Toxic Toffee is the fourth book in Amanda Flower’s An Amish Candy Shop Mystery series. This is an easy to read confectionery cozy set in the Ohio Amish country, with well-developed characters, a sense of family and community, and an interesting and entertaining mystery. The story flows smoothly, the well-plotted mystery is interesting, and there are plenty of clues for readers to sift through.

Bailey King, who was on the short list for a promotion to head chocolatier, gave up her job as an assistant chocolatier at JP Chocolates in New York City to move to Harvest, Ohio to help her Amish grandmother after her grandfather passed away. Bailey isn’t Amish, but her father, who left the Amish community before she was born, was. As a child, Bailey spent her summers with her grandparents, Jebediah and Clara King, and learned to love chocolates in their Amish candy shop, Swissmen Sweets. Juliet Brody, whose comfort pet is a small black and white polka-dotted potbellied pig named Jethro, is convinced her son, Deputy Aiden, and Bailey will marry even though they’ve barely started dating. Bailey and her Amish cousin, Charlotte, have just returned from a six-week stay in New York City, where they were filming six episodes for Bailey’s Amish Sweets, which will be on Gourmet Television in the summer season. Margot Rawling, the town’s super organizer who has marketing down to a science, is currently promoting Easter Days, a weeklong celebration, selling Easter crafts, candies, allowing children to visit with and pet live rabbits provided by Stephen Raber, the Amish owner of Raber’s Rabbits, and featuring a huge toffee Easter Bunny created by Bailey. When Stephen collapses and dies of an apparent heart attack, but Bailey questions the cause of death. Stephen’s son, Eli, is also doubtful and comes to Bailey asking for her help finding his father’s killer, and leaves Puff, his father’s favorite white rabbit, with her. Aiden tells her that the cause of death was actually a piece of toffee, mixed with a lethal dose of lily of the valley. While Aiden is well-liked by both the English and Amish communities in Holmes County, the Amish are still hesitant to open up to him, so Bailey helps him with his investigation.

I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

Who would kill an Amish man who breeds rabbits? And who on earth would do it by putting lily of the valley in a toffee? That's the question Bailey's trying to solve, along with her love interest, Sheriff's Deputy Aiden. Bailey's a confectioner who moved home to Harvest, Ohio to help her Amish grandmother with the candy shop. She's not Amish and the culture clash sometimes frustrates (but never too much) her. She's also been roped into making a giant toffee rabbit for the spring festival but that's less important than sorting out the murder. There are some fun characters and lots of animals. Thanks to net galley for the ARC. This is the fourth in the series and you should be fine reading it as a standalone- it's a classic cozy with a fun heroine and a good setting.

This is really turning into a spectacular series - I picked this series up on a whim and have just grown to love it and the characters [even the ones that drive me insane :::coughcoughJulietcoughcough:::] and it was no different with the latest installment.

Bailey and Charlotte are back from their 6 weeks in New York City and are immediately greeted with the chaos that is city planner Margot Rawlings and her new Easter festival idea. Which includes live bunnies, lots of chocolate and an eight foot bunny carved from....toffee. And right in the middle of the conversation on how impossible it would be to do that [in TWO days], a man drops dead. And even Bailey, who has found dead people before, cannot even imagine how crazy this current murder will get and what a roller coaster of a ride it will be, ending with a conclusion that absolutely stunned me.

One of the coolest things about this book is that it introduces you to Millie - she is an Amish widow who is also a matchmaker. She lives in a little house with two adorable goats and I can tell already she is going to be such a fun character. AND!! the author is writing a new series based on her!! SQUEEEEE!!!

This is a delightful book in an even more delightful series and while there are many good and lighthearted moments, it also makes you look at what you do and what you choose and how you can indeed chose what you want, but you then have to live with that choice. There are powerful moments in this book and it made me think more than once.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Toxic Toffee by Amanda Flower is the 4th book in the Amish Candy Shop Mystery series, and another great story. I really love this series, and am looking forward to the next book in the series. Bailey King left her job as a New York chocolatier to return to Harvest, OH to help run Swissman Sweets, a candy shop her Amish grandmother owns. It is Easter time, and Bailey has been recruited to build a giant toffee bunny, for the Springtime Festival that lasts a week. When the keeper/owner of the live white rabbits, part of the festival, suddenly dies, Bailey is determined to find the truth. I love the quirky people and situations in this book, especially Aiden mother and her pig. I found this book to be a quick read, with plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing. If you love cozy mysteries, I strongly recommend this book/ series. 

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and Kensington Publishing. Thank you.

Toxic Toffee by Amanda Flower is the first book I have read in the Amish Candy Shop Mystery series, but I enjoyed so much I went and bought the previous 3 books in the series so I can be fully caught up.

A sweet tooth for murder . . .

Bailey King’s in New York wrapping up a six-week shoot on her first cable TV show, Bailey’s Amish Sweets, when she gets a call from her Ohio town’s resident busybody. With Easter around the corner, Bailey’s been recruited to create a giant toffee bunny for the weeklong springtime festival that will also feature live white rabbits. But back home in Harvest, death becomes the main attraction when Stephen Raber keels over from an apparent heart attack—with Bailey and Raber’s pet bunny as witnesses.
.
Except it wasn’t Raber’s heart that suddenly gave out—a lethal dose of lily of the valley was mixed into a tasty piece of toffee. Who’d want to poison a jovial rabbit farmer who reminded Bailey of an Amish Santa Claus? To solve the murder, she and her sheriff deputy boyfriend Aiden must uncover a twenty-year-old secret. She’ll need to pull a rabbit out of a hat to keep a healthy distance from toxic people, including one venomous killer . . .

It took me till chapter 15 to really get engrossed in the story/characters but I think this was just me as I jumped into series 4 books in. But I love all Amanda Flower books she knows how to tell a story and weave a sense of family and community throughout so you want to cone back and visit. This was no exception, Bailey, the protagonist is independent, strong well developed and the other characters are quirky, fun and don't get me started on the furbabies. I especially love Juliets spotted pig Jethro, Puff the white rabbit, Nutmeg her tabby cat and lastly we meet a couple of goats! I antics of all these animals brought a smile to my face.

There were plenty of twists and turns along the way to keep you guessing and I did not figure out whodunnit till Bailey did. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves to read cozies .

I requested and received an Advanced Readers Copy of this book from Kensington Publishing and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What a sweet cozy mystery. Yes. I just wrote that. 🤓 But truly, I loved the mix with Amish and Englishers. I'm hoping some of the tidbits about the Amish are true because I enjoyed the insight. The characters were colorful and it would be easy to pick up the next in the series quickly to follow the town and its community.

After six weeks in New York filming her TV show, Bailey has returned to Harvest, and is immediately asked to create a giant toffee bunny for the town's spring festival, Easter Days. While talking to some of the others who are contributing to the festival, Bailey watches one of the men collapse from an apparent heart attack. When the cause of death turns out to be murder instead, she is determined to help the sheriff's department figure out who killed him – and why.

Amanda Flower has become one of my favorite authors, and I always look forward to the newest book in each of her series. This is the fourth book in this series, and I was not disappointed. The small town setting feels comfortable, and most of the recurring characters feel like old friends. Although I suspected the identity of the killer relatively early in the book, I did not figure out the motive and the other details until they were revealed. This book seems to have introduced a character who will feature in a new spin-off series, and I look forward to reading that series as well as Bailey and Charlotte's next adventure.

I received this ARC via Netgalley and Kensington Books in return for an honest review. This is a continuing series (the Amish Candy Shop series) but this book is easily read as a stand-alone. It's a pleasure to return to Harvest and the Amish community. Bailey, an 'English' or non-Amish, returns home from a stint in NYC, filming a candy-making TV show to the small town of Harvest, in the middle of Amish country She, along with her Amish grandmother, and good friend, Charlotte, run Swissman Sweets. Just as Bailey returns, the town's self-appointed events coordinator enlists Bailey to make an 8 foot rabbit out of toffee as part of the week-long 'all things bunny' celebration before Easter. Live bunnies are provided by a local Amish farmer who raises them and who suddenly dies in front of Bailey on the town green. His son contacts Bailey and asks her to investigate, since he is not comfortable in dealing with the 'English' police force. Oh, and he asks her to take care of his father's pet bunny, Puff. So, between Puff the rabbit, Nutmeg the cat, and Jacob the miniature pig, this series has a cast of fun animals and interesting characters. It does a wonderful job of sharing information about the Amish culture and community, while doing a great cosy mystery. I look forward to the next mystery in this series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington for the digtal advanced reader copy.

I really enjoyed this book, each book in the series gets better and better. It's fun to see how the characters are evolving from one book to the next.

This book will be available at the end of June.

This is the first book I've read by Amanda Flower and I really enjoyed it. It's a cute cozy mystery that will keep you guessing and has a wonderful recipe at the end. I will be looking for more of her books. Thank you Kensington Books via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is a cute cozy mystery but it didn’t draw me in as other cozies do. It’s not that there was anything wrong with it—because there wasn’t—it just fell a little flat for me. And that’s strictly on me.

The character of Bailey King works—she’s the granddaughter of an Amish woman who owns a candy store in the square of town. She also has a popular TV show about candy-making. She’s dating the local sheriff’s deputy, Aiden Brody, and is well-known and well-liked in town. Her grandmother is also well-liked but is Amish so doesn’t approve of everything Bailey (who’s not Amish) does. Bailey used to live in a small apartment above the candy store with her grandmother, but moved out so she could have a place of her own—one with electricity.

Some of the other characters are a little over the top. For instance, Aiden’s mother Juliet carries her pet pig everywhere and, even though Bailey and Aiden just started dating, she’s already planning their wedding. It was just a little too much for me. And the town “promoter” Margot—she’s a bit too much to take too.

The author seems to know the Amish culture pretty well, but she also gets a little repetitive with some things (like the no electricity thing). Living in an Amish community myself, I was able to chuckle at the realism she did put forth. Yes, there really can be “traffic jams” with buggies and cars. It happens often. So this was something well-done.

The murder of Stephen—an Amish rabbit farmer—was definitely different, which was a plus. As was the reason and the killer. Kudos to Ms. Flower for an interesting twist. And that’s all I’m going to say. No spoilers here. 

Overall, the story wasn’t bad. It was mostly enjoyable and had an interesting end, but it just didn’t keep me interested the whole way through. Still… I am definitely going to look for more from this author. She intrigued me enough to look for others by her.

Vicky B

Amanda Flower is an amazingly talented author who never disappoints me.
I learn more about the Amish every time I open one of her books.
This particular series is fun and lighthearted and I love how the community always rallies together when someone needs them.
I’m always excited to read a book by this author.

This was a bittersweet entry into the series. I loved how the minor characters have been fleshed out in this book and - of course - there are good Jethro moments aplenty.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not paid for this review.

I enjoyed the latest offering in Amanda Flower's An Amish Candy Shop Mystery series. There was an undercurrent of darkness in 'Toxic Toffee' that was juxtaposed to the goodness of the people in Bailey's life, so that I was completely surprised with the ending. I once again learned much about Amish culture and loved the relationship between Aiden and Bailey. Plus, Jethro has competition for cuteness with Puff, the new rabbit in Bailey's life. There is a planned offshoot of a new character with an Amish Matchmaker series. I sincerely hope that there is still more with Bailey, it is just that good.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

I really enjoy the town of Harvest, the main character, Bailey., and the secondary characters - especially Aiden, and now Puff. Ms. Flower always keeps me guessing on who the murderer is. The characters are well written and the mystery well plotted.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love the Amish Candy Shop cozy mystery series by Amanda Flower! The series starts with our super sleuth Bailey returning to her grandmother's candy shop in Amish country from making her new cooking tv show in New York city. This time around, the town's main event coordinator wants Bailey to create a gigantic toffee bunny for the town's Easter celebration. When a local Amish man, whom everyone loved, ends up dead, his son seeks Bailey out for justice. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a frwat cozy mystery. I would say, I didn't have the culprit on my radar till the end!! Thanks to #goodreads for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I received a free copy of TOXIC TOFFEE (Book 4 of the Amish Candy Shop Mysteries) by Amanda Flower in exchange for an honest review. Bailey King returns home to Harvest, Ohio, in time to help run her grandmother’s sweet shop during the Easter rush. The very afternoon Bailey arrives, an Amish man drops dead at her feet. What a welcome home! Though it initially appears to be simply a heart attack, the death is soon determined to be a homicide. Because the Amish distrust the local law enforcement, Bailey assists her sheriff deputy boyfriend in the investigation. While already busy sussing out a poisoner and helping run the sweet shop, Bailey must foster a pampered live bunny for the victim’s family, craft a giant candy rabbit for the Easter festivities, adjust to nosy neighbors at her new house, and find time to have a first date with her boyfriend.

I enjoyed this book and really like the entire series, so far. I recommend both this book and the series. Though danger is pervasive, there are also bright spots of humor.

#ToxicToffee #NetGalley

Oh, how I love Amanda Flower books. This is the fourth (four and a half if you include Criminally Cocoa which is immediately before this book) in the Amish Candy Shop series. In it, we find Bailey King just back from a TV show shoot in New York, just in time for Easter in Harvest. Unfortunately, shortly after Bailey's return, a beloved Amish man dies in front of her. No wonder Bailey has a reputation for death following her! Of course Bailey must get involved, much to the chagrin of her sheriff deputy boyfriend, Aiden.


I pretty much love every book Amanda Flower puts out, and this was no exception. I thoroughly enjoy coming back to Harvest and learning what its residents have been up to, English and Amish alike. The mystery had twists that weren't shocking, necessarily, but not obvious, either. The book ends at a point where the series COULD, but I certainly hope this is not the last we hear of the candy shop. However, in it, we meet an Amish matchmaker who Ms. Flowers' newest book will be about. All in all a wonderful book and a fantastic addition to the Candy Shop series. I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.

I loved it! Amanda's books alway's pull's me in to the stories!
Because they are alway's so well written.
I never guess who did it!
it had good plots/ loved the character's and the cover/title.

Wonderful series featuring "English" and Amish living and interacting together in a small town. This fun addition is a great addition. I love seeing Bailey's journey. Filled with fun, colorful characters and a well written plot that draws you in time and time again. Look forward to more for the series and the author.