Review by Booklist Review
Jacobia Jake Tiptree and her good friend and partner, Ellie White, own and operate Chocolate Moose, a chocolate-themed bakery in Eastport, located on an island just off the coast of Maine. As the two are gearing up to bake multiple chocolate-cherry cheesecakes for the upcoming July fourth Coast Guard auction, Jake finds the disagreeable Matt Muldoon headfirst in a melting pot of chocolate, quite dead. Muldoon had been threatening the two with a visit from his friends at the health department, especially angering Ellie, who is now the chief suspect in his murder. With a major hurricane whirling toward Eastport, an ailing father, and Jake's son incommunicado, Jake and Ellie investigate to find the real killer before Ellie is arrested. Sympathetic characters, effective plot twists, a vividly described small-town Maine setting, and the baking frame add to this satisfying cozy that will appeal to fans of Joanne Fluke and Diane Mott Davidson (for the baking details) and Leslie Meier (for the Maine setting).--O'Brien, Sue Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree, the star of Graves's Home Repair Is Homicide series (A Bat in the Belfrey, etc.), is back in this charming series launch. Jake and her friend Ellie White have opened a chocolate-themed bake shop, Chocolate Moose, in Eastport, Maine. Business is off to a promising start when the Eastport Coast Guard Station orders a dozen chocolate cherry cheesecakes for a fundraiser. But three days before the cheesecakes are due to be delivered, Jake finds the body of health inspector Matt Muldoon in the kitchen, his head plunged into a pot of chocolate. Matt was on a crusade to shut down Chocolate Moose, and the pastry needle that killed him is covered with Ellie's fingerprints. Since she has no alibi and her dislike for the man is well known, the friends must uncover the real killer before Ellie is arrested. Red herrings abound, and while some plot developments strain credulity, the characters are appealing, and down east Maine is a delightful place to visit. Graves fans will enjoy catching up with old friends. Agent: Christina Hogrebe, Jane Rotrosen Literary Agency. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree and her best friend, Ellie, have opened a bake shop, The Chocolate Moose, in Eastport, ME. While they're in the midst of baking a dozen cheesecakes to raise money for the town's Fourth of July fireworks, Jake stumbles upon the body of the health inspector. Ellie, who hated the man, tops the suspect list. With a hurricane heading their way, and all that baking to finish, the duo turn into amateur sleuths. It's an investigation that will find Jake shot at, chased by a car, stalked, and nearly drowned. Then, it gets worse. VERDICT After an absence of five years, Jake Tiptree from the "Home Repair Is Homicide" series (A Bat in the Belfry) returns to kick off a new series that revolves around the bakery. Fans of Graves's earlier series or Lea Wait's Maine mysteries will appreciate this cozy with a strong sense of place.-Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Jacobia Tiptree (Knockdown, 2011, etc.) is back with a new job in a new location but the same old nose for murder.Trading in her hammer for a spatula, Jake and her best friend, Ellie White, have opened a spanking new shop on the main drag of Eastport, Maine. Just next door to Second Hand Rose, a resale shop run by always-trendy Miss Halligan, the Chocolate Moose has been a success since the day Jake and Ellie hung their big wooden sign out front. Even the discovery of cranky Matt Muldoon face down in a vat of melted chocolate does little to stem the tide of customers. Jake and Ellie move temporarily to the kitchen of her massive old Victorian while police chief Bob Arnold checks the Moose for clues, much to the annoyance of Jake's stepmom, Bella Diamond, who's afraid all that baking will mess up her sparkling clean counters. So as soon as the crime scene tape comes off, they plunge back in. After all, they've promised to create a dozen of their signature chocolate cherry cheesecakes to donate to the town's Fourth of July auction, held each year to pay for the fireworks. And even though it's not certain that there will be fireworks, since a hurricane sits poised for a direct hit on Eastport, Jake and Ellie want to keep busy, because Bob's made it clear that as soon as the fundraiser is over, he's ready to arrest Ellie for Muldoon's murder. As her handywoman heroine reinvents herself in chocolate, Graves adds enough physical danger to her comfy tale of small-town mayhem to move it into the somewhat oxymoronic range of the cozy thriller.Gives new currency to the phrase "baking up a storm." Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
