Another cozy murder mystery by an author I have not my read before. I found it e entertaining with several twist and turns that kept me engaged.

All words an opinions are my own. I was given a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher for my honest review.

Cute story and keeps the reader entertained. Riley is a former librarian for the CIA and she seems to be in the right place at the right time to solve a murder. A famous photographer Adam is murdered and she is on the hunt for who did it and why.

MINT CHOCOLATE MURDER by Meri Allen
The Second Ice Cream Shop Mystery

Autumn may have arrived in Penniman, Connecticut, but the Udderly Delicious Ice Cream Shop is still doing brisk business. Riley Rhodes, shop manager, is also joining forces with caterer Bitsy Bittman to provide ice cream for the Fall Arts Festival at Moy Mull Castle. Maud Monaco, the former super model who owns the castle, has brought controversial photographer Adam Blasco in as the featured artist. His edgy photography is not everyone's cup of tea and neither is the man himself. Missing his own presentation the second day, the errant artist is eventually found dead, in the locked dungeon. Was it an accident or murder?

A pretentious artist whose predilections are even more heinous is ripe to be murdered and we have a unique method in the second Ice Cream Shop Mystery. We also have a great setting within the charming Penniman environs. Moy Mull Castle and its grounds provide atmosphere and history too. What better place for a murder victim to be found than a dungeon? Rather fitting as well.

I enjoyed meeting the new characters and getting to know those from the previous book better. I commiserated with Caroline over Sprinkles behavior, laughing at the exit of the cat therapist while picturing my own Calumet doing something similar. Sigh.

MINT CHOCOLATE MURDER serves up a delicious mystery sprinkled with colorful characters, funny moments, and mouthwatering ice cream.

After reading this book I want all the ice cream!

Mint Chocolate Murder is the second in the Ice Cream Shop Mystery series my Meri Allen, and just like the first the story it combines mystery, humor, and ice cream to create a great story with an amusing cast of characters.

Riley is summoned to Moy Mull, a castle in Penniman. Maud wants Riley to create flavors unique to a celebration Maud is hosting for the art gallery being hosted at the castle. When Maud's friend Adam is found dead, there are many possibilities of who could have killed him. The problem is Adam was killed behind a locked door, so the possibilities are narrowed even more. Or are they?

This story takes many twists and turns and left me guessing. I love this series and cannot wait for the next one.

I voluntarily received a copy of this book from St. Martin's Press. All views are simply my honest opinion.

This is a quite sweet (pun intended!) cozy mystery that is a pleasant read. I found the overall story and all the characters a little messy and convoluted, often having to re-read sections thinking I missed something. I enjoyed the creative ice creams, and the overall creatives that run throughout this book. Its quite fun and lighthearted, which fits the cozy mystery genre very well. I liked Riley, her character was unexpected to me and found her quite quick and smart. Overall this was a good read!

This was a fun mystery novel that kept me guessing until the end! The book setting was unique and added some great twists to the story. I enjoyed the characters and their interactions with one another. I wasn’t really sure about the cat storyline and it felt a bit unnecessary. Riley is very clever and I was rooting for her to solve the crime! The ice cream flavors sounded delicious and made me want a scoop for myself! Perfect for a quick summer read!

Kept getting confused between Moy Mull and Maud Monaco, but other than that, this was a fabulous read. I love a good locked room mystery, and this didn't disappoint.

This was my first book I read in the Ice Cream Shop Mysteries by Meri Allen and it was such an enjoyable experience. There were castles, interesting and quirky characters, humour and of course, ice cream.

The second book of the series, Mint Chocolate Murder finds ice cream shop manager Riley hired to cater an art show at the town’s castle owned by a former supermodel and widow to a royal. Unfortunately, the main photographer who’s work was being celebrated is found dead the next day in the castle’s dungeon, and Riley’s friend is the main suspect.

Riley getting involved with the help of some nosey neighbours provided a revelry in the plot and the pace of the mystery was perfect. Although I figured out who the killer was probably mid-way through the novel, the little nuggets of clues throughout the story, along with the red herrings made this a fun cozy mystery.

But where was the mint chocolate chip ice cream in the book? My favourite ice cream flavour was a missing element and it would have been natural to assume that that would have been included in the story. There were a lot of references to pumpkin spice ice cream so my only criticism would have been the title changed to reflect that. Other than that, this series has some of the best cover art, though!

Thank you St. Martin’s press for the arc and finished copy. Thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Mint Chocolate Murder is book two in the Ice Cream Shop Mystery series. I did like the first book a little more, but this one was pretty good. There were a couple aspects keeping it from a 4 star read for me. I loved the mystery and had no idea who the culprit was until the end. I loved the castle setting, meeting new characters, and learning a bit more about Riley's past. The one thing that bothers me the most is the title. I like it to tie into the story, but this book mentioned pumpkin spice ice cream so many times that I think a different title would have suited it better. (There was no mention of Mint Chocolate ice cream at all.) Overall, it's a decent series, but I won't be in a hurry to pick up the next.

This is the perfect cozy mystery to curl up in a blanket and enjoy some ice cream!

The setting for this book is fantastic since it takes place at a fancy party at a castle. Riley gets to serve her shop's icecream at the event, but a famous photographer ends up dead from being allergic to bees. Was it an accident or foul play?

I really liked Riley playing the amateur sleuth, since she really got character details just from being a part of the party events.

I guessed whodunit closer toward the end, so there were enough twists and turns to keep me guessing. Overall, I was pretty engaged in the book.

I think this book should have been titled Pumpkin Spice instead of Mint Chocolate since that was the true favorite flavor if the book. All of the different treats throughout the book sounded so delicious!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this ARC for my honest review.

I love this series and felt like it took book 2 much too long to drop! First, I love ice cream, so how can I not love this? Second, I adore puns and how can you say no to a series where the shop is Udderly Delicious? Third, I love that our heroine does not immediately meet someone who is supposed to be their love interest. And fourth, the mysteries are always well thought out with plenty of clues and red herrings to keep you wondering before they finally solve the mystery (as opposed to just blundering into a solution because the murderer thought they knew more than they did).

Lots of great ice cream and mystery. I love the setting in this book and would love to visit this house. Riley is trying to find out who is responsible for the death of the photographer and why. She realizes that there are several people who could have been responsible and has to find out who it really is and how they did it. Lots of twists and look forward to the next one

Book #2 in the Ice Cream Shop Mystery series. I have got to give it to Meri Allen, I had no idea who the killer was until that last clue was dropped. I love the idea of a Scottish Castle in Confection, Oregon. I also love how popular the ice cream shop flavors are becoming at events. I love Brandon's ice cream inventions, they sounds disgusting but my daughter would have ordered them for sure.

This is a fun and interesting mystery series and I am looking forward to reading more of these books in the future.

In this second installment of the Ice Cream Shop Mystery series, Riley is asked to help cater events at a local artist retreat owned by Maud, a famous model once married to a prince. Like the first book, there are a lot of characters to keep straight. There is also a lot of build up to the murder which doesn’t happen until the end of chapter 12, but our patience is rewarded. It’s a locked door murder in a recreated castle with secrets that Riley does a good job of uncovering. She actually solves a total of three mysteries in this book. She doesn’t receive official police assistance but Tillie the police department secretary is always willing to share what she knows. Riley is a smart amateur sleuth (she’s a former librarian who worked for the CIA), she shares her findings with the police, and she doesn’t put herself in ridiculous situations (until the unavoidable ending). Sprinkles the cat and former stray Rocky are up to more mischief, but are a fun addition to the story. The ice cream and desserts mentioned throughout sound great and there’s a recipe at the end. I’ve read both books in the series and look forward to reading more.

I received an ebook from the publishers to review. A positive review was not required and all opinions are my own.

A fun book to read when you’re in the mood for a cozy mystery.
How was the murder committed? After all the murdered man was in a locked room and only one key available. Nobody showed entering the room on the many cameras placed. Many suspects. He was a nasty person so that anybody might have done it. One of the ex-wives? The current wife? Or the boyfriend of the young girl he was trying to seduce.
Just follow the clues and take some guesses. Make sure you have some of your favorite ice-cream on hand after all the talk about the ice-cream flavors you’re going to need some.

Mint Chocolate Murder is book #2 in the Ice Cream Shop Mysteries series by Meri Allen.

Riley Rhodes gets to have her ice cream served at the Moy Mull Castle. All goes well until there is a murder. Riley can’t help but investigate.

I really enjoyed this story. Riley and her friends are likable characters. The ice cream discussions had me craving a cone of pumpkin spice. I appreciate the recipe at the end. There was a lot going on at the castle! The twists kept me guessing and I liked how everything wrapped up. And I can’t wait to read more about Sprinkles!

Thank you to the author, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Riley Rhodes has been given a unique opportunity to provide ice cream treats for Moy Mull’s Fall Arts Festival at the medieval Penniman’s Moy Mull Castle. The castle has had its share of owners but Maud Monaco turned it into a premier arts colony. She has invited famous photographer Adam Blasco to be the first exhibit at the festival.

Maud is excited as all her art-world friends start to arrive but Riley hears plenty of gossip about Adam Blasco. Her CIA librarian skills kick in as she wonders what the truth is about the photographer. His history is pretty dark but then why would Maud have invited him to exhibit his art?

When Blasco goes missing Maud does her best to follow through on her programs. Then Adam Blasco is found dead in the castle dungeon. After all Riley’s heard she knows there is quite a list of people who could have done the deed including someone close to her. She just needs to follow the clues and get the scoop on the killer before they strike again.

First, I have to address the elephant in the room. That’s a really cool cover, right? Sadly, it has nothing to do with this story and neither does the title. I love cozy mysteries with punny titles and how they are woven into the story but this title is pretty straightforward – Mint Chocolate Murder. Well, the word MINT is not found once in the text of this story and the word CHOCOLATE is just mentioned 6 times. But PUMPKIN SPICE is mentioned 29 times. Either the title should have been Pumpkin Spice Murder or everywhere “pumpkin spice” is used should have been changed to Mint Chocolate. I know sometimes the titles are out of the author’s control but this should have been fixed in editing. Even the recipe at the end of the book is for No Churn Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream! It truly looks like the wrong story was matched with the wrong cover.

Riley Rhodes is a great amateur sleuth, especially with her CIA librarian background. It feeds her need to research and investigate while handling her day job of managing the Udderly Delightful Ice Cream shop. There her creative juices can flow as she comes up with some fantastic ice cream flavors. Riley is surrounded by a wonderful group of family and friends who can all pitch in to help so she has time to do a little sleuthing. It is a large quirky cast and they all feel true to life.

I really enjoyed the castle setting. It almost became a character on its own. All its secrets, the nooks, crannies, staircases, dungeon, and hidden features made an excellent place for a cozy mystery to take place. I was entertained following along as Riley tried so hard to find what she was looking for and finding something she wasn’t looking for at all. I was working on a couple of theories of my own. I had the guilty party in my sights very early on but that sure did not take away from the big reveal that was compared to a Mission Impossible movie.

While Mint Chocolate Murder has nothing to do with mint or chocolate it was an appealing read. Terrific characters including two frisky felines, an intriguing setting, and a stirring mystery make this book a fine successor to Rocky Road to Ruin. I am looking for to the next book in this series.

Another cozy mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed! Things I loved: our protagonist Riley, the darling little community and side characters, the small town setting with a local old castle, the art world tie-in, and the mystery itself. Things I didn't love so much: there were lotttts of side characters (but they did all matter in the end), the character Caroline who lives in Boston but Riley lives at Caroline's family home and runs Caroline's family business (maybe there was more about this in book 1?), and there wasn't any mint chocolate ice cream in the story. Overall, this mystery was just the escape I needed and was a fun mystery to attempt to solve. I love cozy mysteries always and forever and love the mental break they provide me! I would definitely be interested in reading more by this author and in this series in the future.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for my e-arc! Mint Chocolate Murder by Meri Allen is out now!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed Mint Chocolate Murder. It was both my introduction to the series and to Meri Allen's writing. The mystery and the characters are well installed at the beginning of the book, which I appreciated. Riley is a good main character and I liked the way she investigated. As for Caroline, I just found her plain weird, and her cat, Sprinkles, is horrible. Perhaps they are meant to add a light, funny touch to the book, but I just found them annoying. Despite this aspect, the story is good and the book remains enjoyable. Perhaps after reading the first book in the series my opinion about Caroline and Sprinkles will change. To sum it up, Mint Chocolate Murder is a nice mystery book with a strong storyline. Quite enjoyable!

Riley Rhodes is back in her hometown of Penniman, a charming small New England town. She had left her last job as a librarian for the CIA, well, she’d been asked to leave, because of an assignment that went wrong. So when her best friend, Caroline Spooner, was left her mother’s ice cream shop, Udderly Delicious, Riley offered to run it. A quiet life spent making ice cream in her hometown sounded like a much needed break to Riley, and Caroline didn’t want to leave her job in Boston. It all worked out well.

And since Riley had taken over the shop, things were going well. They were creating new flavors of ice cream that locals and tourists alike found irresistible. As the leaves are just starting to turn, the pumpkin spice is a big hit, but when Riley is tasked with creating ice cream delicacies for the art festival up at the castle Moy Mull, she also brings their cherry vanilla, rhubarb crumble, and pear and Stilton, among others. And when Riley is asked to make a flavor especially for the dinner party that will close out the festival, she chooses an ice cream layered made with local honey and whiskey and layered with raspberries, toasted oats, and whiskey whipped cream, based on the Scottish dessert cranachan.

But Maud Monaco, the owner of Moy Mull and benefactor to the artists who stay at the castle, which she has turned into an artists’ colony. Maud had been a very popular model and went on to marry a prince. The art festival she is hosting this weekend is to honor photographer Adam Blasco. There will be an exhibit of his work, including his famous photo of Maud, and he will be giving a talk about his work as well as taking photos for a cookbook that Maud wants to put out about the festival and the castle, featuring some of Riley’s ice cream recipes as well as some recipes from the caterer Bitsy Bittman.

On Friday morning, before the official start of the festival, Adam and his assistant Vye come to Udderly Delicious to take some photos for the cookbook. Riley can’t help but notice Adam paying extra attention to her teenaged worker and art student Willow. Her boyfriend Luca also notices and isn’t very happy about it. And when Adam flirts with Willow again at the festival, Luca blows up and he and Willow argue about it.

But when Adam doesn’t show up for his talk on Saturday morning, Maud and her man Friday, Prentiss Love, recruit Riley to help search the castle for him. He’s not answering his phone, he’s not in his cabin, he’s not in the castle’s darkroom (although his bag is found there). It’s not until they try the room that’s called “the dungeon” that they find him, dead. Not so much of a dungeon anymore, as it had been when the materials had been brought over from Scotland for an eccentric millionaire. After his death, the castle had been turned into a hotel, and the dungeon had been turned into a bland conference room. Maud was restoring the castle to how it had been, but they hadn’t changed the dungeon back yet.

The room was windowless, and the heavy oak door had been locked. And yet, Adam had been found on the floor close to a dead bee. Adam had been deadly allergic to bees and always had an EpiPen in his camera bag, but his bag had been in the darkroom. How had a bee gotten into the room? Was it a terrible accident, or could it be something darker? Luca was a beekeeper, but did he know about Adam’s allergy? And Maud was also a beekeeper. She had known about the photographer’s allergy, but why set up the exhibit and the festival and the cookbook for him, just to kill him?

Riley’s investigative instincts are telling her that something is wrong about the scene she saw in the dungeon. But what is it that’s buzzing in her brain? And will she be able to figure it out before she’s the one who gets stung next?

Mint Chocolate Murder is the second book in the Ice Cream Shop Mystery series, and author Meri Allen has crafted another masterful mystery. Riley and the cast of characters who help her at the store are full of personality, and the ice cream sounds delicious. The mystery itself is complicated enough to keep readers guessing, and if all that’s not enough, there are two scene-stealing cats to keep things interesting.

I really like Riley and her friends and I thought that Mint Chocolate Murder was very well written. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but I read this one pretty quickly, so I didn’t have too much trouble with that. I can see how some readers might struggle. Had I been more distracted, I would have forgotten who was who. And I kept waiting for the mint chocolate ice cream, but it was the pumpkin spice that was the big seller through this book, and it’s also the featured recipe at the end. But the castle is a fantastic idea for the setting, and after the story there is an afterword all about the castle Allen based the fictional one on.

Egalleys for Mint Chocolate Murder were provided by St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley, with many thanks.