Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree and her best friend Ellie White are co-owners of The Chocolate Moose, a chocolate-themed bakeshop in Eastport, Maine. As the 4th of July approaches, they find themselves in a baking frenzy, committed to providing a dozen chocolate cherry cheesecakes for an auction that will fund Eastport's fireworks extravaganza. Despite the looming threat of Hurricane Amber, the women persevere. However, Jake and Ellie soon discover that the hurricane is not the only danger they need to face for a Happy 4th.

This cozy mystery has a large cast of characters, each adding their unique flavor to the narrative. Jake and Ellie are adept at juggling multiple tasks. Their shop is a hub of activity, with a steady stream of customers who can't resist their delectable chocolate creations.

Intended as a spin-off of the author's "Home Repair is Homicide" series, I enjoyed its introduction to a culinary series that can stand on its own. The narrative is a chocoholic's dream, filled with tantalizing descriptions that will leave you craving more. Remarkably, there was no indulgence in chocolate and/or cheesecake while reading this cozy mystery.

The scrumptious cheesecake that the reader dreams of throughout the reading of this mystery can be created in your kitchen with the "Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake" recipe at the end of the story. ( )

Jacobia Triptree has apparently gotten her old house in decent shape so she and her friend Ellie open a bakery shop. They are trying to get ready for the July 4th celebrations by baking a dozen chocolate cherry cheesecakes to be auctioned off to raise money for the town celebrations. Baking these cakes is a long drawn out affair. Jake and Ellie find a dead man propped up against their counter in their kitchen. They investigate since the state police suspect Ellie.

DEATH BY CHOCOLATE CHERRY CHEESECAKE (a Death by Chocolate Mystery Book 1) is by Sarah Graves.
I have read her previous series’, The Lizzie Snow series and A Home Repair is Homicide Mystery series. Both were excellent. I like Ms. Graves’ sense of humor, her colorful book covers and clever titles. My favorite has been MALLETS AFORETHOUGHT (a Home Repair is Homicide Mystery). The books all have a wonderful sense of place/location - Downeast Maine; with the town of Eastport, Maine prominently featured.
I was very happy to see this new series being published.

Jacobia (Jake) Tiptree and best friend, Ellie, open a waterfront, chocolate-themed bake shop, The Chocolate Moose. While preparing for Eastport’s 4th of July celebration and an approaching hurricane, a dead (murdered) man is found in the shop’s kitchen, his head inconveniently stuck in a vat of chocolate.

A great plot, detailed characters, local color, a tremendous sense of place and lots of humor make this a good book to read and enjoy. ( )

I've read the books in the Home Repair is Homicide series, though some of them not in years. On the other hand, I've recently listened again to books one and two, The Dead Cat Bounce and Triple Witch. Too bad Ms. Graves didn't reread them before she wrote Death by Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake. After being reminded about Ellie being so competent and daring with boats in those earlier books, Ellie's relationship with her current boat in this book seems a different person. I can't recall being this jarred by a reduction in competence for a book character since the change in 1939-1947 girl sleuth Penny Parker between books 10 and 11.

I'll need to reread Bats in the Belfry to find out if Monday the black lab, Prill the Doberman, and Cat Dancing the cross-eyed Siamese had already gone to dog/cat heaven. [2/28/19 update: Monday, described as 'old', and Prill were both alive, but Cat Dancing wasn't mentioned.] Wade and Belle's attitude toward getting a dog was hard to believe, given Wade seemed to like Jacobia's dogs in earlier books, and Belle had acquired an elderly dog of her own at the end of Tool & Die, which I just finished listening to again. I was glad to read that 'Lee' (short for Leonora) was at summer camp in chapter seven. Before that I was wondering if Ms. Graves had forgotten that Ellie and George had a daughter.

In this book, Jacobia and Ellie need to bake a dozen chocolate cherry cheesecakes for the Coast Guard's Fourth of July auction (which will pay for Eastport's fireworks). It doesn't help to find a dead man in their bakery, his head ruining some of their excellent melted chocolate. Shed no tears for the victim. He was the kind of person who can make a reader wonder why he hadn't been murdered already. The Chocolate Moose was one of his latest targets. Poor Ellie was suspected of murder in the first book of their earlier series, and now she's being suspected again.

To add to the difficulties, Hurricane Amber is expected to hit Eastport during the weekend of the fourth, a weekend when many of the town's businesses earn half of their yearly income. The chairperson of the Fourth of July Committee, Millie Marquardt, is determined to emulate the Mayor of Amity Island in 'Jaws' and keep things going as long as possible instead of pushing hard to get the visitors to leave their island for safety.

The storm has already hit Boston, where Jacobia's grown son, Sam, was visiting friends. Jacobia gets to fret about him. Ms. Graves does mention Sam's past problems as an alcoholic. (Jacobia's first husband, Victor Tiptree, was an emotionally abusive, philandering neurosurgeon. While it wouldn't be fair to lay all of Sam's problems on Victor's shoulders, the jerk caused a lot of them. Sorry, but I don't remember if Ms. Graves ever mentioned that Jacobia married an unrelated man with the same last name as her own. One of my sisters did.)

Jacobia's father, Jacob Tiptree, is being foolhardy about recovering from his heart attack. He's driving Jacobia and her stepmother, Belle Diamond, nuts.

During our heroines' efforts to make sure they have enough high-grade chocolate for those cheesecakes, they encounter more problems. I admit that I didn't suspect the whole truth when it came out. There's a harrowing scene not unlike the climax of Triple Witch, but different enough to keep this long-time fan happy.

NOTES:

Chapter 1:

a. In case you've never watched the 'Funny Girl,' the excellent 1968 film about Broadway and film comedienne Fanny Brice that starred Barbara Streisand, it includes the song 'Second Hand Rose'. Grant Clarke and James F. Hanley wrote it for Ms. Brice in 1921.

b. Jacobia got to meet her father for the first time since she was three years old in , Home Repair is Homicide book .

c. Bella Diamond was introduced in Tool and Die, HRiH book eight. Diamond was the surname of her second husband.

d. Bob Arnold's then-future wife Clarissa was introduced in the first HRIH mystery, The Dead Cat Bounce.

Chapter 2: Sam has a summer job at a marine supply store.

Chapter 4: Jacobia explains about Maine's official soft drink, Moxie, which is where we got the adjective.

Chapter 5:

a. Considering their past adventures, I don't buy that Jacobia didn't already know how fleet-footed Ellie is.

b. The Chocolate Moose has drawstring tote bags decorated with a brown moose eating a chocolate cupcake.

Chapter 6: This is where Jacobia is being asked to pet sit a German shepherd named Maxie and her thoughts about Wade and Belle don't match their past behavior.

Chapter 7:

a. This is where Wade tells Jacobia they're going to meet a man named Lenny Crenshaw, but when we meet him, Ms. Graves has his name as Roscoe. Wade makes no introductions.

b. I believe Ellie said that snark to Victor in Triple Witch.

Chapter 10: We are introduced to Mika, who will probably be a regular supporting character.

I like Mika, I enjoyed the mystery (except for when characters acted out of previously-established character), and mostly had a good time with this book. I can see why Ellie has bigger plans for The Chocolate Moose than Jacobia thought. May Ellie's hopes for the cheesecake auction be realized.

If you're another fan of the Home Repair is Homicide series who was sorry it ended, go ahead and pick up this book to revisit old friends. If you've read only this book and like the characters, rejoice! You have sixteen more books to enjoy. (Don't be surprised that the old series isn't listed in this book. It was published by Penguin Random House, not Kensington.)

Cat fans: Alas, Miss Halligan's calico has only a brief appearance.

Dog fans: We get to enjoy Maxie, a German shepherd, and a very large dog named Fang.

The recipe at the end is for cherry chocolate cheesecake. ( )

I picked this book up as it was advertised as the first in a new series. What I didn't know was that these characters were well loved in another series, so there was a lot of character development and relationship information that I was lacking, through no mistake of my own. Jake and Ellie have opened up a bake shop on the waterfront of town Eastport, called Chocolate Moose. Apparently, Jacobia (Jake) has experience helping to solve murders, so when the annoying town inspector ends up murdered in their shop, Ellie is the main suspect. Matt Muldoon has been after them since they opened with one complaint after another, even saying he would report them to his “friends at the Maine State Health Department”. Ellie didn’t kill him but she and Jake will have to find out who did or Ellie may find herself under arrest. In addition to the dead man in the kitchen, there is a hurricane headed toward Eastport and the town is planning for their huge 4th of July celebration. Jake and Ellie have a huge order for Chocolate Cherry Cheesecakes for the silent auction. Also, Jake’s dad checks himself out of the hospital after having a heart attack. There is so much going on that I am not sure how it all gets sorted out.

Jake and Ellie are both strong women and work together very well. Jake's husband, Wade, makes a few appearances in the story, but is not a major player. Bob the sheriff is another good character and he does not want Jake and Ellie investigating on one hand, but feeds Jake information on another. The story rolls along at an okay pace with Jake and Ellie getting themselves in several sticky and dire situations. There were a lot of twists and turns and the conclusion pulling everything together was well done, but I found I did not really get invested in the story. If you are familiar with Sarah Graves' other series and these characters, you will probably love this book. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.
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