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A Chocolate is Announced ( Bean to Bar Mysteries) by Amber Royer

About A Chocolate is Announced

Character Post: Dawn Hanlon

This is Book 7, and for the first time this author has FINALLY invited Logan’s family to be on the page. Logan is protagonist Felicity’s love interest. He is from Minnesota, whereas she is from Texas. I rated one phone call in the last book, and Felicity came and visited us in Bloomington between the end of Book 6 and the epilogue, but there’s not a peep about what might have happened during that visit. Jeez Louise, It’s about time, don’t you think?

Anyway, so okay, hi, I’m Dawn, Logan Hanlon’s sister. And look at things from my point of view. My brother recently got engaged to this woman who has solved a whole string of murder mysteries – but only since she met him. Which is super weird, dontcha know. At first, I was suspicious. After all, she claims that she doesn’t seek out murders to solve, but she knows when there’s going to be one, because a vintage book shows up in her life. Which makes absolutely no sense, right? I’m sure you’ve seen that meme about Murder She Wrote, the one that says Jessica Fletcher actually committed all the murders she claims to have solved? Yeah – when you see a ridiculous pattern, like someone who’s never come into a contact with a murder getting drawn into solving like a dozen of them in a year — including one that was a serial killer, and several cases of multiple murders – what exactly are you supposed to think? Especially when you’re part of a family of cops?

I ran her prints and did a background check on her, but don’t tell anybody that, since it might be considered a mis-appropriation of police resources. Any-who, my search on her came back clean. Nothing except a car accident when she was a teenager. And when I finally met her, she seemed like a perfectly nice individual, even when I tried to drop some psych analysis clues into conversation. So I guess she’s just been roped into some crazy coincidences? There’s a whole true crime podcast about her, and the guy who runs it keeps referring too Felicity as a mega murder magnet.

My husband Fisher and I are attending a murder mystery weekend Felicity is throwing to show off a new line of chocolate bars supposedly created by my brother. But anyone who knows Logan knows he’s not cut out for life as a baker. Or chocolatier. Or whatever. He’s always been a man of action, ready to take off in a plane or chase down a bad guy. He used to be a cop, too, before he blew an op and sent himself into self-imposed exile on the beach. He has a puddle jump flight business, which means he spends a lot of time ferrying people to and from the island, or taking tourists on short flights. Which is enough a waste of his talents. I mean, his cooking is not bad. He can even rival Mom’s hot dish. But I can’t imagine he sat still long enough to learn how to roast chocolate, let alone create the flavor combinations in the chocolate bars that bear his signature. They all mix chocolate with unusual inclusions. And what does my little brother know about dragon fruit? Or Japanese sea salt?

Fisher thinks that Felicity and Logan are just the cutest couple, and that I should just be happy for my brother. But I suspect that that is just because Fisher wants us all to be able to double-date on date night. And because he loves weddings. I really think Fisher wants Logan to choose him to be best man, but Logan’s made some fairly close friends here – especially Arlo, who is a local cop, and who, apparently used to date Felicity. I think I’m missing some nuance that I would have gotten had somebody bothered to invite me into the first six books of this series. Because it seems weird, dontcha think?

I do love the hotel where the mystery weekend is taking place. Felicity’s uncle works offshore, and her aunt flips properties. Right now her aunt has mostly restored a boutique hotel right on the bay. It’s small, only four floors, but there’s an inviting lobby, with a cool art deco fireplace. I love the sense of style, and there’s even a palm tree inside, reminding everyone that this really is an island. I think this will be a fun weekend – as long as nothing gets out of hand. After all, if Felicity really is a mega murder magnet – and that isn’t just a tag line – w

A Chocolate is Announced (Bean to Bar Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
7th in Series
Setting – Texas
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Golden Tip Press (June 25, 2024)
Print length ‏ : ‎ 277 pages
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CZMXM3BN

Felicity Koerber is finally getting her life together. She has a fiancé, her bean to bar chocolate shop on Galveston’s historic Strand has become a gathering spot for the community, and she is ready to embrace whatever the future holds. She’s ready for another launch party – despite the disaster at her grand opening, when she’d first gotten involved with solving a murder. And this time she’s embracing her status as a sleuth. She’s hosting a murder mystery weekend to celebrate the new Mystery Flavor line of craft

chocolate bars. She’s held a contest to choose the attendees, who will all stay at her aunt’s flip hotel and enjoy the island. It’s all supposed to be perfectly random – only, Felicity starts to uncover connections between her guests. When one of them winds up murdered, Felicity has to keep her aunt from becoming the main suspect.

The killer is very clearly calling Felicity out, leaving clues that mean little to anyone other than her. But that doesn’t narrow down the suspect pool. Her guests are there because they love the true crime podcast she’s been featured on. And she can’t decide whether the killer wants her to catch them – or just wants to taunt her.

Meanwhile, Felicity is also playing host to her future in-laws and discovers that her fiancé’s sister, who is also a cop, is very competitive. Can Felicity hold her own and make a good impression, while keeping her business together and her aunt out of jail? And can Felicity solve it in time to protect the people she cares about from becoming additional victims?
Satchmo the retired police dog turned therapy dog returns to help her sniff out a few clues, and one of the guests brings along a ferret named Cheeseburger, who keeps showing up in the most unexpected places.

About Amber Royer

Amber Royer writes the CHOCOVERSE comic telenovela-style foodie-inspired space opera series, and the BEAN TO BAR MYSTERIES. She is also the author of STORY LIKE A JOURNALIST: A WORKBOOK FOR NOVELISTS, which boils down her writing knowledge into an actionable plan involving over 100 worksheets to build a comprehensive story plan for your novel. She blogs about creative writing technique and all things chocolate at www.amberroyer.com. She also teaches creative writing and is an author coach. If you are very nice to her, she might make you cupcakes.

Chocolate cupcakes, of course.

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