Spooky Sweet

From the beginning of this series, I have enjoyed Connie Shelton's character Samantha Sweet and her special treats. In Spooky Sweet, Samantha has finally realized she needs more space for the chocolate production portion of her business.

As her staff continues to bump into each other at the Sweet's Sweets, Samantha tries to figure out how she make the expansion work, especially now that she has a contract with her most important client Stan Bookman. The need for more space has taken on an urgency of its own.

While she is trying to decide, her husband Sheriff Beau Cardwell is called to a local cafe when the owner finds a bag of money. A young person, dressed in all black with shaggy hair sticking out of a black knit cap had been sitting at the booth where the bag was found. No one recognized the teen.

Beau is sure the money did not come from someone's stockpile from under a mattress and he calls a friend at the Treasury to check the serial numbers. He finds the money was transferred to the First Bank of Springer, an adjacent town and was part of a recent armored car robbery. The driver of the truck was critically injured by a gunshot.

In the meantime Samantha is feeling the pressure of her workload and visits her magic box again for

more energy. She also wonders if her quirky chocolatier, Bobul would return to help during the Christmas rush and bring some more of his special powders. Her architect friend Darryl shows Sam drawings for a separate site where she can produce and distribute the chocolates, but the cost is way over her budget.

Dismayed, she wonders what to do when a local realtor finds a Victorian mansion she is sure would be perfect for Sam's needs. Needless to say Sam is overwhelmed, but charmed by the possibilities. She begins the renovation process and moves her chocolate making to the new place.

Before long Sam begins to notice some odd occurrences in the carriage house and suddenly Beau's case and Sam's move collide with dangerous consequences.

Another stellar book from Connie Shelton. And yes, I craved chocolate while reading this book. Who wouldn't!

Sweet Hearts

I've come late to this series as there are at least 11 books in it. And oh, by the way Connie Shelton, I hate you for making me read these. I always need chocolate or pastries while I am reading them. In Sweet Hearts, baker extraordinaire Samantha Sweet is up to her elbows in Valentine's Day sweets.

To complicate matters Valentine's Day is her wedding day. (What ever was she thinking when planning this date.) She is marrying the handsome Sheriff Beau Cardwell. With Valentine's Day pastries and cakes virtually flying out of her shop, Sam is under pressure to replicate the delightful hand-dipped chocolates made by quirky Romanian chocolatier, now gone missing.

More complications take the form of a customer ordering a cake for her son. Marla Fresques is ill and wants Sam to help her find her son, Tito who has been missing for 10 years. Tito's daughter has been living with her and it is a race against time to find him before Marla dies.

As she digs deeper into the mystery of Tito's disappearance, Sam hopes the healing magic from her special box might help Marla gain some strength while Sam investigates. In the meantime Beau's fabulously gorgeous ex-girlfriend shows up determined to win him back. Sam, already a little paranoid, isn't sure whether she should marry Beau.

The deeper Sam delves into Tito's disappearance, the more disturbing it becomes. She discovers deception, double crosses and murder in the most unlikely places. An exciting mystery with an interesting lead character. It's no wonder she doesn't gain any weight from operating a bakery; Sam is always running around.

For those of you farther along in this series, Spooky Sweets is the latest.

For other books by Connie Shelton, click here. For MapYourMystery's review of the first Sweet book, click here. 

Dirty Jobs

Samantha Sweet has dreams of opening her own shop called Sweet's Sweets, but until she saves enough money, she is dedicated to be breaking into houses. Legally, that is, as she is a caretaker for the USDA. This means she cleans inside the empty foreclosed houses, tends to the gardens and mows the lawns. In Connie Shelton's Sweet Masterpiece, Samantha gets more than she for bargained for.

When she finds a old woman dying in one of the homes, the woman gives her a small wooden box and says the box has special powers. Rumor has it Bertha Martinez was a witch. Samantha calls 911, but the ambulance arrives after the woman dies.

At her next home as Samantha is mowing the lawn, she finds a fairly new grave in the middle of the lawn. Once again Samantha is in touch with 911 operators. The owner of record, Riley Anderson, had abandoned the house six months ago. Who could be buried in the grave?

With her second visit from the good looking Deputy Beau Caldwell, Samantha realizes her schedule

is shot. Not only isn't she able to finish cleaning the two properties, but she is behind in her baking. Beau asks her to go through the second house and try to find bank statements, bills, checks, anything that might let the police know more about Mr. Anderson and the other person who lived in his house.

As she is cleaning the closet she finds a box with brushes and paints, but the real surprise is the mural painted in the corner of the closet. At the lower right of the painting is the signature Pierre Cantone, the famous artist. Was Mr. Anderson copying Cantone's work? Samantha calls on her art expert friend Rupert to help solve the mystery.

When the mural turns out to be the real thing from Cantone, everyone is puzzled as to how that would happen. Between baking wedding cake layers and goodies for the local chapter of Chocoholics Unanimous, Sam tries to figure out what brought Cantone to Taos and where he might be now.

Missing paintings, a long-lost nephew and no will complicate the mystery. I enjoyed this book and would never in a million years want Samantha's USDA job. Looking forward to the next book in the series.

Find the next book in the series by clicking here.