The Chocolate Puppy Puzzle

Table of Contents

 

 

 

“A JoAnna Carl mystery will be a winner. The trivia and vivid descriptions of the luscious confections are enough to make you hunger for more”

—Roundtable Reviews

 

“Delicious.”

—Cluesunlimited

 

“A fast-paced, light read, full of chocolate facts and delectable treats. Lee is an endearing heroine.... Readers will enjoy the time they spend with Lee and Joe in Warner Pier and will look forward to returning for more murder dipped in chocolate.”

—The Mystery Reader

 

“The descriptions of the chocolates are enough to make your mouth water, so be prepared.... Once again, I enjoyed each page of the book and am already looking forward to my next visit to Warner Pier, Michigan.”

—Review Index

 

 

 

“Do not read
The Chocolate Bear Burglary
on an empty stomach because the luscious . . . descriptions of exotic chocolate will have you running out to buy gourmet sweets.... A delectable treat.”

—
Midwest Book Review

 

“[Carl] teases with descriptions of mouthwatering bonbons and truffles while she drops clues.... [Lee is] vulnerable and real, endearingly defective.... Fast-paced and sprinkled with humor. Strongly recommended.”

—I Love a Mystery

 

“Kept me entertained to the very last word! . . . A great new sleuth . . . interesting facts about chocolate.... A delicious new series.”

—
Romantic Times

 

“A mouthwatering debut and a delicious new series! Feisty young heroine Lee McKinney is a delight in this chocolate treat. A real page-turner, and I got chocolate on every one! I can’t wait for the next.”

—Tamar Myers

 

“As delectable as a rich chocolate truffle, and the mystery filling satisfies to the last prized morsel. Lee McKinney sells chocolates and solves crimes with panache and good humor. More, please. And I’ll take one of those dark chocolate oval bonbons.”

—Carolyn Hart

 

“One will gain weight just from reading [this].... Delicious.... The beginning of what looks like a terrific new cozy series.”

—
Midwest Book Review

 

“Enjoyable . . . entertaining . . . a fast-paced whodunit with lots of suspects and plenty of surprises . . . satisfies a passion for anything chocolate. In the fine tradition of Diane Mott Davidson.”

—
The Commercial Record

Also by JoAnna Carl

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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

First published by Signet, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

First Printing, December 2004

ISBN : 978-1-101-56377-9

Copyright © Eve K. Sandstrom, 2004

All rights reserved

 

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PUBLISHER’S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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As ever, I exploited numerous friends and relatives as I wrote this book. Of particular help were the wonderful; folks at Morgen Chocolate Incorporated in Dallas, including Rex Morgan, Betsy Peters, and Andrea Pedraza. Michigan friends helped; Susan Mc-Dermott, who goes far beyond mere neighborliness in answering questions; Tracy Paquin, who grew up on a fruit farm and was willing to tell me about it; and their golden retriever, Mitchell. Thanks also go to Janet Lockwood, of the Michigan Film Office, a true public servant; to Jack Slaybaugh, a kind coin and money collector; to expert dog trainer Helen Smith; and to my brother, Kim Kimbrell.

I
suppose it wasn’t the puppy’s fault, but after he handed me the money, everything in Warner Pier seemed to go to pot. Fraud, kidnapping, homicide, theft, trespassing—a real crime wave developed. My romantic life got—well, unromantic. Even the chocolate business became complicated.

The day had started out very well. I was happy as I walked toward the Fall Rinkydink. My favorite guy, Joe Woodyard, was with me. The weather was as perfect as only an October day on the shores of Lake Michigan can be. I may have hummed a hum or skipped a little skip.

Then a chocolate Labrador pup galumped across the Dock Street Park, cut through the buffet line in the picnic shelter, and planted two gigantic feet on the knees of my brand-new tan wool slacks. I nearly dropped a big tray of TenHuis Chocolade’s finest truffles and bonbons. The sweets all shifted to one side, and only the extra-strength industrial plastic wrap kept them from hitting the grass.

The dog handed me a large leather wallet with a dirty ten-dollar bill sticking out one side.

That first disaster occurred at the first-ever Rinkydink.

I’m business manager for my aunt’s chocolate shop, TenHuis Chocolade, in the picturesque resort of Warner Pier, on the east shore of Lake Michigan. In the summer, Warner Pier’s streets—laid out in 1855 for buggies and horse-drawn farm wagons—are thronged with cars, vans, and buses carrying tourists and summer people. The traffic is horrendous.

In the fall, all the tourists and summer visitors go home. The parking problem is over until the next Memorial Day, and traffic is close to nil for six months. Consequently, Warner Pier locals for years have linked the end of the tourist season and the beginning of autumn to the day when our one traffic light becomes a blinker.

All summer the light at Fourth Avenue and Dock Street changes from green to yellow to red—just like a big city traffic light. On the Tuesday after Columbus Day, the Warner Pier Street Department turns out in force (all three of them) and changes the light to a flashing red on Fourth Avenue and a flashing yellow on Dock Street. For years the merchants in the neighborhood gathered to cheer them on, just as a joke.

It was Maggie McNutt, a close friend of mine and Warner Pier High School speech and drama teacher, who had the idea of making the changing of the traffic light into a fund-raiser for the high school drama club. All the food-related merchants, including TenHuis (it rhymes with “ice”), were asked to donate food for a picnic luncheon, which would be held in the Dock Street Park picnic shelter. Nonfood merchants—the gift shops, antique stores, and art galleries, the hardware store, and the drug store—were asked to kick in items for a silent auction and for door prizes. Everybody in the world was asked to buy tickets.

“It’ll be fun!” said Maggie. She had bounced in her chair as she presented the idea to the chamber board. “The chamber ought to have more social events. This one will be a farewell party for those merchants who close up and go south for the winter. It’ll be a celebrate-fall party for those of us staying here. And it will help the drama club take students to state competition.”