The Chocolate Moose Motive: A Chocoholic Mystery

In Carl's satisfying 12th cozy featuring Lee McKinney Woodyard (after 2011's The Chocolate Castle Clue), the chocolate shop proprietor stirs up bad blood in Warner Pier, Mich., by taking on a controversial new employee, Forsythia "Sissy" Smith. Townsfolk disapprove of Sissy's unconventional upbringing by her hippie grandmother and suspect she may be responsible for her husband Buzz's murder. Lee, however, sympathizes with the young woman%E2%80%94who's vying against her former father-in-law for custody of her son, Johnny%E2%80%94and hires Sissy to work at her shop, TenHuis Chocolade. After a second murder casts further suspicion on Sissy, Lee becomes even more involved in helping her friend, enlisting the help of such lively characters as her lawyer husband, Joe, and her Aunt Nettie to find the real killer. A recipe for Gran's Fudge rounds out the volume. Agent: Maureen Walters, Curtis Brown. (Oct.)