Book Review: A Christmas Candy Killing by Christina Romeril

A Christmas Candy Killing (Killer Chocolate #1). Christina Romeril. Crooked Lane Books (2022). 304 pages. Genre: Cozy Mystery.

First Line: "What was an alliterative word that worked with cyanide?"

Summary:  Murder and Mayhem, a bookshop owned by twins Alex and Hanna, has been featuring poison-themed killer chocolates.  They have given the chocolates names like Strychnine Strawberry or Candy Cane Coniine.  Of course, there is no poison in the chocolates.  Just before Christmas, the twins' neighbor Jane confides in Alex that she thinks she spotted a town resident on a true-crime show.  Before Jane can show Alex the show, she is murdered.  Unfortunately, a box of killer chocolates is by her bedside.  

Alex is one of two suspects in the murder.  In order to prove her innocence, Alex begins drafting a list of other potential suspects. Things start to become clear when Alex gets ahold of Jane's journal.  But, will Alex be able to expose the killer before the killer gets her?

My thoughts:  This was a great debut by author Christina Romeril.  It contains several things I like in a cozy mystery: a savvy sleuth, great supporting characters, a solid mystery and lots of daily life details.

Alex and Hanna are well into middle age and have seen their share of difficulties.  They both have failed marriages in their past and are glad to be living and working in the small town of Harriston, Montana.  Hanna learned chocolate making from their mother and has really excelled at it.  Alex worked in banking for twenty years before deciding she needed a change.  The sisters have a great relationship, but we mostly get to know Alex. Hanna's character felt a little shallow and I am hoping that we get to know her a little better in future books.  

The mystery was well-plotted.  Alex approaches solving the murder in a very methodical way.  She and Hanna create a murder board, which is basically a spreadsheet to collect information about suspects This was fun and allowed Alex and Hanna to approach gathering information in an orderly way. There were plenty of solid suspects and it took some time to eliminate them. 

One thing I really liked about this book was that the characters ate sensible meals on a regular basis.  It is a pet peeve of mine when characters constantly skip meals or eat nothing but sweet treats all the time.  This book was delightfully different.  Alex and Hanna often fixed dinner when they got home or pulled something out of the freezer such as individual portions of lasagna they had frozen.  There was even one time when Alex was running short on time but knew she should eat something before heading out so she made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  They definitely did eat sweet treats, but it wasn't constantly.  

Overall this was a delightful mystery that put me in the Christmas spirit.  I am looking forward to the next book in the series. 

Quotes:

"Louise wore an expression suggesting she had just bitten into a lemon, her lips pursed together disapprovingly and her skin, the texture of old paper, stretched taut over her face as if there wasn't quite enough of it to cover her skull."

"With a great deal of hard work, she and her identical-twin sister, Hanna, had turned the antiquated home, built in 1926, from an outdated quilt and fabric store into an homage to the Victorian era of the early twentieth century.  The store allowed their customers to escape the modern world for a short time."