Review and Giveaway: The Chocolate Clown Corpse

The Chocolate Clown Corpse (Chocoholic Mystery - Book 14) by JoAnna Carl

Publication Date: 11/04/2014
Publisher: Penguin Group
Imprint: Obsidian Mystery
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Pages: 204
ISBN-10: 0451240677
ISBN-13: 978-0451240675

(Received for an honest review from Obsidian Mystery)

Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Indiebound

JoAnna Carl on the WEB: website, goodreads

Books in the series: 

Chocoholic Mysteries

  1. The Chocolate Cat Caper
  2. The Chocolate Bear Burglary
  3. The Chocolate Frog Frame-Up
  4. The Chocolate Puppy Puzzle
  5. The Chocolate Mouse Trap
  6. The Chocolate Bridal Bash
  7. The Chocolate Jewel Case
  8. The Chocolate Snowman Murders
  9. The Chocolate Cupid Killings
10. The Chocolate Pirate Plot
11. The Chocolate Castle Clue
12. The Chocolate Moose Motive
13. The Chocolate Book Bandit
14. The Chocolate Clown Corpse

Coverart: Click the Image for a larger, clearer view of the covers in this series.

Excerpt from, The Chocolate Clown Corpse, courtesy of Amazon's Look Inside feature.

Synopsis:

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.

Thoughts:

It's Clown Week in Warner Pier, in JoAnna Carl's latest Chocoholic mystery, The Chocolate Clown Corpse. Readers who are a-feared of clowns may find this one challenging but if they are fans of quirky cozies, this one will hit the spot. Carl's easy humor and eccentric characters are always highlights in this long lived series. Big red shoes and noses, clown costumes of all kinds and a murder or two make for a great whodunit!

What I liked:

The best part about the Chocoholic mysteries is by far the humor. JoAnna Carl must be one of those writers that sees the humor in everything, even murder. She gives her characters all sorts of ways and reasons to use humor and it doesn't come across as overdone or tedious. From Lee's strange affliction of thinking one word and saying another, to the clown theme, this one is is chalk full of funny moments that will have the reading laughing out loud. 

TenHuis Chocolate is gearing up for Clown Week in this book and the clown's abound. They are simply everywhere. I liked the idea and thought it was an eccentric theme for the book that worked. Warner Pier isn't your typical small town setting and I can totally see it's inhabitants getting into something like clown week. The characters are quirky and a little off center and that's one of the things I have always liked about the series. Not everyone is cut and dried, the characters are very layered and somewhat eclectic, makes for some off the wall themes that most writers could not pull off. Carl does it with style.

Lee finds herself with the possibility of expanding her chocolate shop, when the clown next door ends up dead. Literally, he was the local clown for all the kids parties and such. His family wants to move on and a suspect has been arrested. But Lee finds herself wondering if they've got the right man. It appears that not too many liked this particular clown, who seemed right in the middle of every political debate in town. There are plenty of suspects, most of them clown related for Lee to choose from. The mystery aspects of the story were fun to puzzle out and all of the clowns just added to the chaos. 

Bottom Line:

This is a very light hearted whodunit, with lots of great characters, an eccentric theme and more clowns than you can count. But you can always count on JoAnna Carl for a book that is entertaining, full of humor and down right scrumptious when it comes to chocolate. There was lots of chocolate trivia which is always fun, but how bout a chocolate recipe or two? Just a thought!

The Chocolate Clown Corpse is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag!

About the Author:

JoAnna Carl is the pseudonym for a multipublished author.  She spent more than twenty-five years in the newspaper business as a reporter, feature writer, editor, and columnist. She holds a degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma and also studied in the OU Professional Writing Program, and is the author of the Chocoholic Mystery series which includes The Chocloate Book Bandit.. She lives in Oklahoma but summers in Michigan, where the Chocoholic Mystery series is set.

Giveaway Details:

The publisher is sponsoring a giveaway for one copy of The Chocolate Clown Corpse by JoAnna Carl.

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~ The deadline to enter this giveaway is Midnight EST, December 3rd.

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