This story was fun, suspenseful and full of creamy goodness.  Well developed characters and believable situations. S very good who-dun-it! Can't wait for more!

Bronwyn is running her family's ice cream parlor in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.  There is a new developer in town who wants to build a mall in the small town.  He is murdered not long after he announces  his plan and one of Wyn's friends is the one to find the body. Wyn is against investigating until one of her friends becomes the prime suspect.

 I really enjoyed the first book in this series and was looking forward to reading this.  Wyn is a great character and the family dynamics in the book are very realistic.  I love how close she and her family are.  Wyn's closest friends add a light humor to the story. Especially Riya.  It was interesting to see Wyn's friend from New York come into town and see how Wyn's family and friends take to her almost immediately.  But while there were things I liked about the book, there were a few that I could have done without.  Wyn's Aunt Jack coming to town was a plot that could have been left out since it wasn't really pertinent to the story.  I also wished Wyn would have started investigating sooner then she did.  Overall this was a good, solid book.  3.5 stars  I received this book from netgalley and Berkeley publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Love this series and author. If you haven't read this book yet I highly recommend it. I suggest reading the books in order.

Super cute cozy mystery featuring a Black lead! I really love how the heroine is forming a deep found family after returning to her home town. RTC.

This is the second in the series, Ice Cream Parlor Mysteries.  I enjoyed reading the first one so much, I had to give this a try.  I like that Win is a reluctant sleuth.  I also like that the story is set in Ohio.

I found this installation to be a little unfocused but still enjoyable.  Possibly a list of characters at the beginning so the reader can refer back to it may be in order.  There were a lot of characters.
I liked the subject matter, developer trying to swoop into the downtown area.  Is it revitalization, gentrification, or some of both?

I look forward to the next iteration.

Netgalley gave me an Advanced Reader Copy and am not required to leave a positive review.

I'm really enjoying this series and Win with her big wonderful family and crazy but fun-to-sleuth- with friends! She had a visit from a good friend named Rory from when Win worked at an ad agency in New York, and Rory's job was to persuade Win to come back to New York while tempting her with a nice fat pay increase and an office. I love what Win advised her friend later on toward the end. Poor Rory got a little tangled up in the murder that happened to be a guy representing a firm wanting to put a mini mall right in the downtown triangle of Chagrin Falls.

There were lots of secrets and mostly people were against this idea which would take away several of the small businesses. Maisie was about to burst from wanting to sleuth and coming up with about 800 conspiracies--that girl absolutely cracks me up and makes me laugh when she's around, what a hoot and genuinely nice person! The usual trio with the addition of Rory became a foursome (not quite all fearsome, although Riya is a force to be reckoned with!) for sleuthing. The showdown was very cool, and Rory's reaction was so good! I really liked Rory's character and would love to see more of her in future books. Who knows, maybe she'll change her mind about small towns someday?

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

Win Crewse has put a whole lot of time and money into bringing new life into her family business, the Crewse Creamery. Business is good but there is danger on the horizon for the shops that call the town square (really a triangle) home. A developer from Dallas wants to turn it all into a mall. Just the word 'mall' is enough to set tempers flaring and voices up to full volume. When the merchants attend a presentation by a couple of envoys of the developers it devolves into a real mess. Win, her grandfather and her friends all have a lot to lose if the property is bought for the mall and the very life of the village of Chagrin Falls, Ohio will be changed. All reasons to want to put a stop to the plans but enough to commit murder? Within hours of the meeting the corpse of the man who made the development presentation the night before is found behind one of the town square shops.The list of suspects is long and Win wants nothing to do with any amateur sleuthing. Been there done that and no repeats, please. Turns out finding the killer isn't the only addition to her life. Her aunt comes to town with the intention of taking over control of the Creamery.
More than just a very well written mystery this is full of family relationships and the bonds of friends. I love her mom and her grandfather, PopPop. Somehow I missed the first book in the series and can't wait to get my hands on a copy.
My thanks to the publisher Berkley Books and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

The second book in a new series and while I like the main character Bronwyn and the recipes for ice cream treats, the books start very slow with too many characters introduced.  Overall and ok read for a cozy mystery but  a reader must have patience for the story to unfold.

After a town hall meeting with various shop owners a man working for the development company turns up dead. Her friend Maisie has been itching for another case to solve since the last and after Detective Beverly visits them she's convinced he was asking them to solve it. 

I enjoyed the first book in this series so I was looking forward to this one. This one was a little all over the place for me by the halfway mark. While there needs to be multiple characters as suspects I felt like this story had too many characters. And they would be introduced and then disappear. Plus there was a side plot with Aunt Jack returning to town and trying to stake her claim in the show but that plot kept stopping and starting so you couldn't feel the full impact of her threat. 

Win's friend Rory is also in town and her old coworker is trying to convince her to move back to NYC. And Rory is acting strange and stumbling over lies from the time we meet her. No surprise that she becomes a suspect in the murder case.

Maisie was way too hyper to the point where it just got annoying. She needed to be dialed back as she was too rash with accusing anyone and everyone of committing the murder and often derailing the investigation. For someone who watches a lot of crime mysteries she should know visiting someone and then openly accusing them of murder right away gets no results.

I enjoyed the ice cream making scenes and how Win mixes different unique flavors together. And I liked that during the gentrification talk she pondered if she was part of the problem too. Even though her shop is a long time owned family business it can be seen as more trendy with the recent revamps. Especially since business is booming so much she's expanding to a food truck.

But by the time the book ended and we found out who the murder was I just didn't care. Especially since I had guessed the person early on despite the red herring being thrown in at the end. 

I still think this a good series Abby Collette just needs to tone Maisie all the way down in future installments. And don't overload with so many elements to the point where it gets confusing and uninteresting.

This is the 2nd installment in the Ice Cream Parlor mystery series.  Bronwyn (Win) Crewse is back in Chagrin Falls and is managing the family ice cream parlor.  She has made lots of improvements and is making all the ice cream herself just as her beloved Grandmother Kaye did.  I did enjoy this book but I have to admit at times it is all over the place.  A company has come to town and is buying up property to put up a mall on the town square and the merchants (or at least some) learn of this not from city hall but from a presentation at the merchants association which no one knows who put them on the agenda.  The presenter Zeke is booed and says hey don’t shoot the messenger, so naturally that evening Zeke is shot dead.  Since Win is in very early to make the ice cream she hears from her friend Maisie who she heard from someone else and then right after that the police arrive to ask questions.  The detective is Liam Beverly who was in the last one and not sure how much of a role he really has and he is in just a few scenes.  Win runs into her friend Rory who has arrived from New York to try and convince her to return to her job and she comes unannounced and with no prior contact from the company prior to this wanting her back.  Maisie immediately wants to sleuth again and Win does not as she has no stake in the game but Rory is acting very odd and soon she becomes a suspect (don’t want to give away too much). I do enjoy the author’s writing but I think there are many things holding this back from being a 5 star rating.  There are some wacky characters in this town and that adds to the delight but sometimes it goes too far and the characters need to have direction and get reined in.  Win’s potential love interest O who comes in every day (the shop has been open at least 9 months) and Win still doesn’t figure out this guy likes her. I am looking forward to reading the next installment.  It is a good enjoyable mystery and read.

I really wanted to like this book - it has great foundations in term of plot and characters. However, the prose was clunky, and as written it was quite confusing - some characters have backstory at length, while others just show up with no background whatsoever. I also didn't have faith that the characters would solve the mystery. Maisie in particular was extremely challenging to read.

The second installment in a series that is quickly becoming a delicious treat! Thank you for the opportunity to review, I'll be sure to share this new title with my customers.

A Game of Cones is the second book in author Abby Collette’s Ice Cream Parlor mystery series.  Set in the small village of Chagrin Falls, a Cleveland suburb, this book begins with a meeting of the local shop owners who are being presented with a plan to buy out a section of the village triangle and put up a mini mall. This is not well received and the presenter, Zeke Reynolds, is booed and a shoe may or may not have been thrown at him.  When this company representative is found shot to death in a back alley much later that night, the die is cast for Bronwyn (Win) Crewse to be pulled into another investigation.

While her friend Maisie Solomon is eager to get involved, Win is not. However, when her visiting friend, Rory Hunter, who has come to Chagrin Falls to lure Win back to New York City and the job she left behind, becomes implicated, Win, too, becomes more eager to uncover the actual villain and get her friend out of the crosshairs of Detective Liam Beverly. 

As Win struggles with running her business, Crewse Creamery, convincing her friend she has no interest in returning to New York, and investigating the murder, her Aunt Jack arrives back in town, perhaps to take over the family business and push Win aside.     With this worry on top of all else, Win is burning the candle at both ends. 

In a twisting plot with many potential suspects and revealed secrets, Win once more is in the right place at the wrong time and is able to bring the case to conclusion.  This is another well woven mystery by Ms. Collette. I did enjoy this book and I do recommend it!!

A murder in a small tön. A few Friends try to solve it. But this is difficult, there are so many opinions who the murderer could be. But in the end the Mystery is Silver.

The second novel of the #OwnVoices Ice Cream Parlor mystery series is a delightful confection as appealing as its predecessor! Bronwyn Crewse quit big city life in order to come home to the Cleveland suburb of Chagrin Falls and take over running her family’s ice cream store. Several months since its near-disastrous re-opening, when unexpected snowfall and an even less anticipated murder nearly derailed what was supposed to be a happy occasion, the Crewse Creamery is doing well enough that Win, as she’s known to family and friends, is thinking of expanding operations to include a food truck.

But a local shopkeepers’ meeting has her village’s business owners in a tizzy, as representative Zeke Robertson explains his development company’s proposal to buy out several buildings in order to construct a mall in Chagrin Falls’ central triangle. Some shopkeepers are vehemently opposed to the idea, even as others are only too happy to take the money and run. While Win isn’t thrilled at the prospect of a mall changing the tenor of a small town that leans heavily into its reputation for quaintness, she’s willing to adopt a wait-and-see policy, especially since the creamery won’t be directly affected by the building plans. So it comes as a shock when Chagrin Falls’ only homicide detective comes knocking on her door early the next morning to ask if she’s seen anything that could shed light on the shooting death of poor Zeke.

Win is cooperative but ultimately knows very little, to the disappointment of her crime-solver-wannabe best friend, Maisie Solomon. While Maisie is eager to throw herself back into amateur sleuthing, Win has more important things to worry about. The arrival of her friend and former co-worker Rory Hunter is a pleasant surprise, even though Rory is trying to tempt her back to her old job in New York City with promises of a raise and sundy perks. It’s the sudden reappearance of Crewse Creamery’s combative former manager, Win’s own Aunt Jack, however, that has Win reconsidering her place in Chagrin Falls:

QUOTE
I needed to calm my nerves after Aunt Jack blew in and started a commotion. She hadn't stayed ten minutes and already she'd made my mouth turn dry and my stomach cramp up. My mother left soon after her, I was sure she was having a parking lot moment. Whenever she was stressed or depressed, she'd pull over into a parking lot and sit. Sometimes for hours. It didn't matter where the parking lot was, just whatever was close when those feelings took over. My father said it was probably a good thing to have her off the road.
END QUOTE

Win, however, isn’t so distracted by Aunt Jack’s shenanigans as not to notice how weirdly Rory is behaving, even for a New Yorker unused to life in small town Ohio. When Rory is implicated in Zeke’s death, Win immediately leaps to her defense, to Maisie’s glee. With the help of their other best friend Riya Amacarelli, the women begin to systematically look into the people who might have wanted Zeke dead.

This was a well-plotted culinary cozy that features some of the cutest character interactions in the genre today. Scatterbrained Maisie and aggressive Riya are always a hoot, and it was so much fun to have city slicker Rory join them and our more level-headed heroine as they followed suspects in an effort to clear Rory’s name: 

QUOTE
"What if she sees us?" Rory asked.

"Who cares," Maisie said. "We're not breaking any laws, we can do what we want."

"Stalking," Rory said. "We're breaking the law against stalking."

"We're trying to apprehend a murderer," Maisie said. "I think if we get caught they'll be lenient with us."

Rory looked at me. "When you're hanging out with her, do you ever feel like you might end up in jail?"
END QUOTE

In addition to the entertaining story, Abby Collette includes three ice cream recipes at the end of the book that will surely have you craving some variation of the frozen treat (the mango sorbet she includes will get me every time.) Ordinarily, I like to cover mysteries with recipes over at my Cooking The Books column on this site but ice cream is just that length too far out of my capabilities that I’ll have to enjoy the recipes vicariously through the charming writing of this murder mystery.

After A Deadly Inside Scoop was one of my favorite cozy mysteries of 2020 (trust me, I read a lot of cozies!) I was so excited to be back in Chagrin Falls with Win and her family. A Game of Cones did NOT disappoint. When a developer comes to town with news of a potential mall being built, someone in the community takes quick action and the developer ends up dead that night.

One of Win's friends (visiting from NYC) stumbles across the body and becomes suspect number one. Even though she tries to keep her distance, Win can't help but get tangled up in the murder investigation and comes face to face with a cold-blooded killer. And we still get the family dynamic and charming ice cream shop setting that we grew to love in book one.

Any cozy mystery set in Ohio is automatically of interest to me, and I can't wait to see what book three has in store!

Thank you Berkley for the NetGalley ARC!

A Game of Cones:  An Ice Cream Parlor Mystery
By Abby Collette
Berkley
March 2021

Review by Cynthia Chow

After having turned around and vastly improved the profits for her family’s Crewse Creamery ice cream parlor, Bronwyn “Win” Crewse is thrilled to be participating in a meeting of the Shop Owners of Chagrin Falls Association.  Less welcome is the news of a businessman’s plans to create a vertical mall in the center of the Ohio village, especially when it means the purchase of a building one of Win’s friend’s had her heart set on for an expansion of the community garden.  So when Zack Reynolds’ body is found not long after his announcement, it doesn’t take a huge leap for police and Win to suspect it of being a murder.

It’s not the best time for Win’s friend from New York to arrive in town in an attempt to convince Win to return to her Big City old job, especially when Rory Hunter herself appears to be acting a little “off.”  As the secrets come out and she becomes a Person of Interest for the police, Win rallies her forces to investigate.  Or more accurately, Win’s friends pressure her to investigate, with uber-mystery-reading-fan Maisie Solomon leading the charge.  While Maisie can be relied on to have an ever-revolving suspect list and complete lack of restraint or boundaries, Win’s other BFF Riya Amacarelli provides medical know-how, martial arts skills, and unfortunate anger management issues.  Their off-brand Charlie’s Angels is both hindered and enabled by Rory’s contributions, which does at least allow for an excuse to hire O, the undeniably handsome and helpful town attorney.

Despite both her father and brother being medical doctors, Win never feels less-than choosing to give up ad agency job in New York to take over running her family’s ice cream shop.  In fact, they are very proud of Crewse Creamery, which was established by Win’s grandparents as Chagrin River’s first black-owned business.  Win has turned the creamery around with her innovative flavors and on-trend creations, which is why the unexpected arrival of her Aunt Jack is so unnerving.  Win can’t help but fear that her Poppop will give control of the creamery back to his daughter, despite Aunt Jack’s initial failed attempt to turn it into a novelty shop.

This is an extremely light-hearted novel that explodes with the exuberant exploits of Win and her friends.  While their plans may be more impulsive than strategic, their determination to solve the mystery is never in doubt.  This still leaves time for Win to experiment with her innovative flavor blends, with recipes at the end which include one for the eye-opening Rory’s Mint Mojito Coffee Ice Cream.  The friendships, good-natured teasing, and banter between the women always feel natural and real, with their relationships as integral to the novel as the mystery.  This second of the series featuring a refreshing and very likable heroine continues the fun that began with its debut, and readers will be left hungry for even more.

This is the first I’ve read of this murder mystery series. I will absolutely go back and read the first. Although it doesn’t hit my normal creepy, thriller factor for a mystery- it was cute and I hadn’t a clue who done it until all was revealed.
When Win returned home from NYC to suburban Ohio to run the family ice cream shoppe Crewse Creamery- the last thing she thought she’d be doing is sleuthing to find killers in her spare time. But now it’s her friend from NYC that is a suspect. Win and her posse gather clues, while serving up the best ice cream until they find themselves right in the middle of the killers path.

Wynn (Bronwyn) Crewse just wants to make ice cream and make others happy with her creations.
The first sign of trouble is when Aunt Jack comes back unexpectedly, and starts trying to make the shop into the convenience store that she had turned into before leaving with most of the profits. And Wynn is worried that PopPop will let her take over again.

Rory Hunter makes a surprise visit from NY. Her goal is to lure Wynn back to her old job as a marketing executive, with a significant pay raise.

At a town meeting, it's announced that a company from Texas is buying up some of the buildings on the square (Triangle) to open a new mall.

When the rep is found dead in an alley, strong evidence implicates Rory, who is questioned and told not to leave the area.

NOw Wynn, Maisie, and friends are in the middle of another investigation.

This is the second in the Ice Cream Parler Mystery series by Abby Collette.
There are developed characters, some red herrings, intrigue, and some humor.

This is a really fun story and I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

I really like the character development as well as the strengthening of the friendships between some of the characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Game of Cones is the second installment in the Ice Cream Parlor Mystery series. The story follows Bronwyn, who is over the moon because the ice cream shop her family has owned for decades is restored to it's former glory. Although things get messy when a developer who wants to build a mall comes to town, and a killer takes him out.

The story was fun and cozy, and very character based. There are a lot of characters, which made the story a little confusing to me at times, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed this.

On a random note, I loved the ice cream recipes at the end!