The Chocolate Falcon Fraud

This week's book bingo square was "fifteen" in honor of the fifteenth anniversary of the challenge.  I typed in 'fifteen' in my library search engine and a lot of the books on the links Robin (our book challenge host) listed were there, but one immediately caught my eye:

The Chocolate Falcon Fraud by JoAnna Carl.

It is the fifteenth book in the series (this is the first one I am reading).  It opens with introducing the main character (Lee) and Jeff, her "sort-of" stepson.  

There is a noir film festival in Warner Pier (a "picturesque" touristy town) situated up near Lake Michigan, and all of the Humphrey Bogart look-a-likes are in town.  Lee, along with her Aunt Nettie, run TenHuis Chocolate. Lee is married to Defense Attorney, Joe and Aunt Nettie, to the Police Chief, Hogan.  

I love chocolate, but I am clueless about classic noir mystery films/books.  I bet reading this book would have meant so much more if I had watched (or read) even a few of the titles mentioned...but I enjoyed the mystery all the same.  Especially the "Chocolate Chats".  At the end of every few chapters the author introduces another recipe for yummy fudge.

Did I mention that I love chocolate?

Some of my favorite scenes & quotes from the book:

"Anyone who has ever lived in the country knows about the animal in the attic.  And if Joe and I didn't live in the country in a legal sense, we did in a physical one...

Deer, turkeys, racoons, rabbits - even the occasional badger and fox - hung out in our neighborhood.  And they considered our house part of their territory.  A squirrel had come down our chimney.  We'd had chipmunks move into our basement.  Every fall the mice invaded, trying to avoid the cold weather.  Don't ask me how they found cracks and holes to get in; we tried to plug 'em up." (pg. 35)

"I just reread the book, and in it Sam Spade explains why 'the La Paloma' is incorrect.  'La' means 'the' in Italian, so you don't need both words.  'The La Paloma' would mean 'the the dove.' So don't tell me that reading mysteries isn't educational!" (pg. 127)

"It's all my daddy's fault," she said.  "If he hadn't acted like a horse's patootie, none of this would have happened." (pg. 206)

All in all, a cute read.  But, be forewarned, after reading the multiple fudge recipes scattered throughout, you will develop a serious hankering for fudge by the end. Or at the very least, buckets and trays of the designer chocolates Lee describes throughout the book.  Truffles.  Bonbons.  Ganache.  Key-lime flavored fillings...oh my word.  Not to mention the Chocolate Falcons TenHuis is proudly displaying in honor of the festival.