THE CHOCOHOLIC MYSTERIES BY JOANNA CARL

       

    All the Chocoholic Mysteries feature Lee McKinney, a Texas beauty queen transplanted to a Michigan resort, where she is business manager for TenHuis Chocolade, a business owned by her aunt, Nettie TenHuis.

    Nearly six feet tall and a half-Dutch natural blonde, Lee is often under-estimated because she tends to get her “tang toungled” when she’s nervous. She’s a direct descendant of Mrs. Malaprop.

    In addition to a mystery, the books feature a behind-the-scenes look at the business and art of making fine, European-style bonbons, truffles and molded chocolates.

    

    The setting of the Chocoholic books is the fictional resort town of Warner Pier, Michigan. Set on the shore of Lake Michigan, Warner Pier’s quaint Victorian atmosphere and gorgeous beaches draw thousands of tourists and summer visitors each year. Many of the visitors are wealthy. Many come from families who have owned summer homes in the area for a hundred years. New housing developments have attracted professionals who commute to Holland or Grand Rapids. The 2,500 “locals” are employed in tourism or in growing peaches, apples, grapes, and other fruit – a business still important to Warner County, even as the area loses its original rural character.

 

The Chocolate Snowman Murders   Obsidian, October 2008. ISBN: 9780-451-22506-1   Lee McKinney is involved with one of the pillars of small town America – a committee. She’s treasurer of the Warner Pier Winter Arts Festival planning committee. This is a minor inconvenience until the juror for the arts show winds up dead in his motel room, and Lee was the person who dropped him off there. How do a small-town grand dame, a choir director, a sculptor, a shy publicist, and a sinister snowman fit in? Can even Aunt Nettie’s chocolate keep Lee from being a suspect?
The Chocolate Jewel Case A Signet Mystery, August 2007. ISBN:0-451-22188-5 Lee McKinney and Joe Woodyard have looked forward to the first summer of their married life as a romantic idyll. So they’re not prepared to deal with five house guests – two teen-aged girls, an ex-con, a tough guy who claims to be a bird watcher, and Joe’s much-married aunt. Plus, a major heat wave moves in, a potential disaster for TenHuis Chocolade. Then the neighbors are hit by a jewel theft, and a mysterious dead man is found floating in Lake Michigan. Lee has to act quickly to avoid another murder.
The Chocolate Bridal Bash A Signet Mystery, September 2006. ISBN: 0-451-21918-X Paperback Original Lee McKinney and boyfriend Joe Woodyard are planning their wedding, and Lee feels compelled to invite her mother – despite the differences the two of them have had over the years. One of their main points of contention has been her mom’s refusal to come to her home town, Warner Pier, Michigan, and her refusal to tell Lee why she won’t. Then Lee discovers that her mom ran away from home on what should have been her own wedding day and that the young man she had planned to marry committed suicide. When Lee tries to find out more, bad things begin to happen. Can Lee and Joe figure out what happened before a killer strikes – again?
The Chocolate Mouse Trap A Signet Mystery, September 2005. ISBN: 0-451-21635-0 Paperback Original Lee McKinney has joined an e-mail newsgroup of west Michigan foodies – a caterer, a restaurateur, the owners of a bed and breakfast inn, and party planner Julie Singletree. But Julie’s corny jokes and poems are driving everybody on the list crazy. Then Julie’s found dead, and her pet mouse is missing. Can this have anything to do with the virus that hits the newsgroup’s computers? And why does Julie’s wealthy family think Lee has the answers?
The Chocolate Puppy Puzzle Signet Mystery, December 2004 ISBN: 0-451-21364-5 Paperback Original When a handsome gray-haired gent who claims to be a movie producer appears in Warner Pier, Lee’s suspicions are immediately aroused. But romance novelist Maia Michaelson is convinced the newcomer is going to make a film of her novel, and Aunt Nettie is being swept off her feet by the suave older man and his charming chocolate Labrador puppy. Soon Lee and boyfriend Joe Woodyard find themselves trying to solve a mysterious disappearance – and a murder.
The Chocolate Frog Frame-Up Signet Mystery, December 2003 ISBN: 0-451-20985-0 Mystery Guild Selection When the town crank, Hershel Perkins, is missing, Lee McKinney's boat-builder boyfriend Joe Woodyard is suspected of doing away with him. Lee is determined to prove that Joe had nothing to do with Hershel's fate. But she doesn't understand why the Old Root Beer Barrel, a local landmark, keeps getting involved.
Crime de Cocoa New American Library, December 2005. ISBN: 0-451-21694-6 Trade Paperback Crime de Cocoa contains the first three Chocoholic Mysteries – Cat Caper, Bear Burglary, and Frog Frame-Up – in one volume. Plus a reprint of the only Lee McKinney short story, "The Chocolate Kidnapping Clue."
The Chocolate Bear Burglary Signet Mystery, November 2002 ISBN: 0-451-20747-5 Mystery Guild Selection Paperback Original When Aunt Nettie and Lee borrow an antique chocolate mold to use in a special promotion, they have no idea it will lead to burglary - and then to murder. The son of Lee's former husband shows up in Warner Pier, and the 18-year-old boy seems determined to get in trouble. And Lee's just as determined to keep him out of it. Family secrets keep peeping out, and Lee winds up running for her life.
The Chocolate Cat Caper Signet Mystery, March 2002 ISBN: 0-451-20556-1 Mystery Guild Selection Paperback Original Texan Lee McKinney comes to Warner Pier, Michigan, to help her aunt, Nettie TenHuis, get her chocolate business back on a firm financial footing. She's barely arrived when Clementine Ripley, a notorious defense attorney who owns a lavish mansion in the resort community, drops dead - with a poisoned TenHuis chocolate clutched in her hand. This might be a liability even Lee's accounting can't turn into an asset. Lee's determined to prove the death had nothing to do with her aunt's business. But just where does Ripley's ex-husband, Joe Woodyard, fit in?
SHORT STORIES "The Chocolate Kidnapping Clue" By JoAnna Carl           And the Dying Is Easy Signet Mystery Anthology, June 2001 - ISBN: 0-451-20329-1 Lee McKinney makes her debut as a detective in this story, which takes her back to age sixteen and her first summer as an employee of TenHuis Chocolade.