and want to know more about the events that occur in their lives because it's interesting.
Predictions
1. Lee and Joe's relationship continues
2. More death and other randomness that apparently occurs in these small towns whether American or English
3. More chocolate
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