This was such a fun mystery! Merci Allen is a new author to me and I enjoyed this book! Loved the characters and the mystery along the way had me guessing! Hope there are more books in the series, can't wait to read more!

Castles with rumors of a weeping ghost, locked door mysteries, ice cream, royalty, bees, and, oh, yeah, a murder. In the locked room. And that somehow just scratches the surface. There's also ice cream.

Riley Rhodes may be the manager of the Udderly Delightful Ice Cream Shop but she's also a former CIA librarian, one who did the occasional covert mission. I found her rather nervous and a bit impulsive to have had such training but, shrug, what do I know? Anyway, hired to create a Scottish inspired dessert featuring ice cream for an art show, she finds herself at Penniman's Moy Mull Castle when the pretentious, manipulative photographer appearing at the show is murdered. In a locked room, no less. The only known key was still tucked away in the cabinet it is stored in. Security cameras show no one entering the dungeon, er, conference room, other than the victim. Nor do old blue prints handed over to the police show any hidden rooms or passageways. Who killed Adam Blasco? Equally puzzling, how?

The whys seem to be numerous. His photographs are unsettling and he seems to treat everyone with scorn....unless he sees a way to use them. Riley's young friend Willow is seemingly targeted, which is upsetting to not just Riley but Willow's boyfriend Luca. Could Luca have killed Adam in a fit of jealousy? What evidence is found that puts him on the suspect list? Why does Adam's assistant Vye go missing when the body is found? What are Max and Bree up to? What happened to the missing photo called Dallas? Again, how? Could the castle, made from stones brought from Scotland, really be haunted? Is the Weeping Lady real or just a figment of imagination? And, can jovial, personable Prentiss be hiding a secret? Like, he killed Adam? What startling discovery is made about hostess Maud's brief marriage to Adam? And, oh, so much more. Seriously, the twists and turns had twists and turns. Multiple suspects, so many in fact that I had difficulty keeping who was who straight, and surprises at every turn.

Despite my initial confusion keeping the multiple characters straight, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Once we got past the initial background introductions, the pace was quick and I found it hard to put the book aside. Okay, who am I kidding? I stayed up way too late reading last night. Like Riley, I wanted to know "whodunit" and how. Locked room mysteries are a favorite of mystery readers and this one did not disappoint. And, oh, did I mention that there is a spoiled diva of a cat, Sprinkles, who gets her own side story? Lots to like as well as ponder. I'm betting you'll like this one but, well, don't stay up to late reading.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for giving me an all access pass to Moy Mull Castle. Having Riley as my guide was intense but fun.

Perfect cozy: food, a castle, attractive people and locked room mystery. Nice fun romp. I liked that this worked as a stand alone since this is the first one in the series that I read.

Chocolate mint Murder
This is the first book I have read by author Meri Allan.
I enjoyed the light read of the book and enjoyed the main character Riley as she is asked to attend a function at Moy Mull Castle. The story is well written and characters are strong and well developed
I enjoyed the book and think I will look for more of these books in the future.

What a delicious cozy mystery! Riley Rhodes, a former CIA librarian, channels her best Miss Marble as she sets off to solve a murder mystery. Currently managing in the Udderly Ice Cream Shop, she is hired to develop some unique ice cream desserts for a party at the local castle, home to the famous former supermodel Maud who is hosting an Arts Festival featuring an art showing for her former husband, Adam. Adam is a photographer who really thinks a lot of himself. However, Adam is found dead in the dungeon which was locked. Riley seems to have been everywhere, hearing this argument and partial conversations, witnessing suspects sneaking around, discovering thefts and searching for hidden tunnels. As a lover of Agatha Christie, she truly embraces being an amateur super sleuth.
Having a whole host of characters with plentiful motives and secrets galore, this made for a delightful read. It also seems as if everyone wants to know whodunit and has an opinion. Some red herrings and madcaps as well, similar to what you find in an Agatha Christie novel. To top it off, there is another mystery within a mystery. I enjoyed this yummy cozy mystery which was a quick read. As an added bonus was the recipe for pumpkin spice ice cream at the end. I look forward to reading more ice cream mysteries from this author.

Many thanks to #netgalley #mintchoclatemurder #meriallen #st.martinspress for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Back to the Udderly Delightful Ice Cream Shop in Penniman, CT. This is the authors second cozy in this series. An art exhibit is taking place at the Moy Mull Castle located in Connecticut's colorful rolling hills as part of an Autumn Arts Festival. Riley, the Manager of Underlying is preparing some special ice cream treats for the Opening Night Exhibit. Opening night highlights the work of a famous photographer, Adam Black who has a tumultuous past with the Castle s owner, Maud.Adam is found dead after the first nights festivities, in the Castles locked door dungeon. Riley, again,uses her past CIA experiences to do some sleuthing.

This was a great locked door cozy mystery read.I immediately reconnect ed with Riley and also enjoyed seeing some of the returning characters. The location and the castle itself gave the book a nice ambiance. The castle itself held secrets as castles often do. I went back and forth on who I felt the murderer was and while I deducted correctly, the ending was still intense and expanded from what my thought had been. Very satisfying. I also enjoyed the side story regarding the 2 cats. And I am still craving some pumpkin spice ice cream which was a flavorite of many in the book. .....and yes there is a very tasty recipe for it!

Thank you to NetGalley, St Martin's Press an the author Meri Allen for the opportunity to read and review this book which publishes on 7/26/22

A quirky, fast paced, exciting story that keeps you turning pages. It was great to not be able to predict who it was.

This was an okay read. I liked the ice cream shop aspect. I just couldn't get into the characters. There were a lot of characters to keep track of as well as information that did not add to the storyline. It is a very slow mystery and I think it would have been better if the protagonist has actually shared with the police. It could have been solved in half the time.

Ice cream and a Scottish castle (in America). It's a mystery of a different flavor. A famous former model still making good money, a fiendish photographer with a slick persona; still making enemies, and a creative ice cream shop manager trying not to upset the police, but determined to find out what happened.

The model's major demo (not a butler at all), Prentiss, may be her best resource, or the killer. But my money is on someone else.

I liked that the policeman wasn't closely accessible. But not that the secretary was a loose cannon--and they supposedly didn't know. She must have spilled the beans to someone else in that much time.

The general setting of a story is important to me as well. I enjoyed picturing the green hills and occasional cow across from the ice cream store.

This was a fun mystery; a bit out of the usual trends lately, so refreshing. And I especially liked Prentiss.

There's just one question. Why doesn't the book mention "mint" or "mint chocolate"? (See title.)

4/5 Stars Fun; I loved the castle and cottages!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the preview of this ebook; the review is voluntary.

#MintChocolateMurder #MeriAllen #NetGalley
#StMartinsPress #CozyMystery
#CozyCulinaryMystery
#AmateurSleuthMysteries #RileyRhode
#IceCreamShopMysteriesBook2
#MysteryThriller

Former CIA librarian and current manager of the Udderly Delightful Ice Cream shop, Riley Rhodes is thrilled to land a job supplying ice cream to an event at Moy Mull Castle hosted by former supermodel Maud Monaco. Moy Mull has an interesting history, as does Maud herself, including with Adam Blasco, the photographer who is highlighted at the event Maud is hosting. When Blasco is found dead, there are plenty of suspects, and Riley can’t help but do some behind the scenes investigating. She needs to be careful or her sleuthing will put her in very real danger.

“Mint Chocolate Murder” is the nicely done second book in Meri Allen's Ice Cream Shop cozy mystery series. While I like the Ice Cream Shop setting, what I really like about this book is the Moy Mull Castle setting – it is a good one and I really enjoyed reading about it – both the current day events and past events before Maud moved in. I like Riley as a character – even if the former CIA Librarian thing doesn’t ring quite true – I love her intrepidness in trying to solve the mystery. As for the mystery – it is a nice one with plenty of twists and turns, with plenty of suspects and a nicely done (if sad), side mystery. Speaking of suspects – my one complaint about this book is that there are far too many characters to keep track of and I was a bit confused about who owned what in town. Hopefully that will fall into place as the series continues.

“Mint Chocolate Murder” is a nicely done cozy mystery.

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley #netgalley

I especially love this cozy and I can't wait to read more about the wonderful characters and amazing setting.

photographic-art, bees, cozy-mystery, amateur-sleuth, murder, murder-investigation, castle, Connecticut, small-business, small-town, rivalry, friendship, culinary, ice-cream-flavors, law-enforcement*****

All those wonderful flavors of ice cream! The story is good as is the sleuthing and all, but the ice cream flavors!
It seems to be a locked room mystery with the (very deserving) victim being an unscrupulous photographic artist. The characters are very engaging, the plot is solid and moves along quickly, there are just enough twists and red herrings, and not a few laughs (that demonic cat!). I loved it and am glad that there will be more!
I requested and received a temporary digital ARC of this book from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Ice cream and art are the focus of this second book in the series. Riley is asked to create special ice cream creations for an exclusive art exhibit by renowned photographer Adam Blasco The host of the event is reclusive supermodel Maud Monaco who was an early subject of Blasco's photography. When he is found dead in a locked dungeon, its a classic locked room mystery, or is it? Riley as a former CIA librarian thinks not. Looking forward to book three. Must go back and read book one.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, St. Martin’s Press and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Fast paced, enjoyable, entertaining I didn’t want to put it down. What a fun cozy mystery.

I found this story a little different from other cozy mysteries I've read. It was a quick, fun read and kept the reader guessing who did it.
Riley owns an ice cream shop and is hired to cater for an Art Festival at a castle. When a photographer turns up dead, her skills as a former CIA librarian might come in handy to help solve the mystery.
I did find there was a lot going on and pretty many characters to keep track of, but that might be because I haven't read the first book of the series.
Quirky characters, strange happenings and ice cream recipes made this an interesting and enjoyable story.

Okay well now I want ice cream! What a fun cozy mystery that had me guessing the who-done-it til the end! This was a well thought out plot that had great characters, mystery, history, castles, ice cream and mischievous kitties. This is a cozy mystery lovers dream escape to an old castle and a charming CT town in the fall.

Thank you #NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Meri Allen for this digital ARC of #MintChocolateMurder!

This didn't impact my rating, but I don't recall mint chocolate ice cream even being mentioned in the book. Pumpkin spice, yes, many, many times. Why name it Mint Chocolate if it had nothing to do with the story/method of murder?

I found this story a bit slow and it didn't engage my interest as much as the first book. There were a lot (A LOT) of characters, both living and dead. Surprisingly, I kept most of them straight. On the plus side, there were many viable suspects, but the storylines giving them a reason added even more to keep track of. The author then throws in a secondary mystery about the original owners of the mansion the story is primarily set at. I don't think it added anything and was quite predictable.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Although this was the second book in this series, it was the first one for me. An ice cream shop setting is typical for a cozy but Riley's background as a former librarian for the CIA is different. The action seemed to fall all within a short period of time during a festival at the castle in town. Riley is providing ice cream for some of the festivities. There is a locked mystery of sorts in the castle. I enjoyed following Riley's antics as she tries so solve the mystery.

The second book in a fun series set in a small town ice cream shop in New England, A fun cast of characters including a librarian who used to work for the CIA.

I enjoyed this book. The characters are great and the story is a fast read. I was surprised by who the killer is. I’m puzzled that the title of the book doesn’t have anything to do with the story. #MintChocolateMurder #NetGalley