Review of To Fudge Or Not To Fudge

Allie is busy making fudge and confectionery sweets for the upcoming Lilac Festival.  She wants to make a good showing from the McMurphy Hotel and Fudge Shop since this is her first year as the owner-operator.  But things always get more complicated for Allie than she expects, and this time is no different.  When her puppy Mal uncovers bone fragments in a freshly mulched area  she knows that there will be another murder mystery to solve.  And when her mentor and friend arrives on the island and asks her to be a last minute replacement on a reality television show, she cannot say no.  Between the late night shooting of the show and her early morning fudge making duties, she is totally overwhelmed and worn out.  When the body of one of the cast members is discovered and her mentor is beaten, she is totally freaked out because she has become a prime suspect.  She now has to try to solve the mysteries, as well as prepare for the Festival and run her shop, before she is thrown in jail for life.

The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read.  The author is descriptive with her writing and I felt like I was right there on the Island watching all the action going on.  There were some tense moments and I was afraid to turn the pages because I did not know how things were going to work themselves out.  The mysteries are well plotted and not easy to solve.  There are a lot of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing and just when I thought I had it figured out, something else would happen to make me change my mind.  I really enjoy when that happens when I read a mystery.

The characters are well developed, well rounded and three dimensional.  I enjoyed learning more about their personalities and I really enjoyed reading about the interactions between them.   There are still two possible love interests for Allie and I cannot figure out which one she likes best.  Maybe the next book in series will reveal this. Mal, Allie’s little puppy, plays a very big role in the solving one of the mysteries.  I can just picture her in my mind digging and sniffing and then smiling when she presents Allie with the bones.  I love reading about her antics.

I am a big fan of reality television competition shows and I really enjoyed reading about this in the book.  The author presented them in the way I think most of them operate, being more scripted than reality.  I liked reading about how I think the shows are really produced.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery.  This is the second book in the series and I would recommend reading book one, All Fudged Up, first so that you can watch the growth of the characters between the books.  The third book will be released soon and I will definitely be reading that one too.