Chocolate with a Side of Murder

Daley Buzz Mysteries #1

by Meredith Potts

A missing sister. A spooky abandoned house. A secret meeting. A rogue hypnotherapist. A love triangle. A cute corgi. And chocolate. Plenty of chocolate.
If this is your kind of cozy mystery then you'll love Chocolate With A Side Of Murder.
Sabrina Daley is still haunted by the mysterious disappearance of her sister ten years before. Even though the case went cold long ago, she keeps holding out hope that one day she will discover what happened to her sister.
Sabrina's life is turned upside down again when she discovers her friend's dead body in the alley way behind her family's coffee shop. If that isn't bad enough, after a week of investigating, the local police appear to be stumped.
Terrified about a second case going cold in town, Sabrina decides to take matters into her own hands. She sets out on her own, determined not to give up until she has brought her friend's killer to justice.
Books In The Daley Buzz Cozy Mystery Series
Book 1 -- Chocolate With A Side Of Murder
Book 2 -- Caramels With A Side Of Murder
Book 3 -- Apple Pie With A Side Of Murder
Book 4 -- Lemon Bars With A Side Of Murder
Book 5 -- Cookies With A Side Of Murder

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Cozy, Audiobook, Relationships, Mystery Thriller

207 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2017

About the author

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Reviews

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love listening to cozy mystery audio books while working in my garden and yard. It's nice to have an interesting story to listen to while I work. This week, I had a huge amount of leaves to rake and this short, easy listen was a perfect companion!

Sabrina Daley manages the family coffee shop, Daley Buzz. Treasure Cove is usually a quiet, seaside town but lately there are some strange goings-on: strange lights flickering in the windows of a long abandoned house, men in matching suits attending a "by invitation meeting,'' and a local developer approaching every business owner downtown to buy up their shops. When the local chocolate shop owner is found murdered in an alley, things take a decidedly dark turn. Because her sister disappeared without a trace years before, Sabrina really hates the fact that local law enforcement (including her detective boyfriend David) are coming up empty on clues in the case. She doesn't want another case to go unsolved, so she decides to do a little sleuthing on her own.....

There were a few minor plot and writing issues with this story (police procedure inaccuracies, abandoned plot points, repetition of the same words and phrases), but none of the problems prevented me from enjoying this first book in the Daley Buzz series. The story is a fun and engaging light mystery. There were plenty of suspects and a few twists along the way to keep me interested in the story. Totally willing to over look a few rough spots. Sabrina is an interesting main character, although I would term her investigation methods as bullying with style. :)

I listened to the audio book version of this story. Narrated by Lainie Pahos, the audio was just over 5 hours long. Easy listening length. At first, I had a rough time getting used to Pahos' voice and reading style. After a couple chapters, I was in the groove and got into the story. There were a few editing mistakes in the audio and an audible hiss in the background -- the recording quality needs some improving. But, overall, it was a good listening experience.

Fun start to a cozy series! I'm definitely going to keep reading and listening to this series! There are 10 books so far in the Daley Buzz series and several more books by Meredith Potts that are also set in Treasure Cove.

On to book 2 -- Caramels and a Side of Murder!

**I received this audio book for free from the author. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.**

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chocolate with a Side of Murder
Daley Buzz Cozy Mystery, Book 1
By: Meredith Potts
Narrated by: Lainie Pahos
This is an audible book I requested and the review is voluntary.
I really enjoyed this busy, fast paced murder mystery. There were many interesting characters, twists and turns, great plot, and exciting side interests. The main gal sure is pushy to find the murderer, lol.
The narrator was just perfect for this book. The emotions, timing, the transition, and voices all were done wonderfully. Great job!

[Danielle's · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook in the genre of Cozy Mystery. Yes please.

Sabrina is our leading lady and her boyfriend is the cop. Sabrina’s sisters case in a cold one.

I really enjoyed this book. I have the box set so I’ve started the second book straight away. The ending came fast in this one but I’m really liking this series.

ARC read. My review is honest and my own.

[Angela (Angel's Book Nook) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Chocolate with a Side of Murder is book one in the Daley Buzz Mysteries by Meredith Potts.

I’m always on the look out for a cozy mystery these days. I’ve found myself changing my reading up and have come to enjoy a good mystery.

Chocolate with a Side of Murder introduces us to Sabrina when she’s a young girl on the day her sister goes missing, then we fast forward ten years and she’s now working in her family’s business and dating a detective.

I gave this story a good go, but ended up DNFing at 23%. Nothing exciting nor of interest has happened to this point. I’m board! So far, we’ve had a weird women show interest in Sabrina’s necklace which her missing sister gave her. This women wouldn’t take no of an answer when she asks to buy it off Sabrina, so it brings up memories and causes her sadness. Next up we go on a date with the boyfriend, but on the way to the restaurant they see this mysterious meeting where only men where invited to or something, but they couldn’t figure out what’s going on, so all through dinner it’s on their minds.

Really theirs nothing exciting to keep me interested or wanting to read on. These little things just aren’t mysterious enough for me. Chocolate with a Side of Murder turned out to not be the book for me. If the blurb intrigues you, I urge you to give it a shot. Just because it did not work for me does not mean it won’t for you. 

DNF at 23%

[Cheryl Landmark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry, but this will not become a favourite cozy mystery series for me. Unfortunately, I just didn't find it very well-written or enjoyable. And, the author used "unfortunately" way too many times, to the point where I cringed in frustration every time I encountered the word.

I read the first book in another cozy mystery series some time ago that had a main character very similar to Sabrina, and I disliked Sabrina as much as I did that young woman. Sabrina's obsession with investigating the murder despite the concerns of her family and friends seemed rather flimsy and questionable to me, and her methods were downright laughable. Like the amateur sleuth in the other series, she simply went from suspect to suspect and tried to bully them with intimidation and lies into confessing to the murder, succeeding only in alienating and angering everyone she talked to and having doors slammed in her face. She was rude, disrespectful and conceited about her sleuthing abilities, and she did not impress me at all.

The constant reference to David as her "boyfriend" struck me as rather immature and annoying, making her sound more like a teenager than a mature woman. And, what was with David acting so depressed and frustrated with the investigation after only a short time? His attitude certainly didn't strike me as that of a intelligent, competent police officer.

Too many questions and mysteries were left unanswered at the end of the book, which supposedly might be cleared up in the next or subsequent books. But, unfortunately, they will remain mysteries for me because I probably won't be reading any more of this series.

[Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Main character is extremely unlikable and unrealistic. she's extremely rude, whiny, tell lies to get what she thinks she wants, bullies everyone, (friend or suspect,) deceitful, teases homeless people by holding cash just out of their reach. Boyfriend detective (used his name maybe 10 times in the book) is simply referred to as "My boyfriend." By the way, he gave up in frustration after just two days of investigating??? Somehow, as a civilian, she is allowed to sit in on the interrogation of one of the suspects. (Confidentiality?)

I'm glad Meredith Potts has a following of people who like her. I will not be buying any more of her stories.

[Delta · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was strange for me. I just finished reading another cozy by Potts when I picked this one up and it's like they were written by two different people. The Sabrina in this book was rude and a bully to the people she talked with. She lies multiple times to trick them into talking to her and it makes for a difficult read when you don't like the protagonist. I don't think I could continue this series.

On the other hand, Lainie Pahos did a great job narrating. She managed to capture the perfect tone of the book.

**I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

[Wade · Rating 3 out of 5]

“We live in a crazy world. One that seems to keep getting more out of control by the moment.”

This book one of a cozy mystery was okay. A lot of time is spent with the likable main character, Sabrina, driving around and trying to question suspects. The ending felt a little rushed and there wasn’t really any evidence in the book where you could venture a guess to the killer. In addition, the book ends with like 3 or 4 cliffhangers for side mysteries going on; I’m all for cliffhangers on some stuff, but this just seems a little overboard. Lastly, in Chapter 8, the author mentions that Treasure Cove’s founding father was Jameson Murphy; in Chapter 26, they say a sandwich is named after Abraham Johnson, who founded Treasure Cove. That’s just a silly and unnecessary typo! I probably will not read anymore in this series.

For more reviews, please check out my blog!
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[Jen - Reviews · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me start by saying that I didn't quite finish this and I almost never give 2 stars. Very amateurish writing, very thin plot, dialogue was pedestrian and even though it's fiction it was so ridiculous in parts that it was difficult to suspend disbelief.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audio version of this book.
This was a good, cozy mystery. There were a lot of characters and lots of suspects in the murder of the victim. The story was good. I wish I had read it instead of listening to it. I realize the narrator had tons of voices to do, but several of them were kind of hard to listen to.

[Becky Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A first in cozy mystery’s genre for me and it was ok.
I just have many, MANY questions as to why she was allowed to harass all these suspects when she wasn’t a detective?
Why were they talking to her as though she was a detective?
I get she bribed some but still...unsure whether it was legal lol (maybe I’m overthinking it...)

[Ferne (Enthusiastic Reader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sabrina Daley, manager and barista at the family-owned coffee shop, Daley Buzz, in Treasure Cove, California. The town is full of unexplained mysteries that began 10 years ago, but the latest mystery is the death of Sabrina’s business neighbor, a partner in the local chocolate shop. Who didn’t love the chocolatier?

How could I resist a cozy with a title that begins with chocolates? This is a review to share I enjoyed the cozy but...

I enjoyed...
• The interesting opening of an older sister Jessica who mysteriously vanished during her routine morning jog.
• Sabrina’s triple interest in becoming a sleuth: (a) educational background in criminology selected after the mystery of her sister’s disappearance, (b) boyfriend and local detective David Carlson, and (c) the death of one of the business partners of the chocolate shop in the alley behind their shops.
• The dynamics of grappling in different ways with the unexplained loss of a daughter, stepdaughter, sister, and granddaughter.
• Sabrina’s corgi, Snickerdoodle.

But...
• I’m still puzzled as to the inclusion of the waffling of Kelly O’Reilly’s love life, an employee of Daley Buzz. Perhaps the purpose will be revealed in a future story in the series.
• The primary hesitation in continuing to read the series is trope fatigue of amateur sleuth-detective. In all fairness, as this amateur sleuth has a background in criminology, the pairing is understandable. However, I didn’t warm to Sabrina as a person, particularly not to her interrogations, constantly threatening her suspects with notifying the police. Having dated David for over a year, I’m sure everyone in town knows that the detective and barista are a couple.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just Ok for me. I thought the line of questioning was quite over the top. I found myself bored throughout her interrogation of the suspects. The old boyfriend showed up, which at this point doesn't make sense.

[MK ( MaKayla) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not enough action to really hook me .

[Jane Corrado · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sabrina didn’t want this case to go cold like her sister’s case. All is well that ends well!

[Kristine Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars. Audio book review. There’s nothing better than a good cozy mystery, and Chocolate with a Side of Murder got my attention because of the setting: it’s set around a coffee shop, The Daley Buzz, next door to a chocolate shop, in a seaside town --the triple shot (pun intended) of good elements! It also clocks in at just over five hours and has a super cute cover. All of these things are completely superficial, but I cannot tell a lie: these are the things that will draw my interest to a book. Especially the coffee…

"Not only would they perk up, they would become abuzz."

Let’s talk about the coffee because COFFEEEEEEE. Chocolate with a Side of Murder is the first book in the Daley Buzz Cozy Mystery series, and the Daley Buzz is the cleverly named coffee shop run by Sabrina Daley, our main character and amateur sleuth. I really enjoy the coffee talk about the incredible transformation of people after their morning coffee. (It is for reals. I live it every day.) And I loved how author Meredith Potts sprinkled hints of things to come by using plays on words and intentional puns with coffee (and other) terminology. Look out – when Sabrina says espresso seems like overkill for someone to drink, it could have a double-entendre!

Readers are given a HUGE cast of characters up front, and each is physically described, almost formulaically, with shape of face, hair color and style, skin color, and body type. I still couldn’t keep them straight. More helpful in differentiating is the personalities and backgrounds, but LORD, there is a mess of characters who are recovering or current alcoholics or drug addicts. I had to jot down names of people to keep up, which isn’t convenient when listening to an audio book.

The main storyline, the murder of one of Sabrina’s friends, chugs along without a lot of action and primarily through a series of Sabrina’s interviews and interrogations of suspects and witnesses. The more I got to know Sabrina, the less I liked her. She’s a bully, and it is puzzling that people were even answering her questions since she is so rude and abrasive and makes no attempts to draw-out information gently. Though readers know the murder victim is a friend of Sabrina’s, it never feels authentic as to why Sabrina is so driven to solve this murder on her own. From a crime procedural perspective, readers are expected to believe that, detective boyfriend connection or not, Sabrina would be allowed on a crime scene, allowed to hold evidence, and allowed to basically obstruct justice.

There are two secondary storylines also happening in Chocolate with a Side of Murder, and in this first book of the series, they are not resolved. One is the disappearance of Sabrina’s sister ten years earlier, and the other is the mysterious and creepy, possibly haunted, Waterson Estate. Truthfully, I found these two background stories more interesting than the primary murder plot, and the hope that there would be more about them is what kept me reading. Sadly, they are left dangling, so my expectation is that they will be threaded through the other books in the series – I think there are ten books in all.

The narration, by Lainie Pahos, leaves much to be desired. The pace was too slow for me (mostly, audio books are), so after the fifteen minutes or so, I listened at 1.25x speed. That helped. The narration was not overly expressive; even in scenes where emotions are raw, Pahos’s delivery is not much different than coffee shop talk. Her voicing of females is fine and there is good differentiation to keep the characters separate, but the male voices were sometimes groan worthy. Those are issues I can deal with if a story is good enough to keep me engaged, but there are also mispronounced words, incorrect words, and repeated lines in several places (mostly chapter 19 and later) that should have been edited out.

By the end, some potentially redeeming qualities come out in Sabrina, and that in combination with the interesting and unresolved sub-plotlines (and the FABULOUS SETTING) makes me think I’ll give book two, Caramels with a Side of Murder, a try.

Thank you to Audiobookworm Promotions for providing me a download of this book in exchange for my honest opinion – the only kind I give. This full review and more features on Hall Ways Blog http://bit.ly/DaleyBuzz1

[Bonnie Dale Keck · Rating 1 out of 5]

Note...to make all this worse, there is no listing except this one for kindle, actually not sure what type book it is listing for kindle or otherwise, but the other 2 are both for audio versions, and this one says done by creatspace in 1917 so yet another in interest of disclosure

kindle unlimited but in interest of disclosure was supposed to have received copy from the writer because author xp reviews back in october but never did so instead of letting it mess up my elite review {or any regular} with them, noticed it still hadn't showed up {ebook} and pulled it on ku, though really wished hadn't bothered and instead just stated there that never received a copy...it's got way too many unnecessary details, took forever to get to any of the actual murder parts, had all sorts of extra and totally unneeded side comments that had nothing to do with story or setting it up properly, and usually at very end of my reviews list other books by this writer in a series at least but not bothering because use that to be helpful but mainly to remind myself what other books in series or by writer, but didn't recognize the name or wouldn't have bothered since can't think of any of the other series' books that liked either, mostly because of these type issues, which included the mentioned things up above then such things as she's running the counter of a coffee shop yet she's also making the drinks in addition to handling money which is not only almost impossible to do by totally unsanitary and then she's having long chats with different people in the early morning rush line.... and then you go and handle trash to take out to a dumpster and scream 'knowing' that someone is dead without ever checking pulse or anything, and during this same rush you stay outside, call not 911 but your boyfriend police detective who then calls everyone with you all the while still outside. Just luv how everyone is 'gulping' freshly brewed HOT expressos and other drinks. Just what kind of evidence, prints or otherwise, would the team have found in at alley around a dumpster, and why is he even telling her this stuff since it's part of a police investigation that is ongoing. Why, the day after a murder, would there be police not even in back but in front of coffee shop, that's way beyond locking the barn after the horse got out. A dive bar on the 'bad' side of town wouldn't be one of the ones still allowing smoking inside, yeah right. It's just really 'great' how she talks about having to open every day and so early yet she never seems to actually be at the coffee shop unless she's chatting away with one customer while a line must be backing up behind her or taking trash out out in between making drinks and handling money and other things that would get health inspectors to shut the whole thing down. Someone is able to lean over, while driving, and give the passenger a hug, really; between being buckled in, driving, and the inability to actually make that move? -- as far as her sister being brought in to pretty much almost every page, the men at the formerly close building, and the old house with a light on...they were in there for WHAT reason besides more unnecessary filler?

A missing sister. A spooky abandoned house. A secret meeting. A rogue hypnotherapist. A love triangle. A cute corgi. And chocolate. Plenty of chocolate. Sabrina Daley is still haunted by the mysterious disappearance of her sister ten years before. Even though the case went cold long ago, she keeps holding out hope that one day she will discover what happened to her sister. Sabrina's life is turned upside down again when she discovers her friend's dead body in the alley way behind her family's coffee shop. If that isn't bad enough, after a week of investigating, the local police appear to be stumped. Terrified about a second case going cold in town, Sabrina decides to take matters into her own hands. She sets out on her own, determined not to give up until she has brought her friend's killer to justice.

[Nina Silva]

Sabrina is the manager at her family’s coffee shop, the Daley Buzz and gets pulled into solving a murder mystery when a fellow business owner is found murdered. Through the prologue and many flashbacks used in this narrative, we discover that Sabrina’s sister disappeared many years ago. She carries the trauma of that incident everyday. Her sister’s case may have gone cold but she refuses to let that happen to Andrew’s case.

Sabrina takes it upon herself to investigate the crime, when local police (with whom her boyfriend is a detective) can’t find any leads. Unfortunately once she assumes the role of investigator she becomes an almost unrecognisable, overly brusque version of the Sabrina we initially meet. There seems to be no justification given for her haranguing of suspects, except that she wants justice for Andrew.

The whole mystery plays out through a series of interviews with suspects and we get a chance to meet several viable suspects wth clear motives. The mystery is fairly well plotted and the pacing of the story is good.

Some things I liked:

-The coastal setting for the story is well-described and flows well into the narrative.
-The coffee shop setting is quite cosy and that comes through in the writing.
-There are several interesting elements introduced that can carry over into later stories e.g. the missing sister and the ‘maybe’ haunted house.
-There’s a fair variety of suspects and their motives, for the most part, are all sound.
-The cover is really cute.

Some things I didn’t like:

-The main character is, I’m sorry, really annoying. She turns from a quite likeable young woman into a rude, arrogant, pushy, over-opinionated investigator. I actually found myself rooting for her suspects in the interviews, she was that unbearable. She was even teasing a homeless guy with a $10 bill at one point.
-Which brings me to another issue. Why are the ‘suspects’ bothering to answer her questions? She has absolutely no authority to ask them and isn’t being nice about it.
Almost every word and action of the main character and those close to her are overanalysed. We go through minutes (in the audio version) of analysis as to all the possible reasons the main character’s friend needs a triple shot instead of her usual.
-There’s an awful lot of “staring into eyes” while she decides if her suspects are telling the truth.
We keep hearing that the boyfriend is a “great” detective. He’s so good yet he’s at a loss on how to proceed with his investigation after two days?

I think there is so much potential in this story. There are some very interesting elements that I hope are played out, especially in the later stories. The missing sister story line is quite intriguing. Unfortunately, I think the execution of these ideas needs some tightening and, for that reason, I’m not in a rush to read more.

I decided to go with three stars for this review as I do find the mystery itself was interesting and that the suspects, for the most part, were credible.

Audiobook:

Narration: The narration for this audiobook was okay. The character distinction between male and female was good. Between the female voices there was adequate differentiation but some more was needed for the male voices. Sometimes the narrator’s intonations and tonality seemed ‘off’ (either too casual or without appropriate emotion) but I found that improved somewhat as the story progressed. (3/5)

Production: Sound quality was generally good. The audio was clear and sound levels were consistent. I picked up three blips in the audio where entire sentences were repeated. (4/5)

Overall Experience: Overall this story translated to audio well, despite some issues with narration and audio repeats. (4/5)

I voluntarily reviewed this audiobook through Audiobookworm Promotions.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of chocolate helps to solve murders.
Okay, I read this one the day after Halloween hey what better time could I have picked it has a spooky abandoned house in it. Plus being a retired hypnotherapist I had to read a tale about a rogue one. I love Meredith's style of writing and this one was wonderful. Great characters and twists are what you will find in this piece. Is the cold case about Sabrina's sister and the death of her friend connected? Where I do understand some of the reviewer's feelings about police protocol and procedures I think perhaps they are looking for the story to be very realistic. It kind of like TV crime shows in the back of your mind you know that is not what the police would do but you still turn in and watch week after week. It is entertainment and that is what this book is for me. Where I am happy to recommend this cozy I do understand it just may not be for everyone. I did receive a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.

[Evelyn Goughnour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! I didn’t see who was the killer until they arrested him. I loved that her detective boyfriend didn’t get offended that she found the killer before he did.

[Karin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book (and subsequent ones in the series) bothers me to no end. I hate how Sabrina refers to her mother as "Elizabeth" and her grandmother as "Betsy" whenever she encounters them. I hate that every single person, at some point in the story, groans. I hate how every person Sabrina encounters is described by their age, body type, and hair colour. I hate Sabrina's delusions of grandeur, thinking she's an amazing detective. I hate that her boyfriend is supposed to be a terrific detective, but he seems incapable of solving a crime without her help. I hate that they break protocol at every turn. I hate that she leaves her dog, Snickerdoodle, alone by himself all day. A doggy door or dog walker are never mentioned, so what if he needs to go outside while Sabrina is bullying suspects? I hate that even though Sabrina is supposed to be the manager at her family's coffee shop, she never seems to go to work.

Yet I paid 99¢ for the ten book series, so I feel an obligation to keep going. Good thing (despite my husband's suggestion) I did not start a drinking game with groans and physical descriptions, because I'd be too drunk to function.

[Michelle Wakeman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sappy and soppy

I don’t usually take the trouble to write reviews for books that I don’t rate highly, but this book was actually a chore for me to finish. I persisted, because I was curious about who would turn out to be the culprit, but the grammar was sloppy, the editing left multiple spelling errors and/or typos, and the final scenario was ridiculous. Who buys earrings at a jewelry shop as a gift and then carries them loose in their pocket? They get them in a box or a bag. Not only that, but way too much time was wasted on the main character’s internal angst, and not enough on leading the reader through the clues. One of the best things about reading a mystery is feeling like you have a chance to figure out the murderer before it is revealed by the author. No such luck here. Since this book is one of a 30 book series, I am obviously I the minority in this opinion, but I felt it necessary to put it out there. Maybe the quality improved as the series continued, but I have no desire to find out.

[Bobbi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic story. Love this series. It is fun and thought provoking at the same time. The characters are well crafted and totally realistic. Really love the way Sabrina keeps the hope alive that someday she will find out what happened to her sister. Purchased the paperback to reread the story and was thrilled that the story was just as entertaining the second time around. Try this series you will love it.

Merged review:

Another fantastic story. Love this series. It is fun and thought provoking at the same time. The characters are well crafted and totally realistic. Really love the way Sabrina keeps the hope alive that someday she will find out what happened to her sister. Purchased the paperback to reread the story and was thrilled that the story was just as entertaining the second time around. Try this series you will love it.

[Nati · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very entertaining mystery story. Sabrina finds the body of Andrew, the owner of the Chocolate shop in the alleyway behind her coffee shop and she can’t help but try to solve the mystery, with the the help of her boyfriend, David, a police detective. I received a. Free copy of this audiobook from AXP authors in exchange for my honest review

[Linda Rainey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Cozy Mystery

I enjoyed this cozy mystery with it's entertaining characters lots of suspense,twists and turns.
Cozy Mystery fans will like this book and series.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Chocolate With a Side of Murder” earns 5/5 Double Espressos!

Have you read it? Sabrina Daley continues to struggle, ten years later, with the disappearance of her sister. One morning Jessica went out for her routine jog and never returned, and in the decade since, no clues, no evidence, no Jessica. But, life goes on, as Sabrina manages the family’s coffee shop (the Daley Buzz), supports friend and employee Kelly O’Reilly with her frightening encounter at the Watterson estate and BFF Shannon Smith with her romantic entanglements, and gets involved in more than one mystery…and murder. Is that a light in the window of the abandoned dilapidated Watterson mansion? For what purpose are well-dressed men attending and not discussing an invite-only gathering at the Old Banquet Hall? What motive would cause someone to murder a business neighbor and friend? Sabrina hoped to dive into work and busy herself enough to avoid memories of her sister, but this…may just be too much.

I am relatively new to Meredith Potts’s writing…where have I been, you ask? I have some of her books, but recently I pushed myself to start reading the ARC of “Caramels With a Side of Murder,” but I discovered some references that I needed clarification. So I was extremely lucky to find there was a first book in the series. How marvelous to start with that! More details were given to make clearer the back story and character connections. This story was very engaging, scary at times, and I found Meredith’s characters varied and well developed with reasonable reactions to the events and relationships. Although there are some conclusions offered for closure, the book has some of the main questions left unanswered for future books like “Caramels…” The setting of Treasure Cove, a coastal California tourist town, issues with managing the coffee shop, and dealing with the pain of not knowing what happened to Jessica play out in the background along with Sabrina’s love interest with a local detective. i am soooo glad that I found this book, now I can truly enjoy the ARC I was lucky to get. I highly recommend getting into this series, now…more books are on the horizon.

I read the story by purchasing the "Fourteen Book Cozy Mystery Set."

[Fee (Ebook Addicts) · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Audio Review] Chocolate with a Side of Murder (The Daley Buzz Cozy Mysteries, Book 1) by Meredith Potts The Story:Sabrina works in her family coffee shop The Daley Buzz, dates a police office and still holds out hope of finding her missing sister of 10 years. The book starts with her sister Jessica’s disappearance but then it holds no bearing to the rest of the story, though I am guessing that more is obviously going to come out of this story line in future books.
I disliked Sabrina as a character as I found her extremely rude and very whiny! She gets involved with solving a murder by basically being rude and using bullying tactics when talking to the “suspects” that in actual fact I can’t believe anyone would actually open up and tell her anything! But they do and she is able to piece together whodunit all before her police boyfriend even gets a chance to. Maybe she should give up the coffee shop and become and actual PI for a living.
The story for all it still leaves some unanswered questions. held my attention and I did enjoy listening & reading along, so I look forward to continuing the series mainly to find what on earth happened to her sister.
 
The Narrator:At first Lainie Pahos voice did kinda grate on me, but then I got used to it and really got into the story. I have to say she was brilliant at female voices but she fell flat when it came to male’s – maybe not her strong point or something she can work on, but there was a distinct monotone voice when it came to the males. For the female characters I think she pretty much nailed what I thought they were going to sound like. There were a few moments when the narrator fluffed up the lines, which was quite surprised would still be in the finished audio – I guess it is harder to “edit” audio, granted these fluff ups were in chapters 19 and 20 so near the end, but still noticeable enough for me to check that there wasn’t a problem with the playback option on my phone.
Overall the audio quality was good and there was no distortion or background/white noise.

[Donadee's Corner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chocolate with a Side of Murder by Meredith Potts Review
Murder, Missing, Meetings, Love triangles, what else????

A missing sister. A spooky abandoned house. A secret meeting. A rogue hypnotherapist. A love triangle. A cute corgi. And chocolate. Plenty of chocolate. If this is your kind of a cozy mystery then you'll love Chocolate with A Side of Murder. Sabrina Daley is still haunted by the mysterious disappearance of her sister ten years before. Even though the case went cold long ago, she keeps holding out hope that one day she will discover what happened to her sister. Sabrina's life is turned upside down again when she discovers her friend's dead body in the alley way behind her family's coffee shop. If that isn't bad enough, after a week of investigating, the local police appear to be stumped. Terrified about a second case going cold in town, Sabrina decides to take matters into her own hands. She sets out on her own, determined not to give up until she has brought her friend's killer to justice.

What did I like? I think all of us enjoy reading a light cozy that is not too mind boggling. This is a cute mystery that will have you laughing and holding your breath in a few places. Awesome characters that you can really get into.

What will you like? Food, murder, food, mystery, food, humor and more food. Gee, what book would be better than reading about food… No pounds gained and all sounds delicious! Sabrina is a great character that you will enjoy all the antics that she gets into. She has her emotional side due to her sister missing and the fact that they have no clues. This is a well-developed storyline with lots of action and the other characters are all interesting. The details and descriptions are numerous and will keep you well located in the gist of things. I have enjoyed every one of Meredith’s books that I have read. I still have a few to go yet but I am working on them. I received this from the author for an honest review with no other compensation.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chocolate with a Side of Murder (Daley Buzz Mysteries #1) by Meredith Potts I like a good cozy mystery now and then. This one was ok it wasn't great but I will be going back for book 2 before I decide my true feelings on the series. Meredith Potts takes us to the tiny town Treasure Cove CA. We meet Sabrina. She runs the family coffee shop and is dating David a police detective. When the owner of the Chocolate shop next to Sabrina's coffee shop is murdered, Sabrina steps in to help solve the murder. Sabrina's character could use some improvement. Yes she solves the murder in the end but at the cost of alienating herself from half the town. The way she goes after her suspects and her line of questioning as well as her attitude just made her rude and not very likable to me. The book is very fast paced. The book starts off 10 years earlier when her sister comes up missing and has not been any clues to date. I am assuming this has part to do with her attitude. A lot of the book centers on her feelings towards the disappearance. I do hope in future books that mystery is solved. The book does leave a lot of loose ends on other things brought up during the book. Some of the characters just seemed tossed in with no true spot in the story, so hopefully in later books they will have established rolls. i do read a lot of series and never fully make up my mind abotu a series in book 1. A lot of times book one just basically establishes everyones rolls in later books and that is what I am hoping for.I did listen to the Audiobook, which is narrated by Lainie Pahos. She done a good job with the story. She let me now when someone was happy, sad, or had other emotions from the tone of her voice. Some of her voices she used grated on my nerves a bit, luckily those people had small parts in the story. I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Meredith Potts The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking for a new mystery series and thought I would give this one I try. I generally like the food, cozy mystery books and decided to try this one out.

I really wanted to like the book and I think it could have been better. I usually like the amateur sleuth, and also some other storylines in a book. I believe these give a book more substance but in this case it was very open ended in terms of what happened or what will happen. Some things such as her sister disappearing, and people having secret meetings at a building that's supposed to be closed were only mentioned a couple times and didn't progress through the book. I know that their are other books and these will most likely come up again in those books but some progression in the first book would have been nice.

The main character also came off as unlikeable. She was very pushy, and came off as though she was better than everyone she suspected of the murder. I have read other female amateur sleuth books who investigated and questioned people she knew without coming off as rude and almost condescending. Even though she does end up solving the murder which was also a little hard to follow due to lack of evidence and thought process the way she interacted with people was off putting to me.

Overall I wanted to like the book and it was a quicker read for me. I will try reading another book just to see if the characters become more developed considering this was the first book in the series and the author had written many books in this series. I hope that the storylines become more developed and that the extra things in the book make more progress, especially if they are going to be brought up and seemingly a large part of the main character.