The Chocolate Cat Caper by JoAnna Carl

So I learned my lesson after reading "The Cat Who..." series and I decided to read the first book in the series first. I will definitely read more in this series. The main character, Lee McKinney, certainly has lead a busy life... accountant, trophy wife, divorcee, Texas beauty queen, etc. And while typing this it seems a little crazy, she does seem to pull off all these roles. She "comes home" to Michigan after divorcing her rich husband (role of trophy wife) to get a fresh start. She explains that as a child she came to this quiet vacation town in Michigan to help her aunt run her chocolate shop, so it seems natural that in a time in her life she in which she needs to rebuild, she finds herself here again.

This particular story sets the scene for how and why she came to work with her aunt. It also introduces you to all of the quaint characters in this town including some from her past. While working for her aunt (and she is there to be the business minded person... remember role of accountant), she talks her aunt into taking any order for Clementine Ripley, the famous... or should I saw infamous... defense attorney. There apparently is a long list of people that hate this woman (hello: she is rich, pretty, and a successful lawyer... duh). Naturally, she has to die in mysteriously in the story... and she does. This the mystery. With so many suspects, anyone could have killed her. Also the way that she dies is by eating a piece of cyanide laced chocolate that Lee delivered and her aunt made, which is how she gets drawn into the mystery.

For the most part, I enjoyed almost all of the characters in this book. And while Lee has this annoying (I think it is suppose to be funny) habit of saying the wrong words when she talks when she is nervous, I do really like her. Like I said, I actually like everyone which is why I will read more in this series. Unlike other mysteries like this, I didn't really feel any connection with the town (setting), but perhaps that will come as I read more.