Grand Openings Can Be Murder by Amber Royer

By Jill, Guest Reviewer

"Grand Openings Can Be Murder" was a pleasant surprise. I wasn't convinced I would like the book when I first started reading it, but I quickly changed my mind and found that I couldn't put the book down!

Felicity Koerber has returned home to Galveston TX to open a bean-to-bar chocolate factory/store and at the grand opening her employee Emma, who has recently been discovered to be "borrowing" money from Felicity, drops dead. In walks Felicity's old high school boyfriend as the police officer investigating the murder. In the midst of Felicity's complex life, her Aunt Naomi decides Felicity has mourned her husband Kevin's death long enough and plays matchmaker. Felicity is certain that Logan, the customer interested in ordering chocolate from her, is the date arranged by her Aunt, however he turns out to be new in town and is a pilot buying chocolate to promote his business, but he also has a mysterious past. Throw in Felicity's friends, a second difficult employee, and a hurricane and you have the makings of an engrossing first in series mystery.

The first person writing style draws you in to Felicity's thoughts and feelings, as well as helping you get to know better the other characters through Felicity's eyes. The others in the story are all complex characters with plenty of room to grow (except of course the murder victim!). There is no fluff in the writing style, and some of Felicity’s observations or musings are quite short and to the point.

The author has clearly done her research into the Galveston area, the food and of course the process of bean-to-bar chocolate, making the story very real and readable. It is always a bonus when you learn something from the book!

In my opinion, this book has all the elements of an excellent cozy - an intriguing mystery that keeps you guessing until the end, a unique story line, well-developed characters, and a potential love interest. Just when you thought you knew who killed Emma something happens that makes it impossible for the person you were sure committed the crime to have done so! The setting for the story is unique - a chocolate-making store in Galveston TX with a hurricane approaching. Many books have the widowed protagonist as the lead character, but writing in the first person as well as the career change to chocolate-maker is different and interesting. Of course one is never quite sure if Felicity is going to end up with her former high school flame (even though he has a girlfriend) or the mysterious gun-carrying pilot. So many intriguing aspects to this book beyond the mystery makes it a wonderfully engrossing read!

This is a great start to a new series and I am very much looking forward to the next installment.