Another great Scumble River Mystery. ( )

Skye Denison isn't a cook but that doesn't stop her mother from entering her into Grandma Sal's Soup-to-Nuts Cooking Challenge. Skye struggles to make something edible to enter in the contest, but she has too many distractions including a missing student from the school where she is a psychologist and someone trying to sabotage the contest. Things go from bad to worse when one of the contestants is murdered and Skye's uncle injured. Now Skye must not only try and cook a decent meal, she must try to find the missing student and catch a killer before he or she strikes again.

"Murder of a Chocolate Covered Cherry" was my first visit to Scumble River and I found it to be a mixed bag. Even though this is the tenth book in the series, I never felt lost - I felt immediately drawn into the world of Scumble River. The characters are well done and I felt like I knew Skye and her family and friends and I love the nod to Trixie Belden fans with Skye's friend Trixie Frayne. While the cooking contest plot device is a common one, author Denise Swanson breathes new life into it with the behind the scenes glimpses of what goes into such an event. The set up to the mystery is a good one (I love the title!) and there are plenty of suspects. There is a very cute subplot in which Skye's house seems to be trying to keep Skye and Wally apart. But while Swanson does an excellent job of interweaving the cooking contest and missing girl plot lines, I did have some problems with the overall plotting of the book. Skye manages to overhear at least six conversations (including one over a loudspeaker!) that conveniently help move the plot along. While the writing is generally fine, there are a few times in the book when you know exactly what is going to happen next, especially at the end when Skye realizes who the killer is. Swanson leaves some plot lines open, no doubt setting up the next book in the series, which I found slightly annoying.

While "Murder of a Chocolate Covered Cherry" isn't a perfect mystery, I loved visiting Scumble River and hope to visit there again. ( )

Read for Fun!
Overall Rating: 3.25
Story Rating: 3.00
Character Rating: 3.50

Audio Rating: 3.50 (Not part of the overall rating)

(Contains spoilers that don't tie to the case but you have been warned)

First thought when Finished: Murder of a Chocolate-Covered Cherry was a fast-paced, light-hearted, and fun afternoon read!

What I Thought of the Case/Story: Murder of a Chocolate-Covered Cherry was an interesting mix of a fun cozy case and a cooking competition. I am going to be honest, my thought about 1/4 of the way through was if Skye (a self-proclaimed bad cook) beat out the other entries I was going to mark down the story rating. It really irked me that she won (granted with her mother's recipe) after walking away from her dish so many times. I know you are supposed to suspend belief when reading but really? Otherwise, I really enjoyed this story! Seriously had she not won the story rating would have been a 4. The case was fun and I really enjoyed how it played out.

What I Thought of the Characters: This is the first book in the Scumble River Mystery series that I have read. It is freaking book 10 y'all. I need to go back and read the rest! Skye is a fantastic character. She is spunky, fun, normal,smart, and caring. Her life isn't perfect but it is always interesting. She has a great family and a complicated love life. These are all aspects I like in my cozy mystery leading ladies. If Murder of a Chocolate-Covered Cherry is any indication then Denise Swanson knows how to write really good characters. I will be reading more of her in the future!

What I Thought of the Audio: Narrated by Christine Leto and at a running time of 7 hrs and 46 mins Murder of a Chocolate-Covered Cherry is a delightful listen. The only thing I would warn about is the male voices are all a little to feminine for my taste. Christine nailed the voice of Skye and her mother though. That was far more important. The pacing, styling, and storytelling were done very well.

Final Thought: Ignoring my problem with the end of the cooking competition, Murder of a Chocolate-Covered Cherry was a delightful read! I will be picking up more books in this series! ( )

Overall enjoyable reads though not one of my favorites. The main storyline was entertaining involving the cooking contest and the various contestants and of course the murder. The peripheral story involving Skye and her love life is becoming a tad tedious. I just wanted to shake her and tell her to grow up already. However, I still enjoy the series and will continue to give it a read for a few more books anyway. ( )