Death by Chocolate - A Candy Matson Mystery Series Novel
Nadalia BagratuniMystery
Available from Club Lighthouse Publishing
September 2007
| Candy Matson is a brilliant former super model who has turned her love of mysteries and puzzle solving into a profitable private investigation business. Her lover, Lt. Ray Mallard, is a policeman willing to play a little outside of the lines when it solves the case. Together they are a formidable pair and someone is playing a game with them on this case. Candy stubbles across a dead body and two dying people and is given an envelope containing some secrets from the World War II era that the government doesn’t want exposed. Every time Candy and Mallard follow the clues to solve this mystery they seem to be being lead towards something. Is someone setting them up to take a fall or to kill them? And why should something that happened in 1945 be important now?
I loved the premise of the story. The tale is full of spies, government conspiracies, attempts on Candy and Mallard’s lives, and sex. From the first page Candy and Mallard have sex every chance they get and although this could have been hot, I found the descriptions to be full of purple prose that was distracting. The writing style is also more formal that to me holds the reader at a distance from the characters. The plot, the intrigue, the relationship between Candy and Mallard, and the action in the story are all great. I like Candy and Mallard’s characters; I just didn’t feel involved with them. This story is set in contemporary times in San Francisco but it felt like it should have been in England or in the past. If someone prefers historical romances but want to read a contemporary tale, this story might just bridge the gap. It is not a bad book; it is actually a very good story. This is a taste issue. I want a contemporary book to sound and feel contemporary so the language used needs to be contemporary and not formal. If you like the formal language of historical romances and love intrigue and mysteries then you will like this book. I am interested enough in the story line that I do plan to read another Candy Matson mystery!
Overall rating:
Reviewer: Steph B. |
