The pirate festival is in full swing but Jake is too busy getting rid of an obnoxious podcaster who won't take no for an answer about an interview at the chocolate shop. A short time later he is found stabbed to death with a saber (owned by Jake's husband) in the basement of Jake's chocolate shop. So many little point to Jake as the killer so she and her partner Ellie are determined to find out who is trying to frame her for the murder.

I enjoyed the story once it started moving however, it was very slow at the beginning. There were also too many possibilities that kept getting in the way of the real mystery, I think this book could have stood some more editing. ( )

This is the first book I've read in this series. I have read lots of Ms. Graves work in the Home Repair is Homicide series and really enjoyed that. So I was looking forward to a new series, not realizing that she had given Jake and Ellie something else to work on. I loved it! It's great seeing them again and the mystery was really involved. I love all of the characters and they didn't disappoint. I also love the bakery and hearing about all of the treats. Just wish that they could come with the book somehow. I'm much more an eater than baker. LOL! Can't wait to read more of this series.
I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher and voluntarily chose to review it.
( )

Jake is in real trouble. When an aggravating man with an inflated sense of importance shows up to do a podcast, he alienates many people in the community, including Jake. She threatens him to get him to leave her place of business, and later he is found there, dead. Now she, with Ellie’s help, must clear her name. To do so, she delves into the hated man’s past, and discovers she is not only one with reasons to despise him. The tale is entertaining, intriguing, filled with fascinating characters, and has enough twists in the plot to keep readers wondering how it will all shake out. ( )

Yeah, this may be the last book I read in this series.

It was a very up and down read for me. And definitely what sorta seems to be the new normal for a Jake/Ellie book.

A man that Jake fights with on the street (with words) winds up dead not too much later in the basement of her and Ellie's chocolate shop. And so, even though she barely has a motive, and has lived in Eastport for decades, not to mention has never done any of the murders that she's been thought to have committed in the past, she's still a suspect. And so, she and Ellie better be on the case too, just in case someone really thinks that she did it.

I'm not exactly sure why this one in the two serieses that star Ellie and Jake annoyed me so much more than some of the previous books.

It was repetitive within the story too. I mean, how many times can Jake get hit on the head before she has permanent brain damage? And, while the mystery was sorta interesting, the main subplot added no tension at all.

It was just an all around meh sorta book.

I was given this ARC by Netgalley on behalf of Kensington Books. ( )

Small town Maine is hosting a pirate festival during which, Jake, the co-owner of a chocolate shop, has a very public encounter with a podcaster. Next thing you know, there's a murder and Jake is blamed for it.

I like the characters in this series but this third book in the Death by Chocolate series varied between way, way too much action for a cozy and some slow parts. Seemed very inconsistent to me.

Even so, I liked it well enough to continue with it, I think. Not my favorite series, certainly, but not bad.

(I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via Net Galley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.) ( )