Chocoholic Mystery

17 primary works • 18 total works

The Chocolate Cat Caper

by JoAnna Carl

Published 1 March 2002

FIRST IN THE NATIONAL BESTSELLING CHOCOHOLIC MYSTERY SERIES!

After giving up her career as a Texas trophy wife, 28-year-old Lee McKinney finds herself in a Michigan resort town, keeping the books for her Aunt Nettie’s luxury chocolate business. But she soon finds that her new life isn’t all truffles and bonbons...

Clementine Ripley, the defense attorney everyone loves to hate, is throwing a party that calls for several thousand dollars worth of custom chocolates—some made in the image of her champion cat. Lee jumps at the job, but sweet success takes a bitter turn when someone adds and extra ingrediant—cyanide—to one of their delicious chocolates and it finds its way into Ms. Ripley’s mouth. Now it’s up to Lee to figure out who tampered with Aunt Nettie’s recipe before they find themselves behind not-so-chocolate bars.

INCLUDES YUMMY CHOCOLATE TRIVIA!

The Chocolate Bear Burglary

by JoAnna Carl

Published 1 March 2003

The Chocolate Puppy Puzzle

by JoAnna Carl

Published 1 December 2004

The Chocolate Mouse Trap

by JoAnna Carl

Published 31 December 2006

The Chocolate Bridal Bash

by JoAnna Carl

Published 11 September 2006

The Chocolate Jewel Case

by JoAnna Carl

Published 1 August 2007

The Chocolate Snowman Murders

by JoAnna Carl

Published 30 September 2008

The Chocolate Cupid Killings

by JoAnna Carl

Published 6 October 2009

The Chocolate Pirate Plot

by JoAnna Carl

Published 5 October 2010

"Ever since Young Blackbeard became the biggest movie of the decade, everyone has caught pirate fever, including the residents of Warner Pier. TenHuis Chocolade is raking in the booty and selling out of chocolate treasure chests, pirate hats and ships faster than you can say "Shiver me timbers." Caught up in the spirit of the seven seas, Lee McKinney Woodyard and her husband, Joe, take their boat out on Lake Michigan and are stunned when a mischievous band of pirates hops on board Costumed and waving obviously fake weapons, the pirates perform an entertaining sea chantey before plunging back into the watery debts. Lee's is the first boat boarded in what comes to be known as the Summer of the Warner Pier Pirates, and the town couldn't be more amused by the mysterious buccaneers. But when a body washes up on shore, the pirates' antics stop being so entertaining. Now Lee has to figure out the truth behind the Warner Pier pirates--before someone else winds up walking the plank" -- Cover, p. 2.

The Chocolate Castle Clue

by JoAnna Carl

Published 1 October 2011

Indulge in another Chocoholic mystery in the national bestselling series. Lee McKinney Woodyard discovers a dusty trophy inside TenHuis Chocolade that belongs to her aunt Nettie and her old high school singing group, the Pier-O-Ettes. It's a trophy that brings back terrible memories of an unsolved murder years ago. Before Lee takes aim at the past, someone is murdered in the here and now. Lee needs to keep her eyes on the prize, hoping the trophy is a clue to finding the killer-before she's a target herself.

The Chocolate Moose Motive

by JoAnna Carl

Published 1 October 2012

As much as the chocolates at TenHuis tantalize people's tongues, Lee's newest hire makes them wag. Forsythia "Sissy" Smith is the granddaughter of Warner Pier's only remaining resident hippie. But now that's the least of Lee's concerns. The previous winter, Sissy's husband was shot to death, and in spite of her alibi local talk named Sissy the number one suspect. Then the chief gossip is found dead, with Sissy on the scene. Was she lured there? Or is she the killer?

The Chocolate Book Bandit

by JoAnna Carl

Published 1 October 2013

The Chocolate Clown Corpse

by JoAnna Carl

Published 4 November 2014

"Revenge is sweet for a killer on the loose-and it all started with the murder of Warner Pier's most hated clown.... Everyone who knew the bozo wanted him dead. Odd, then, that a complete stranger was accused of bursting Moe Davidson's balloons. But it's been a month since the miserable shop owner of Clowning Around was killed, and everybody's moving on, including Lee Woodyard. Her chocolate shop, TenHuis Chocolade, is next door to Moe's shuttered tourist trap, and it's giving her delicious ideas to expand. But over whose dead body? Moe's widow, Emma, and her two stepchildren list the property for sale, but when Lee tours the building, she finds Emma unconscious. Now Lee wonders whether Moe's real killer is still at large and is taking care of unfinished business. Unfortunately, since the town is celebrating Clown Week, there are so many potential suspects in grease paint and floppy shoes it's not even funny. For Lee, protecting Emma, freeing an innocent man, and rolling out hundreds of her clown-themed chocolates is a pretty tall order. But so is staying alive long enough to find out which one of her neighbors is a killer in disguise. Includes Tasty Chocolate Trivia!"--

The Chocolate Falcon Fraud

by JoAnna Carl

Published 3 November 2015

From the national bestselling author of The Chocolate Clown Corpse, it’s murder, my sweet, for a chocolatier whose love of old crime films plunges her into a real-life murder in which the motives aren’t so black-and-white.

The Warner Pier tourism board is kicking off its Tough Guys and Private Eyes film festival with The Maltese Falcon, and Lee Woodyard and her aunt Nettie are preparing a delicious chocolat noir tie-in at TenHuis Chocolade. What Lee isn’t prepared for is a face from the past: Jeff Godfrey, her former stepson. The last time Jeff showed up in town, he wound up being accused of murder. He says he’s in Warner Pier only to see Bogart on the big screen. Honest.
 
Then Jeff goes missing, the Falcon theme is haunting everyone, and a body falls at Lee’s feet when she opens the front door—just like in the movie. Now Lee is under deadline to rewrite the ending of a cunning killer’s increasingly convincing murder plot....

Includes Tasty Chocolate Trivia!

The Chocolate Bunny Brouhaha

by JoAnna Carl

Published 1 November 2016

"From the national bestselling author of The Chocolate Falcon Fraud comes an Easter-candy caper featuring chocolatiers Lee Woodyard and her aunt Nettie, and a killer who's hopping mad ... The approach of Easter means a rush of business at TenHuis Chocolade, and Lee and her aunt Nettie need all the help they can get to make their famous chocolate bunnies and eggs. Unfortunately, new hire Bunny Birdsong is a klutzy basket case, dropping everything she picks up. But to Lee's surprise, she's a wiz with computers and fixing the store's Web site so they decide to keep her. However, Bunny receives a few visitors they could do without: Her ex-husband, Beau; his wealthy aunt Abigail; and his new girlfriend and her brother all descend on the shop one day and have a bitter argument. Lee hopes they can find a peaceful way to settle their dispute and not bring any more trouble to TenHuis. But when Abigail's body is discovered in the vacant store next door, it's clear to Lee there's a bad egg in her midst. Now she's on the hunt to find out who it is.."--

The Chocolate Shark Shenanigans

by JoAnna Carl

Published 5 November 2019

In the newest mystery from nationally bestselling author Joanna Carl, a dive into house flipping becomes a deadly flop....

When a house near Lee and Joe's home goes up for sale, the couple teams up with Lee's aunt and uncle, Nettie and Hogan, to buy it, remodel it, and resell it for a sweet profit. But after the owners of the house, the Baileys, accept their offer, a local developer, Richard "Spud" Dirk, suddenly swoops in with a higher one, and it seems their dreams might be snatched away. 

Lee, never as passionate about the plan as her husband and uncle, is anxious to get back to focusing on managing TenHuis Chocolade. But when a long-hidden gun is found behind a pipe in the Baileys' basement, she begins to suspect a mystery is afoot. And when Spud turns up dead in the Baileys' carport a few days later, it becomes clear there's something rotten at the foundation....

To solve the murder, Lee will have to strip away layers of secrets--that is, if someone doesn't level her first....

The Chocolate Raccoon Rigmarole

by JoAnna Carl

Published 1 August 2021

In this eighteenth mystery in the national bestselling Chocoholic series, a gang of crooks with a wicked sweet tooth wreaks havoc on the resort town of Warner Pier, and it's up to Lee Woodyard to rout the hungry rascals.

A frantic late-night phone call from her right-hand woman Dolly Jolly brings Lee Woodyard to the scene of a break-in at the Warner Pier jewelry store next door to TenHuis Chocolade. To her shock, the suspect being held at gunpoint by police is Dolly's boyfriend, Mike Westerly, who was recently hired as a night watchman specifically to prevent break-ins. Dolly hopes Lee can help straighten out the crazy misunderstanding.
 
Even crazier? The thieves took nothing of value from the jewelry store, only swiping some snacks. It's another in a series of break-ins by burglars the media has dubbed the Cookie Monsters. They've been hitting shops selling everything from sunglasses to shoes but stealing only sweets: lollipops, cookies, even chewing gum!
 
It all seems pretty funny--until the discovery of a dead body. With her friends and community in danger, Lee must stop one very sour killer before someone else comes to a bitter end.

Chocolate to Die For

by JoAnna Carl

Published 2 March 2010

Two for one! A delectable double layer of chocolate with two Chocoholic Mysteries, The Chocolate Puppy Puzzle and The Chocolate Mouse Trap, now in one trade paperback volume.

In The Chocolate Puppy Puzzle, the lakeside town of Warner Pier has been swept away by a visiting Hollywood producer. He says he's making a movie based on a local author's novel, but the sensible Lee McKinney smells a phony, especially when her sleuthing leads to a dead body...

In The Chocolate Mouse Trap, Lee McKinney's friend goes overboard with inspirational e-mails-enough for someone to permanently delete her! Now everyone on her friend's address list is suspect-or a potential victim. Lee needs to trap the killer, or she might be next to land in his outbox...