Criminally Cocoa is the next installment in Amanda Flower’s An Amish Candy Shop Mystery series. This is an easy to read confectionery cozy. Unlike the other books in this series, this one provides a secondary character’s perspective of events. The story flows smoothly, and the characters are well developed. This is a delightful addition to the series.

Bailey King is in New York City filming ‘Bailey’s Amish Sweets’ and invited her Amish cousin, Charlotte Weaver, to be her candy-making helper. Being photographed or on television isn’t something accepted by the Amish community, but Bailey isn’t Amish, although she makes her chocolates and other candies the Amish way. Charlotte’s able to join her because she’s on her Rumspringa, the time when unbaptized Amish youth left their community to try new things, English things, way, and decide the path their life will take. Bailey’s best friend and ‘agent,’ Cass Calbera, surprises Bailey by bringing Juliet Brody (Bailey’s boyfriend’s mother) and arranging to include Jethro, Juliet’s white polka-dotted potbellied pig, in the filming. When things start happening on the set that make Bailey look bad, Charlotte believes someone s sabotaging the filming and puts the sleuthing skills she learned from Bailey to try to track down the guilty party.

I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

Another favorite author and series. Really enjoyed the glimpse into Charlotte and her experience in going outside the Amish. Wonderful as always, can't wait to see what Charlotte becomes overall.

A delightful addition to a great cozy mystery series, with an interesting twist. The previous books in this series have featured Bailey, a candy maker from New York who returned to her Amish home town to take over her grandparents' candy store, Swissmen Sweets and how she fits in with the Amish way of life. Her Amish cousin Charlotte was a minor character in the series, This story features Charlotte, who is in Rumspringa, the time of life when she gets to experience life outside the Amish community and see what she wants out of life. She accompanies Bailey to New York where Bailey is making a pilot for a TV show about Amish candies and when there are several instances of tampering on the set, Charlotte tries to find out who is trying to harm Bailey. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and can't wait to find out what Charlotte decides to become.