I really wanted to like this book - it has great foundations in term of plot and characters. However, the prose was clunky, and as written it was quite confusing - some characters have backstory at length, while others just show up with no background whatsoever. I also didn't have faith that the characters would solve the mystery. Maisie in particular was extremely challenging to read.

The second installment in a series that is quickly becoming a delicious treat! Thank you for the opportunity to review, I'll be sure to share this new title with my customers.

A Game of Cones is the second book in author Abby Collette’s Ice Cream Parlor mystery series. Set in the small village of Chagrin Falls, a Cleveland suburb, this book begins with a meeting of the local shop owners who are being presented with a plan to buy out a section of the village triangle and put up a mini mall. This is not well received and the presenter, Zeke Reynolds, is booed and a shoe may or may not have been thrown at him. When this company representative is found shot to death in a back alley much later that night, the die is cast for Bronwyn (Win) Crewse to be pulled into another investigation.

While her friend Maisie Solomon is eager to get involved, Win is not. However, when her visiting friend, Rory Hunter, who has come to Chagrin Falls to lure Win back to New York City and the job she left behind, becomes implicated, Win, too, becomes more eager to uncover the actual villain and get her friend out of the crosshairs of Detective Liam Beverly.

As Win struggles with running her business, Crewse Creamery, convincing her friend she has no interest in returning to New York, and investigating the murder, her Aunt Jack arrives back in town, perhaps to take over the family business and push Win aside. With this worry on top of all else, Win is burning the candle at both ends.

In a twisting plot with many potential suspects and revealed secrets, Win once more is in the right place at the wrong time and is able to bring the case to conclusion. This is another well woven mystery by Ms. Collette. I did enjoy this book and I do recommend it!!

A murder in a small tön. A few Friends try to solve it. But this is difficult, there are so many opinions who the murderer could be. But in the end the Mystery is Silver.

The second novel of the #OwnVoices Ice Cream Parlor mystery series is a delightful confection as appealing as its predecessor! Bronwyn Crewse quit big city life in order to come home to the Cleveland suburb of Chagrin Falls and take over running her family’s ice cream store. Several months since its near-disastrous re-opening, when unexpected snowfall and an even less anticipated murder nearly derailed what was supposed to be a happy occasion, the Crewse Creamery is doing well enough that Win, as she’s known to family and friends, is thinking of expanding operations to include a food truck.

But a local shopkeepers’ meeting has her village’s business owners in a tizzy, as representative Zeke Robertson explains his development company’s proposal to buy out several buildings in order to construct a mall in Chagrin Falls’ central triangle. Some shopkeepers are vehemently opposed to the idea, even as others are only too happy to take the money and run. While Win isn’t thrilled at the prospect of a mall changing the tenor of a small town that leans heavily into its reputation for quaintness, she’s willing to adopt a wait-and-see policy, especially since the creamery won’t be directly affected by the building plans. So it comes as a shock when Chagrin Falls’ only homicide detective comes knocking on her door early the next morning to ask if she’s seen anything that could shed light on the shooting death of poor Zeke.

Win is cooperative but ultimately knows very little, to the disappointment of her crime-solver-wannabe best friend, Maisie Solomon. While Maisie is eager to throw herself back into amateur sleuthing, Win has more important things to worry about. The arrival of her friend and former co-worker Rory Hunter is a pleasant surprise, even though Rory is trying to tempt her back to her old job in New York City with promises of a raise and sundy perks. It’s the sudden reappearance of Crewse Creamery’s combative former manager, Win’s own Aunt Jack, however, that has Win reconsidering her place in Chagrin Falls:

QUOTE
I needed to calm my nerves after Aunt Jack blew in and started a commotion. She hadn't stayed ten minutes and already she'd made my mouth turn dry and my stomach cramp up. My mother left soon after her, I was sure she was having a parking lot moment. Whenever she was stressed or depressed, she'd pull over into a parking lot and sit. Sometimes for hours. It didn't matter where the parking lot was, just whatever was close when those feelings took over. My father said it was probably a good thing to have her off the road.
END QUOTE

Win, however, isn’t so distracted by Aunt Jack’s shenanigans as not to notice how weirdly Rory is behaving, even for a New Yorker unused to life in small town Ohio. When Rory is implicated in Zeke’s death, Win immediately leaps to her defense, to Maisie’s glee. With the help of their other best friend Riya Amacarelli, the women begin to systematically look into the people who might have wanted Zeke dead.

This was a well-plotted culinary cozy that features some of the cutest character interactions in the genre today. Scatterbrained Maisie and aggressive Riya are always a hoot, and it was so much fun to have city slicker Rory join them and our more level-headed heroine as they followed suspects in an effort to clear Rory’s name:

QUOTE
"What if she sees us?" Rory asked.

"Who cares," Maisie said. "We're not breaking any laws, we can do what we want."

"Stalking," Rory said. "We're breaking the law against stalking."

"We're trying to apprehend a murderer," Maisie said. "I think if we get caught they'll be lenient with us."

Rory looked at me. "When you're hanging out with her, do you ever feel like you might end up in jail?"
END QUOTE

In addition to the entertaining story, Abby Collette includes three ice cream recipes at the end of the book that will surely have you craving some variation of the frozen treat (the mango sorbet she includes will get me every time.) Ordinarily, I like to cover mysteries with recipes over at my Cooking The Books column on this site but ice cream is just that length too far out of my capabilities that I’ll have to enjoy the recipes vicariously through the charming writing of this murder mystery.

After A Deadly Inside Scoop was one of my favorite cozy mysteries of 2020 (trust me, I read a lot of cozies!) I was so excited to be back in Chagrin Falls with Win and her family. A Game of Cones did NOT disappoint. When a developer comes to town with news of a potential mall being built, someone in the community takes quick action and the developer ends up dead that night.

One of Win's friends (visiting from NYC) stumbles across the body and becomes suspect number one. Even though she tries to keep her distance, Win can't help but get tangled up in the murder investigation and comes face to face with a cold-blooded killer. And we still get the family dynamic and charming ice cream shop setting that we grew to love in book one.

Any cozy mystery set in Ohio is automatically of interest to me, and I can't wait to see what book three has in store!

Thank you Berkley for the NetGalley ARC!

A Game of Cones: An Ice Cream Parlor Mystery
By Abby Collette
Berkley
March 2021

Review by Cynthia Chow

After having turned around and vastly improved the profits for her family’s Crewse Creamery ice cream parlor, Bronwyn “Win” Crewse is thrilled to be participating in a meeting of the Shop Owners of Chagrin Falls Association. Less welcome is the news of a businessman’s plans to create a vertical mall in the center of the Ohio village, especially when it means the purchase of a building one of Win’s friend’s had her heart set on for an expansion of the community garden. So when Zack Reynolds’ body is found not long after his announcement, it doesn’t take a huge leap for police and Win to suspect it of being a murder.

It’s not the best time for Win’s friend from New York to arrive in town in an attempt to convince Win to return to her Big City old job, especially when Rory Hunter herself appears to be acting a little “off.” As the secrets come out and she becomes a Person of Interest for the police, Win rallies her forces to investigate. Or more accurately, Win’s friends pressure her to investigate, with uber-mystery-reading-fan Maisie Solomon leading the charge. While Maisie can be relied on to have an ever-revolving suspect list and complete lack of restraint or boundaries, Win’s other BFF Riya Amacarelli provides medical know-how, martial arts skills, and unfortunate anger management issues. Their off-brand Charlie’s Angels is both hindered and enabled by Rory’s contributions, which does at least allow for an excuse to hire O, the undeniably handsome and helpful town attorney.

Despite both her father and brother being medical doctors, Win never feels less-than choosing to give up ad agency job in New York to take over running her family’s ice cream shop. In fact, they are very proud of Crewse Creamery, which was established by Win’s grandparents as Chagrin River’s first black-owned business. Win has turned the creamery around with her innovative flavors and on-trend creations, which is why the unexpected arrival of her Aunt Jack is so unnerving. Win can’t help but fear that her Poppop will give control of the creamery back to his daughter, despite Aunt Jack’s initial failed attempt to turn it into a novelty shop.

This is an extremely light-hearted novel that explodes with the exuberant exploits of Win and her friends. While their plans may be more impulsive than strategic, their determination to solve the mystery is never in doubt. This still leaves time for Win to experiment with her innovative flavor blends, with recipes at the end which include one for the eye-opening Rory’s Mint Mojito Coffee Ice Cream. The friendships, good-natured teasing, and banter between the women always feel natural and real, with their relationships as integral to the novel as the mystery. This second of the series featuring a refreshing and very likable heroine continues the fun that began with its debut, and readers will be left hungry for even more.

This is the first I’ve read of this murder mystery series. I will absolutely go back and read the first. Although it doesn’t hit my normal creepy, thriller factor for a mystery- it was cute and I hadn’t a clue who done it until all was revealed.
When Win returned home from NYC to suburban Ohio to run the family ice cream shoppe Crewse Creamery- the last thing she thought she’d be doing is sleuthing to find killers in her spare time. But now it’s her friend from NYC that is a suspect. Win and her posse gather clues, while serving up the best ice cream until they find themselves right in the middle of the killers path.

Wynn (Bronwyn) Crewse just wants to make ice cream and make others happy with her creations.
The first sign of trouble is when Aunt Jack comes back unexpectedly, and starts trying to make the shop into the convenience store that she had turned into before leaving with most of the profits. And Wynn is worried that PopPop will let her take over again.

Rory Hunter makes a surprise visit from NY. Her goal is to lure Wynn back to her old job as a marketing executive, with a significant pay raise.

At a town meeting, it's announced that a company from Texas is buying up some of the buildings on the square (Triangle) to open a new mall.

When the rep is found dead in an alley, strong evidence implicates Rory, who is questioned and told not to leave the area.

NOw Wynn, Maisie, and friends are in the middle of another investigation.

This is the second in the Ice Cream Parler Mystery series by Abby Collette.
There are developed characters, some red herrings, intrigue, and some humor.

This is a really fun story and I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

I really like the character development as well as the strengthening of the friendships between some of the characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Game of Cones is the second installment in the Ice Cream Parlor Mystery series. The story follows Bronwyn, who is over the moon because the ice cream shop her family has owned for decades is restored to it's former glory. Although things get messy when a developer who wants to build a mall comes to town, and a killer takes him out.

The story was fun and cozy, and very character based. There are a lot of characters, which made the story a little confusing to me at times, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed this.

On a random note, I loved the ice cream recipes at the end!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A Game of Cones is a fun second installment in the Ice Cream Parlor Mystery series. Once again, Bronwyn Crewse, her family and friends, and their town are in the thick of a murder mystery, this time when a developer from the big city ends up dead at the hands of someone determined to keep him from altering their small town. The threat of gentrification is a very relevant issue, and I liked the way it was handled without it being overly preachy.

With one case under their belt, it’s fun to see how Win & Co. are developing in their roles as amateur sleuths. Win’s reluctance is complemented by her best friend Maisie’s eagerness to investigate, and it was fun to have the heroine being dragged into schemes for a change, as it often seems like the leads are the ones who are more gung-ho.

And given the history about Crewse Creamery divulged in the prior book, and how Win’s aunt was a sort of reluctant owner prior to her grandfather giving it toWin, it was nice to see the aunt’s return and the resulting conflict due to her prior and continued assumed ownership of the business play out against the rest of the family.

I enjoyed this book as much as the first, and I think if you liked that one, you’ll also like this.

I totally could have finished this book in a day but I wanted to enjoy it as much as a hot fudge sundae so I dragged it out. I loved reconnecting with all the characters and can’t wait to own the physical copy of the book. I won’t give anything away but man the story kept me invested and even had me laughing out loud. Hope this series continues for a long time and if you haven’t read anything by this author I highly suggest you do so :)

While this is the second installment in the Ice Cream Parlor mystery series, new readers to the series would still be okay if they start with this book. The author provides enough background information to fill in readers who have yet to read the first installment.

Overall, this was a fun cozy mystery mainly due to its cast of characters and side stories/subplots. The interactions between Bronwyn “Win” Crewse and her family seem so genuine (like family), especially when it comes to the family’s ice cream shop. There are a few new friends (and subplots) introduced in this installment so it does add more to examine when it comes to the “whodunit” aspect of the plot. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy cozy mysteries with a Black woman as the lead, multi-generational family dynamics, and a lead-best friend who are “partners in crime” (Maisie is great!)

For the most part, cozy mysteries get notice by me only every once in a while as a respite from the tension brought on by the mind-twisting, gruesome mystery/thrillers that comprise my usual (and preferred) fare. I simply have no stomach for the typical whining, paranoid heroines who don't listen to reason, get themselves in trouble and - miraculously - manage to solve the crime du jour (just once, I'd like to find a male in that role; can't help wondering if he'd be made out to be as brainless and exasperating as most of the females are).

I needed such a respite a year ago when I read the first book in this series, A Deadly Inside Scoop. What piqued my interest? Well, I'm a big ice cream fan; a chain that started in 1945 right in my backyard of Youngstown, Ohio - Handel's Ice Cream - is a special favorite that gets plenty of my business and has amassed fans all over the country. But the big reason I was curious is that it's set in Chagrin Falls, Ohio - about 50 miles from my backyard not too far from Cleveland that I've visited many times.

The story this time out is similar to the first book, and I must note that plenty of space is allocated to "remembering" events from that one so new readers shouldn't feel lost. Bronwyn Crewse has returned to her Ohio roots from a too-hectic job in too-hectic New York City to renovate, and run, her family's ice cream shop in the picturesque city known for - surprise - its waterfalls. All of the cohorts from Book One are back, and in this case, more's the pity; her friend and employee, Maisie, was downright obnoxious in the first book. Despite my hopes that she'd drop by the wayside, she's back - and this time manages to drag the rest of the bunch down to her level before it's all over.

Bronwyn's family is close, though - from her elderly grandfather to her parents - and it really is a treat to watch their unique personalities interact. New to this one is Aunt Jacqueline, who left town to pursue other interests but has returned with, apparently, a big interest in taking over the ice cream shop and undoing much of Bronwyn's hard work. Needless to say, that causes more than a little headache for Bronwyn, who's sunk a ton of money into turning the shop into a very successful venture and is on the cusp of expanding.

But early on, Bronwyn's concerns turn to a different problem; an "outside" company appears to be buying up land in the close-knit, quaint downtown with the intent of building a (gasp!) shopping mall. Quite a few of the townspeople are upset, to put it mildly, and a public meeting with the developer's representative ends in a shouting match. The representative's personal end, though, comes shortly thereafter; his body is found in a downtown alley - and the primary suspect is one of Bronwyn's best friends who's visiting from New York.

After her experience trying to solve a murder in the first book, Bronwyn is reluctant to get involved in another one. Enter the ever-persistent Maisie, who probably wouldn't be able to sit down and shut up if she were tied to a chair and gagged (please, God, make it happen). She soon convinces Bronwyn and their other close friends and relatives that they and only they can get to the bottom of things (leave it to the police? Fuhgettaboutit). The rest of the book focuses on their plans, some of which don't go much beyond the talking stage, and still others lead up to a conclusion that adds another notch in the belts of the Crewse crew.

Beyond the ending comes a special treat I expect will continue: recipes for three of the unique homemade flavors of ice cream mentioned within the pages. All told, another mystery that I'm sure will please cozy readers (especially those from the Buckeye State). Thanks once again to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy.

A Game of Cones is the second book in Abby Collette’s Ice Cream Parlor mystery series. It is a cozy mystery and addition to this series. I love the ice cream that Bornwyn "Win" creates and her close-knit family. In A Deadly Inside Scoop Win reopened and revamped her family's ice cream shop Crewse Creamery and it is doing well now.

A Game of Cones explores what happens when small shops thrive and developers gain interest in profiting, with a twist. The twist being that someone working for the developer is found murdered. This book follows Win and her friends as they support each other and (Win albiet reluctantly) investigate the murder. There were a lot of suspects that made me glad to have read this in one sitting so as to not forget anyone. The conclusion to this mystery was satisfying.

I definitely recommend A Game of Cones if you're looking for a cozy read featuring women of color!

Just six months after the village of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, experienced its first murder investigation, another dead body turns up. This time, it's the representative of an out-of-state corporation that's planning on buying up real estate in the central business district to create a vertical mini-mall. Having had her fill of amateur sleuthing, ice cream shop owner Win Crewse would love to pass this investigation by, but when a friend visiting her from out of town becomes implicated, Win and her pals must start sleuthing once again.

This is the second book in the Ice Cream Parlor mystery series by Collette, and while it's still full of the quirky fun side characters of the first book, this one doesn't quite hold up as well. That said, it's so nice to see a cozy mystery series centering on a young Black woman and her family. I hope that Collette's series continues, and that the stories tighten up a bit as they go. The characters and location have so much potential!

*This book is scheduled to be released March 2, 2021

This was an interesting cozy that centers around an ice cream parlor. I liked the main character Win and her friends, and appreciate the family and friendships the author has developed. The mystery was good and I would like to go sleuthing with Win and Maisie again.
Many thanks to Berkley Publishing Group and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is such a fun series, and I had a great time with this cozy mystery. I loved the plot, the twists and turns, and the characters!

Excellent 2nd book of the series by Abby Collette! Great character development of Win, her family and friends. Another murder has happened in Chagrin Falls and it’s up to Win and her friends to figure out whodunnit. Great mystery and lots of twists and turns, a few red herrings keeps you guessing to the end! Great mouth-watering ice cream recipes are also included in this book! I really like the family dynamics and the extra drama a certain family member brought tot he book! This cozy has twists, turns and humor!

A really fun follow-up to the first book in this series. Very relatable characters and charming small town setting. I look forward to recommending this to readers who love cozy mysteries that feature a female main character. Hope to see more in this series.