Candy, Murder & Me — Carolyn Chambers Clark

Candy, Murder and Me is a sweet cozy mystery with recipes that's a dog lover's delight.

When Cookie Berelli, dress designer for full figured women, discovers her private investigator dead in her salon, she calls on a few friends to get her out of trouble.

This cozy mystery with a dog includes a cute little dachshund she named Sigmund Freud because he's such a good listener. She has a bunch of crackpot ideas for how to catch the murderer, and Sigmund, the trustworthy dog he is, follows right along, sometimes even discovering a clue or two himself.

Everyone starts to look suspicious. For example, is Eugene Gemstone involved? After all, he is her number one fabric cutter at Florida Fashions, and he did start acting overemotional after he wore one of the dresses she designed into the ladies' room at Chez Riso and got arrested. He's especially suspect now that he's disappeared with all of Cookie's candy stash. Then again, it could be that cute PI, Andy Shea, who shows up at the funeral of her dead PI, and makes her hear the love song from GONE WITH THE WIND in her head, or it could be just about anyone else on the planet.

Some of the other colorful characters include:

Yuri Yarutski, who owns a sports bar in the bad part of town and wants to go a few rounds with Cookie
The woman who lives in a tree (who in Florida can live without air conditioning?)
Bernadette Humphreys of Bernie's Tattoos who comes up with the weirdest body art.

Okay, yes, Cookie did find the body, in fact two of them,and so she has to clear herself, but does that mean the murderer has to go after her?

Included in this cozy mystery with recipes, are standbys from her Norwegian and Italian heritage such as Grandma Berelli's Pralines (“Worth going to jail for”), Cookie's Maple Candies (“So good they're criminal”), Nana's Kringlas (“To kill for”), Cookie's Chocolate Cover-Up Fudge ("Perfect for spying activities"), and Blood Red Spaghetti Sauce with Bad Boy Meatballs, among others, are available throughout the story to break up the mayhem.

Watch for Candy, Murder and Just Desserts, number two in the Cookie Berelli cozy mystery series.