Books & Bakes: Death of a Chocoholic
For this Books & Bakes, I read Death of a Chocoholic by Lee Hollis and baked Bessie’s First-Prize-Winning Bonbons from the included recipes.
Official Description:
Food and cocktails columnist Hayley Powell is not looking for love this Valentine's Day. Of course she also isn't planning on looking for a murderer. . .
Fed up with dating after a disastrous setup, the only thing Hayley wants to snuggle up to is a box of made-to-order chocolates from plus-sized, plus-mouthed chocolatier Bessie Winthrop. But when Bessie is found dead in her kitchen, only Hayley suspects that Bessie's "heart attack" might actually be a candy-coated murder.
Turns out Bessie had more enemies than a boxful of chocolates, each one a suspicious flavor. It's sticky business juggling a job, two teenagers and finding a killer, but it's better than letting a killer find Hayley first. . .
Includes seven delectable recipes from Hayley's kitchen!
Books & Bakes
I was in need of a laugh and some chocolate this February, so I was eager to check out Death of a Chocoholic by Lee Hollis.
I jumped right into this series without prior knowledge, but I was able to easily get acquainted with food and cocktail writer Hayley Powell’s world and knew what I needed to know when starting in Book 4. (Though perhaps I didn’t have a strong opinion about her former romantic partner because of this.)
I like the Valentine’s Day theme that ran throughout the book and the bad dates made me laugh.
We were following Hayley’s hunches throughout (including whether a murder really happened), but I greatly enjoyed discovering who was behind it all.
My friend and I briefly met Lee Hollis at the Ashland Mystery Festival event “Murderous Mixology”! It was a super fun evening and made me want to try one of “Hayley’s” concoctions.
After reading all about them, I knew that the bonbons were the recipe I had to attempt.
It was a pretty straightforward recipe - basically two steps with some refrigeration in between!
However, I have to admit I did not have a good technique for dipping them in chocolate and made a bit of a mess. I tried rolling them in the chocolate so they were completely covered when placed on the parchment paper, and I tried dipping half at a time and letting the chocolate settle in between. I got a lot of melted chocolate on my hands with both techniques!
To make up for the messiness, I added some red sprinkles as a distraction and for Valentine’s Day.
I also probably made them too big as I didn’t have a ruler on hand.
That being said, I think they are delicious and I was proud of the first bonbons I ever made.
Thanks to Hayley and Bessie for introducing me to them!
