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dnemec's review against another edition
3.0
Ending was really rushed, but otherwise it was enjoyable.
lakecake's review against another edition
3.0
Warner Pier is so quaint and idyllic and Lee is a charming main character. This mystery ended rather abruptly for me, after a whole lot of build up and twists and turns.
xilaneda's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
wildflowerz76's review against another edition
3.0
This was an okay addition to this series. I never got a feel for why the clown guy was like he was. He donated to oddly conflicting causes, but why? Just to get his name in the paper? But why? He didn't seem to do anything with it. He was supposedly a great clown, but he couldn't make a living at it. He was a great clown, but a horrible human being? I don't know. I just didn't GET why he was like that and there was really no resolution to it. It was painfully obvious who the culprit was from the beginning, but I kept hoping I was wrong.
luffy79's review against another edition
1.0
Yikes! The Chocoholic series have come a full circle for me. Maybe the very first modern cozy mysteries I've read, it has now become a one star book, at the tail-end of my readership of the genre, through no planning on my part. I remember the first book of the bunch I had read. It made a positive impression on me. At the time I thought that the genre was tailor made for me.
But the habit of writers to keep on prolonging the franchise became an irritation with me. Even the best authors cannot keep on churning out these books without some damage, erosion, dilution, some type of loss occurring. This fourteenth book was empty of any decent plot worth the name. There were some eccentric and inappropriate sentences in the book, which I attribute to the advancing age of the author.
Someone might have told JoAnna Carl not to kill off too many people in her stories. Killing off a whole community of them would not have saved this story if tension, conflict, suspense, and motives were absent from the book. Even at 240 pages, it was sometimes a chore to read through the book. You know, reading these types of books has one positive effect on me. They make me want to write something. Not because I think it's easy to write a novel, but because after giving a drab story one star, I need to prove that I was not gabbing for nothing, that I'm not asking for the impossible by demanding a good simple story to delight the senses and sharpen the mind. Anyway, I'm Luffy, former cozy mystery fan, signing off.
But the habit of writers to keep on prolonging the franchise became an irritation with me. Even the best authors cannot keep on churning out these books without some damage, erosion, dilution, some type of loss occurring. This fourteenth book was empty of any decent plot worth the name. There were some eccentric and inappropriate sentences in the book, which I attribute to the advancing age of the author.
Someone might have told JoAnna Carl not to kill off too many people in her stories. Killing off a whole community of them would not have saved this story if tension, conflict, suspense, and motives were absent from the book. Even at 240 pages, it was sometimes a chore to read through the book. You know, reading these types of books has one positive effect on me. They make me want to write something. Not because I think it's easy to write a novel, but because after giving a drab story one star, I need to prove that I was not gabbing for nothing, that I'm not asking for the impossible by demanding a good simple story to delight the senses and sharpen the mind. Anyway, I'm Luffy, former cozy mystery fan, signing off.
shareleann's review against another edition
4.0
not the best one I've read, but still good. it dragged on quite a bit. Glad to be done with it!
dollycas's review against another edition
5.0
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Aunt Nettie is on vacations and it’s Clown Week in Warner Pier! The staff of TenHuis Chocolade is busy making hundreds of clown-themed chocolates but Lee is dreaming about expanding the shop. The store next door is up for sale after the owner, a clown no less, was killed and his family wants to move on. Lee would love to move in and can’t wait to check the place out, but the last thing she expected to find was the clown’s widow unconscious in one of the rooms. Maybe the man they have arrested is not the killer and now the town is overflowing with clowns and suspects. Lee knows there is much more going on and she is not clowning around. She decides to use the festive atmosphere and her own clown costume to track down the real culprit before someone else is found with their big red shoes toes up and their lights out permanently.
This story was very entertaining and fun to read. Lee gets herself into more than a couple of tight predicaments and she doesn’t back down. She always puts others first and usually leaps before she looks. Her husband Joe, her aunt Nettie and Police Chief Uncle usually do their best to keep Lee from taking things too far but Nettie and Hogan are off on vacation and Joe is on his own and he has his hands full. As always her “malapropism” or as I call it twisted tongue syndrome that makes her think of one word but say another had her getting several strange looks and me laughing out loud. One of these days those slips are really going to get her in trouble.
Joanna Carl never disappoints. These stories are high on humor and have creative plot lines that are a pure joy to read. She also includes chocolate trivia and wonderful descriptions of all the tasty tempting truffles and other chocolates featured at TenHuis Chocolade. I wish they had an online store because I am more than ready to order today. These virtual chocolates just don’t do the trick.
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