The Semi-Sweet Hereafter is the third in the series. Hayden Mundy Moore is hired by a celebrity pastry chef to improve her business, and travels to London to use her expertise. Unfortunately, the ex-husband of the celebrity chef (a popular chef himself) is found murdered in Hayden’s quarters; the murder weapon, a stone metlapil, which is used to grind cacao beans, is unfamiliar to most, so Hayden becomes one of the suspects. She must work hard to find the real murderer before she goes to jail.

The regular characters are back, and are well-developed. London’s plots are fun, and not always totally believable, but this is fiction, after all, and Hayden is a fun character along with her bodyguard (and friend), Danny, and money-handler (she has a trust fund), Travis. This novel is a fun, fast read.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this novel.

This book set my mouth a watering between the beautifully crafted mystery to the simply divine and tempting chocolate creations. I dove into this book as a true-chocoholic would and I came up with a satisfying read!

Hayden is in London to help The Honorable Phoebe Wright at her chocolaterie-pâtisserie shop, Primrose. Hayden is staying at Phoebe's guesthouse when she stumbles upon the body of Phoebe's sexy celebrity chef husband Jeremy. The murder weapon is a metlapil which is used to grind cacao beans and bash in Jeremy's head. Suspects include fading celebrity chef rival Gemma Rose, ambitious agent Claire Evans, recently fired assistant Nicola and Hayden herself. With the help of her bodyguard friend Danny and financial advisor Trevor, Hayden snoops around to try and find the real killer.

This was a fun, quick read and included several yummy British recipes with variations including chocolate.

I received an ARC from Netgalley and Kensington Books in exchange for an honest review.

Hayden Mundy Moore is a "chocolate whisperer", AKA an expert on all things chocolate. She works as a consultant, with chocolate businesses that are having problems whether it is recipes, techniques or staff training. Hayden is in London helping The Honorable Phoebe Wright at her chocolaterie-pâtisserie, Primrose. Phoebe has put Hayden up at her guest house while she is there. When Hayden comes home one night shortly after her arrival in London, she finds sexy star chef Jeremy, who also happens to be Phoebe's husband, dead on the kitchen floor in the guesthouse. She immediately calls the police, but as this is not the first murder she has been involved in, she becomes a suspect. She calls her friend and bodyguard Danny, who hotfoots it to London to watch over her. He knows, Hayden is going to try and figure out who the murderer is.

I was really looking forward to reading this one, I mean chocolate with a mystery? Alas, it did not hold my attention like I had hoped. I am not sure why, it was a fun read and off course Hayden bumbles through and eventually figures out who the murderer is, but for some reason I kept falling asleep whenever I tried to read it. I am not sure if I will continue with this series or not.

Review was declined. Thank you for the opportunity.

Hayden Mundy Moore, famous chocolate whisperer,
travels worldwide doing chocolate consultations. In
this book takes us to a London chocolaterie-pâtisserie.
Hayden fixes recipes, checks ingredients and trains
staff involved in working with chocolate.
The Honorable Phoebe Wright has hired Hayden to
check into products at Primrose, her
chocolarerie-pâtisserie.
Hayden has been given a place to stay in the guest
house of the Honorable Phoebe Wright and her star
celebrity chef husband, Jeremy.
Hayden returns from shopping to find Jeremy dead
on the guest house kitchen floor. Jeremy has been
bludgeoned to death with a stone metlapil. This is
used to grind cacao beans.
Since Hayden was able to identify the murder
weapon, so she becomes a suspect.
With the help of her body guard, Danny and her
financial advisor, Travis, Hayden sets out to prove
her innocence.
Hayden is presented with an array of interesting,
colorful, well defined suspects. Everyone has
their own motive so it is left for her to decipher in the
search for the murderer. Each suspects has their
own faults making the story realistic.
There is undeniable chemistry between Hayden
and Danny. Both are strong, well created,
multidimensional characters who compliment
each other.
Description is deftly woven into the story so
vividly that the reader feels as if they are right
there in London. The English phrase are translated
for the reader convenience.
The story presents many different mouth watering
chocolate treats.
A good combo of mystery, murder, suspense,
chocolate and look into the English way of life.
The Semi-Sweet Hereafter is book #3 in the Chocolate
Whisperer Mystery series. It can be read as a stand alone.
I volunteered to read this eBook. Thanks to Net Gallery
and Kensington Publisher for the opportunity.
My opinion is my own.

Didn’t see the twists coming
Didn’t guess who the murderer was
Lots of humble-brag type talk of all the places she’s been and the things she’s done
Well research and knowledgable about chocolate and baking, though I know nothing so maybe it just sounds right lol
No mention of the issues with slave labor or unfair practices that I recall
Haven’t read the first two books, don’t feel I missed anything. It gives information and explanation anytime something relevant from the past pops up
Wasn’t engaged or connected. It was just something to read & took me longer than normal. Towards the end I was thinking “Hurry up and get somewhere instead of chasing your tail FFS!”
Do not read this when you’re hungry or cannot get food. Reading this at work was not pleasant.
Liked Hayden but didn’t love her
Her two male sidekicks were cool. Liked how one is mysterious Charlie from Charlie’s Angels type. Really liked how her bodyguard brought some sense and perspective as someone who “comes from the other side of the tracks”
There’s many mentions of rough & tumble poverty stricken areas, even a tour or two, and the people who live there. Lots of talk of the luck getting out and how sad and unfair it is. Hayden’s solution is to write a check to a foundation she just heard of. There’s no context or exploration of it to make it real. It’s just another “exotic” location for her with the people as cardboard cutouts or pawns in the story.
She also proves that no matter how far you’ve come or how close you are with someone, some people will never let it go, and will have lingering doubts and suspicions.
In the end it’s alright. Easy to read, and the mystery held up under my apathetic gaze, but I can’t say I enjoyed it or recommend it.
Representation: Status Quo. Privileged as Fuck.
Rating: Meh. 1.5 stars? Not the worse I’ve read, but Whatever.

Hayden Mundy Morre travels to London to provide her expertise on all things chocolate. How can you go wrong with Chocolate? Entertaining read and a good cozy mystery to read

Synopsis:

As an authority on all things chocolate, Hayden Mundy Moore is traveling across the pond to lend her expertise to the owner of a posh London chocolaterie-pâtisserie. From coconut truffles to chocolate flapjacks, Hayden’s mouthwatering creations quickly impress her client. But her knowledge doesn’t end there. The detective constable is taken by surprise when she identifies an exotic murder weapon: a stone metlapil, used to grind cacao beans—and apparently to bludgeon someone to death—in Hayden’s own lodgings, no less…

The victim is a sexy celebrity chef who just happens to be the ex-husband of Hayden’s client. Now, amid the terraced town houses and local pubs, a killer is lurking—and the police have an assortment of suspects: a culinary rival, an ambitious agent, a recently-sacked assistant, and unfortunately, Hayden herself. The talented chocolate whisperer will have to find out what sort of nutter clobbered the famous cook—or her career may come to a bitter end… (Goodreads)


Review:

The mystery was well plotted and there were enough suspects to consider to keep this reader guessing throughout the book. Add in a slew of clues and some red herrings thrown in just for fun and I was not completely sure of the killer until it was revealed at the end.

The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and through much of the book, I felt like I was right there watching all the action taking place around me. Sometimes I felt that there was too much information given, especially when it came to chocolate. I appreciate that the author has so much knowledge about chocolate, but sometimes I felt overwhelmed. That is only my opinion and other readers may not agree with me.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy a well crafted cozy mystery. If you like learning about chocolate or London, you should really enjoy this book.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. I would like to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading a well-crafted cozy mystery

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Semi-Sweet Hereafter is third in a series about self-proclaimed chocolate whisperer and never ending globe-trotter Hayden Mundy Moore. I have not read the first two, so will have to judge this on its own merits. I really like the idea of a chocolate based mystery, and wanted to like Hayden, but found her behavior annoying and childish most of the time. I did however like her security guard/friend Danny. Although his description and some of his actions made him out to be a bit of a superhero, he still appeared more real than Hayden. Most of the other characters were well written and easy to picture. The murder was fairly simplistic, while some of the chocolate references were equally complex. The story dragged a bit for my taste, and I found myself struggling to stay interested at times. Someone who enjoys chocolate and doesn't mind the slower pace would probably love this book. It just wasn't one of my favorites. The one thing I would ask the author to change, would be the frequent translations of British terms. I'm not an Anglophile by any means, but I think most people could figure out on their own what was being said or referenced.