Lethal Licorice – Summary
Weeks after the death of her grandfather, Bailey King is representing him in the Amish Confectionery Competition in their home town of Harvest, Ohio. She’ll be competing with her licorice, taffy, peanut brittle, and fudge. Bailey is hoping to win the fudge contest at least, since chocolate is her forté, but winning the whole contest would be excellent PR for their candy shop, Swissmen Sweets.
Several of the Amish contestants are unhappy that Bailey is in the contest. She isn’t Amish, even though she is following all the same cooking rules as the other contestants. No one is as bitter about Bailey’s entry in the contest as Josephine Weaver. So when Josephine turns up dead, Bailey is a murder suspect again.
But she’s not the only suspect. Josephine’s niece is pushing against the rules of her strict Amish district. She and Josephine may have had words. And then there’s the matter of Josephine’s candy shop – who will inherit her successful business and prime location? And what about her antagonistic shop neighbor? Bailey is determined to dig through the motives of these other suspects, find the real culprit, and clear her name.
Lethal Licorice – Review
This was a great second mystery in this series. You can read my review of book one here. I am enjoying the Amish/English differences and the conflict that arises from them. Bailey and her grandmother are great characters, although the young Amish women around them – Emily, and now Charlotte, are my favorite characters.
The mystery was great. I was guessing all the way to the end. But honestly, I was just as interested in the ins and outs of the Amish community in the story as I was in figuring out the murderer. My only complaint in the whole novel was about the poor lost pig. At one point, Bailey gets a clue about the location of the missing pig – more than 24 hours after he disappeared – but she doesn’t call someone while she deals with murder stuff, or go on her own to check out the clue. While it all works itself out in the end, it was a jarring delay considering the animal was likely without food or water while missing.
Overall, I am loving this series!
Rating: ♥♥♥♥½
Premeditated Peppermint – Summary
It’s Christmas in Harvest, Ohio, and Bailey King and her grandmother are preparing an assortment of peppermint treats for the Christmas Market to showcase their store, Swissmen Sweets. The plans for the event are all in place – the live nativity, the parade, and the Amish businesses selling their wares. What is NOT in the plan is Bailey’s New York ex, Eric Sharp, coming to town.
Eric has convinced his television crew to come to Ohio and film an Amish Christmas – including Amish candies from Swissmen Sweets and a romantic reconciliation with Bailey. The fact that Bailey doesn’t want anything to do with Eric’s plan doesn’t seem to be getting through to anyone. But when the show’s executive producer is found murdered, Eric needs Bailey for more than his TV show. He needs her to find the killer before he’s arrested for a crime he didn’t commit.
Premeditated Peppermint – Review
This is such a fun series! The mix of English and Amish characters, many with strong personalities, makes for great interactions. The only down side is the way those strong personalities tend to bulldoze right over Bailey much of the time. Her best friend, Cass, is one of my favorite characters because she puts herself between Bailey and those other characters. Of course, she can be just as guilty of pushing Bailey into all sorts of crazy scenarios. But because she is protective most of the time, her meddling isn’t as frustrating. I would like to see Bailey stand up for herself a little more as the series goes on.
The mystery in this book was solid. There were dueling motives for the murder, and Bailey tackled both with some great sleuthing. There are some interesting developments for the overarching story of the series in this book, too. I’m eager to see where those developments lead for book four – Toxic Toffee – out in the spring of 2019.