Book 81, 2024
Fatal Fudge Swirl by Meri Allen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Last night I polished off Fatal Fudge Swirl by Meri Allen. It's the third installment in her "Ice Cream Shop" series of cozies. The main character is Riley Rhodes--former CIA librarian and current manage of Udderly Delicious, the local ice cream shop.
As the season winds down at Udderly, tourism is given a boost when a movie production comes to town to film a romantic movie on the green. Former child star Cooper Collins is the director, and his mother, diva Diantha Collins, is planning a lavish Halloween wedding at the inn she owns in town. Diantha is marrying the inn's eccentric chef, Dominic. Diantha wants an ice cream cake for the occasion, and Riley delivers. When Diantha is found murdered the morning of what was to be her wedding, suspicion falls on Riley's friend Mary Ann, who happens to be Dominic's ex-wife. Riley is convinced Mary Ann is innocent and she sets out to prove it.
This was fast-paced, entertaining, and delicious sounding. I wanted to lick the pages. LOL! I loved reading about the funky flavors that Riley's teenage employee, Brandon, kept concocting. I also enjoyed reading about Sprinkles, the cat belonging to Riley's friend, Caroline, who ended up with a part in the movie. Characters were three-dimensional, and the plot flowed well.
Favorite lines:
♦ Part of me was hoping for a full-on Sprinkles meltdown.
♦ "I feel like we're going to summon a demon."
Very good--four stars.