In Carl's winning eighth chocoholic mystery (after 2007's The Chocolate Jewel Case
), Lee McKinney Woodyard, the business manager of TenHuis Chocolade, has agreed to serve as the treasurer for the annual Warner Pier, Mich., WinterFest. After a juror for the festival's art show cancels, Lee goes to the airport to pick up the replacement, Fletcher Mendenhall, who arrives obnoxiously drunk. When Mendenhall turns up the next morning in his motel with his head bashed in, incriminating clues point to both Lee and her husband, Joe, as suspects. While Lee has a tiresome habit of tangling words when she's nervous (“I guess we're not hiring a juror to be a dipsomaniac... I mean diplomat”), when confronted with a shovel-wielding “snowman,” the spunky, near six-foot amateur sleuth can throw 20 pounds of chocolates at her attacker with deadly accuracy. Dollops of chocolate lore add to the cozy fun. (Oct.)
