Cozy mystery review of Toxic Toffee (Amish Candy Shop Mystery #4) by Amanda Flower

Toxic Toffee (Amish Candy Shop Mystery #4) 

Author: Amanda Flower

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Source: NetGalley

Length: Novel

Reviewed by: Laurie

Rating: 5 

A sweet tooth for murder . . .  
 
Bailey King’s in New York wrapping up a six-week shoot on her first cable TV show, Bailey’s Amish Sweets, when she gets a call from her Ohio town’s resident busybody. With Easter around the corner, Bailey’s been recruited to create a giant toffee bunny for the weeklong springtime festival that will also feature live white rabbits. But back home in Harvest, death becomes the main attraction when Stephen Raber keels over from an apparent heart attack—with Bailey and Raber’s pet bunny as witnesses.
. 
Except it wasn’t Raber’s heart that suddenly gave out—a lethal dose of lily of the valley was mixed into a tasty piece of toffee. Who’d want to poison a jovial rabbit farmer who reminded Bailey of an Amish Santa Claus? To solve the murder, she and her sheriff deputy boyfriend Aiden must uncover a twenty-year-old secret. She’ll need to pull a rabbit out of a hat to keep a healthy distance from toxic people, including one venomous killer . . . 

I always look forward to reading one of Amanda Flower's books, she is an amazing storyteller, you can open up one of her books and your daily problems fad away as you become one of her characters.

Bailey is one of my favorite characters, not only does she get to play with candy at her grandma's candy shop, but she also has an amazing community of fun and crazy people and animals to be around so, your never bored with the village and the people. Oh, and I cannot forget about her hot cop boyfriend Aiden ;)

I love how Amanda can toss enough clues throughout the story to keep me guessing and at the end, I am surprised that none of my suspects is the one who did it. 

The added rabbit in this story was a very nice touch, I am always pleased when an author can write about a different kind of pet instead of the same cat or dog, not that I love dogs and cats but as you keep reading about the same old pets it gets kind of old. 

One of my favorite cozy mystery series and I highly recommend you bump it on top of your reading list.

Cozy mystery review of Death and Daisies (A Magic Garden Mystery #2) by Amanda Flower

Title: Death and Daisies (A Magic Garden Mystery #2) 

Author: Amanda Flower

Genre: Cozy Mystery 

Length: Novel

Source: NetGalley

Reviewed by: Laurie

Rating: 4  

Florist Fiona Knox left behind her gloomy life for a magical garden in Scotland, but a murder on her shop’s opening day spells doom.

Fiona Knox thought she was pulling her life back together when she inherited her godfather’s cottage in Duncreigan, Scotland—complete with a magical walled garden. But the erstwhile Tennessee flower shop owner promptly found herself puddle boot-deep in danger when she found a dead body among the glimmering blossoms. One police investigation later (made a trifle less unpleasant by the presence of handsome Chief Inspector Neil Craig), and Fiona’s life is getting back on a steady, though bewitched, track. Her sister Isla has just moved in with her, and the grand opening of her new spellbound venture, the Climbing Rose Flower Shop in Aberdeenshire, is imminent.

But dark, ensorcelled clouds are gathering to douse Fiona’s newly sunny outlook. First, imperious parish minister Quaid MacCullen makes it undeniably clear that he would be happy to send Fiona back to Tennessee. Then, a horrific lightning storm, rife with terribly omen, threatens to tear apart the elderly cottage and sends Fi and Isla cowering under their beds. The storm passes, but then, Fi is called away from the Climbing Rose’s opening soiree when Kipling, the tiny village’s weak-kneed volunteer police chief, finds a dead body on the beach.

The body proves difficult to identify, but Kipling is certain it’s that of the parish minister. Which makes Fiona, MacCullen’s new nemesis, a suspect. And what’s worse, Isla has seemed bewitched as of late…did she do something unspeakable to protect her sister? The last thing Fiona wanted to do was play detective again. But now, the rosy future she’d envisioned is going to seed, and if she and Craig can’t clear her name, her idyllic life will wilt away in Death and Daisies, national bestselling author Amanda Flower’s second enchanting Magic Garden mystery.

I enjoy the mystery sounding the minister’s death and Fi’s sister being added in the story brought a good hominess to Fi and I enjoyed her continued love interest with the chief inspector, they seem so great together, but I missed the whimsical elements that were in the first book surrounding the garden. You do get a few clues about the mystery of garden in this instilment but the garden was not center of the mystery as it is in the first book.

All, in all, the story is very entertaining I just missed reading and learning more about the garden and the magic it holds in the town and I look forward to the next installment.

Cozy Mystery review of Premeditated Peppermint (Amish Candy Shop Mystery #3) by Amanda Flower

Title: Premeditated Peppermint (Amish Candy Shop Mystery #3) 

Author: Amanda Flower 

Source: NetGalley

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Length: Novel

Rating: 4

Reviewed by Laurie 

Someone’s sweet on revenge . . .

Christmas is Bailey King’s favorite time of year. For her first Yuletide in Harvest, Ohio, the former big-city chocolatier is recreating a cherished holiday treat: peppermint combined with molten white chocolate. But her sugar high plummets when her former boyfriend walks into the candy shop she now runs with her Amish grandmother. New York celebrity chef Eric Sharp and his TV crew have arrived to film an authentic Amish Christmas. Bailey’s not about to let her beloved town—and Swissmen Sweets—be turned into a sound bite. Unfortunately, she gets more publicity than she bargained for when Eric’s executive producer is found strangled to death—and Eric’s the prime suspect.

With Bailey’s sheriff deputy boyfriend out to prove Eric’s guilt, her bad-boy ex tries to sweet-talk her into helping him clear his name . . . and rekindle their romance to boost ratings for his show. Now, between a surplus of suspects and a victim who wasn’t who she seemed, Bailey’s edging dangerously close to a killer who isn’t looking to bring joy to the world—or to Bailey—this deadly Noel . . .

Amish Candy Shop Mystery has become one of my absolute favorite cozy mystery series I love the characters and settings.

Amanda Flower is a very talented author. You don’t find many authors that can create different worlds and different characters in different series. Most of the time when you read different series by the same author you’ll read either the same likeness of characters or somehow the storyline will feel like you’ve read it before. This is one reason I love reading books by Amanda Flower because you don’t feel like you read the same book or characters before.

So far, this story is my favorite book in the series, the twist and turns in this mystery had me coming back for more until I was done and shocked as to who done it. Bailey relationship picks up more as she and Aiden get close, but with Bailey’s new job offer we are left with a lot of questions as what is going to happen next, which leaves me with I can’t wait for the next installment. 

Cozy mystery review: Flowers and Foul Play (A Magic Garden Mystery #1) by Amanda Flower

Title: Flowers and Foul Play (A Magic Garden Mystery #1) 
Author: Amanda Flower
Source: Netgalley
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Lenght: Novel
Reviewed by: Laurie 
Rating: 4

Fiona Knox lost her fiancé and her flower shop—but when she flies to Scotland to inherit her godfather’s cottage and possibly magical walled garden, she may lose her life as well when she’s swept into a murder investigation.

Florist Fiona Knox’s life isn’t smelling so sweet these days. Her fiancé left her for their cake decorator. Then, her flower shop wilted after a chain florist opened next door. So when her godfather, Ian MacCallister, leaves her a cottage in the Scottish Highlands, Fiona jumps on the next plane to Edinburgh. Ian, after all, is the one who taught her to love flowers. But when Ian’s elderly caretaker Hamish MacGregor shows her to the cottage upon her arrival, she finds the once resplendent grounds of Duncreigan in a dreadful shambles—with a dead body in the garden.

Minutes into her arrival, Fiona is already being questioned by the handsome Chief Inspector Neil Craig and getting her passport seized. But it’s Craig’s fixation on Uncle Ian’s loyal caretaker, Hamish, as a prime suspect, that really makes her worried. As Fiona strolls the town, she quickly realizes there are a whole bouquet of suspects much more likely to have killed Alastair Croft, the dead lawyer who seems to have had more enemies than friends.

Now it’s up to Fiona to clear Hamish’s name before it’s too late in Flowers and Foul Play, national bestselling author Amanda Flower’s enchanting first Magic Garden mystery,

Flowers and Foul Play is a fascinating story that takes you on an adventure in a small village in Scotland.

Fiona and the whole cast in Scotland are very likable characters especially inspector Neil, which I hope to read more of incoming books, the settings are very detailed in the story and I loved the touch of magic and the fact that I was never able to guess the killer, but I did have a few issues with the story that I hope some will be explained in coming books.

The setting is in Scotland but yet every character in Scotland seemed to talk in American language, I felt like if there were more notes of the Scottish slang it would have given it a more Scotland feel, as it is now there wasn’t enough aye, eh, naw here and there to make me believe it was in Scotland.

I liked the idea of Fiona owning a flower shop, but I had an issue when she sees the garden, it was liked it never mattered to her, someone that has a passion for flowers would show emotion when flowers are dying or even coming to life.

I also felt like a few things were left untold. You never truly find why Fiona is tied to the stone and its magic and how it all works.

Even with the issues I had, the story kept me enthralled to the end and I cannot wait for book two. 

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Lethal Licorice (Amish Candy Shop Mystery #2) by Amanda Flower

Title: Lethal Licorice (Amish Candy Shop Mystery#2) 

Author: Amanda Flower

Source: Netgalley

Genre: Cozy mystery

Reviewed by: Laurie

Rating: 4

Book one review can be found here

Release date: February 27, 2018


Too many sweets spoil the murder . . .

Harvest, Ohio, is a long way from New York City, where Bailey King left a coveted job as a head chocolatier to take over Swissmen Sweets, her Amish grandparents’ candy shop. Now, while caring for her recently widowed grandmother, she plans to honor her grandfather’s memory by entering the annual Amish Confectionery Competition. But between lavender blueberry fudge and chocolate cherry ganache truffles, Bailey may have bitten off more than she can chew when the search for a missing pot-bellied pig turns up a body suffering from sugar overload—the fatal kind . . .

A candy maker from a neighboring town who wanted Englischer Bailey disqualified for being an outsider, Josephine Weaver died from an allergy to an essential licorice ingredient. The suspects include Josephine’s niece, a young woman going through her rumspringa, or running around time, and Bailey herself. Now it falls to Bailey, who’s sweet on the local sheriff’s deputy, to clear their names and entice a killer with a cast-iron stomach for cold-blooded murder . . .

Amanda Flower delivers another great Amish candy mystery!

Bailey just can’t catch a break no sooner than the first case was closed she finds herself right back in the middle sticky case a few weeks later. This time around Bailey finds herself in knee deep with a steep candy competition, murder, lost pig and a mysterious woman. Plus you get a shocking surprise when you find out who done it, I know I was.

Again this time around you get great characters and story setting, the only downside for me was the ending seemed to wrap up way to quick once she found out who it was bam it was all over.

This is standalone, but the first book is just a good so, my suggestion is to start with book one or if you didn’t then please go back and read it, it’ loads of fun too. 

Review of Assaulted Caramel (Amish Candy Shop Mystery #1) by Amanda Flower

Title: Assaulted Caramel (Amish Candy Shop Mystery #1)
Author: Amanda Flower
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: Netgalley
Length: Novel
Release date August 29, 2017
Reviewed by: Laurie

Sometimes you need a sweet tooth to take a bite out of crime . . .

Bailey King is living the sweet life as assistant chocolatier at world-famous JP Chocolates in New York City. But just when Bailey’s up for a life-changing promotion, her grandmother calls with news that her grandfather’s heart condition has worsened. Bailey rushes to Harvest, Ohio, where her grandparents still run Swissmen Sweets, the Amish candy shop where she was first introduced to delicious fudge, truffles, and other assorted delights.

She finds her grandfather is doing better than she feared. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for a local Englisch developer, whom Bailey finds dead in the candy shop kitchen—with Jebediah King’s chocolate knife buried in his chest. Now the police are sweet on her grandfather as the prime suspect. Despite the sincere efforts of a yummy deputy with chocolate-brown eyes, Bailey takes it on herself to clear Jebediah. But as a cunning killer tries to fudge the truth, Bailey may be headed straight into a whole batch of trouble . . .

Review 

Amanda Flower’s knows how to add the right about of sweetness to an edge of your seat mystery.

I’ve read a lot of cozies, but I’ve never tried an Amish series, I really didn’t know what to expect when I started the book, I sure didn’t expect to read 14 chapter the first day. Heck, it was so good I even went back to read the rest the story next day. The setting is very detailed, the characters are very easy to love and the mystery was totally a surprise, I thought for sure it was someone else.

The only downside I found was I felt this story was rushed. I just don’t see it possible for anyone to do all of the things the characters were able to do in just a couple of days.

All in all Assaulted Caramel is one mystery you shouldn’t pass up I am sure glad I tried it and can’t wait for book two in the series. 

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