Some Like It Fudgy

Candy-Coated Mystery #14

by Nancy CoCo

Allie McMurphy lives the sweet life running her world-famous fudge shop on Mackinac Island—but when a killer strikes, she has to turn from creating confections to extracting confessions . . .

TAKING A BITE OUT OF CRIME

As a gesture of goodwill, Allie is bringing a tray of assorted fudge to her new husband’s ex-wife, Melonie. But she finds Melonie’s body on the floor of her photography studio—where a remote-controlled camera keeps snapping picture after picture. In one, she’s alive, and in the next, she’s dead.

While Rowan Giles, another visitor to the shop, chatters nervously—and incessantly—Allie dials the police, though she encourages her husband to leave the case to another officer. Several unidentified people were leaving when she arrived on the scene. Nevertheless, Rowan is the top suspect, thanks to one thing she didn’t talk about: her bitter relationship with Melonie. Was Rowan just stirring the pot with all her gossipy gabbing?

Allie’s not so sure. She’s learning about some dark secrets in Melonie’s past. And identifying an obvious suspect is one thing, but finding the truth is a whole other kettle of fudge . . .

Genres: Cozy Mystery, Mystery

352 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication April 28, 2026

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some Like It Fudgy by Nancy Coco is a fun culinary cozy mystery that is the 14th book in the Candy Coated Mystery series.

I have read all 14 books in this series, and I have enjoyed growing along with the characters. The murder- mystery of Rex’s ex-wife kept me interested and engaged throughout the book.

Allie is usually a favorite of mine and was a bit more emotional and dramatic than her usual self, but we all have off-days, so hopefully she returns to her normal next book.

4/5 stars

Thank you NG and Kensington Books for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 4/28/26.

[Cozybooklady · Rating 5 out of 5]

#SomeLikeItFudgy #NetGalley is the latest book in this long running cozy mystery series. Allie is happy with married life, even though her husband's ex is working right next door.
Allie wants to try to smooth things over with Melonie, the ex wife, but things go horribly wrong and all she finds is a dead body.

This book has a lot going on, and the author does an amazing job of weaving it all together.
I loved the new addition of Rowan and Finn, and it was exciting to read they will have their own adventures.
This is a strong 5 star review for #SomeLikeItFudgy #NetGalley

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, Allie stumbles upon a murder but this time it is more personal. Unfortunately, it also causes a marital bump in the road for Allie and her new husband Rex.

My favorite part of this story was when Rex's friend offered this bit of wisdom, "when you're wrong, you're wrong and pretending you're not doesn't work with women."

A solid mystery with cute pets and a handful of surprises. Another entertaining Candy-Coated mystery.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Tracy Wood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Allie Manning, fudge maker and local hotel owner has a habit of finding dead bodies! This time the victim's identity means her new husband Rex is off the case and the replacement officer seems determined to throw Allie in jail and leave her there if she even looks like she's investigates anything! Relying on friends to find the necessary clues was never going to be easy and she is soon back out there looking for a killer who could very easily add her to their list of victims!

I was able to read an advanced copy of this thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Kensington Publishing, Kensington Cozies, but the opinions expressed are my own. I was enjoying this albeit not quite as much as usual until there was a curve ball thrown about two thirds of the way through which almost made me give up! There were a lot of over the top emotional scenes here and unfortunately, unlike the other books I've read in this series, this isn't something I could recommend. I will give book 15 a try because hopefully this could just be a bit of a blip.

[Cozy Reader Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Some Like it Fudgy (A Candy-Coated Mystery #14)" by Nancy Coco tried to shake it up a bit. Most that was changed was that there was a bit less continuity issues and a bit less over repetition. So that was a nice change. The addition of Rowan either the Great Dane Finn was nice and led to having Allie lean on women more her age for sleuthing help.

However, totally had Rowan pegged as a suspect for most of the book. It just seemed to fit with the clues being dropped to be more her way than the final female culprit's way. I could see her tied to the male culprit as a family member. It took a bit of a nose dive once the male culprit came into play as an active character.

Allie is a bit extra over the top emotionally in this book at times. Honestly, I would think she was the pregnant one with how up and down emotionally she was. Where was this fighting spirit whenever her mother is around.

Despite the previous books issues of continuity and over repetition being better in this book, Allie's extreme reactions counter act the improvement for me. I'm mostly just reading these now because I am getting an ARC from Netgalley. I probably wouldn't pick any future books of this series to read if I have others to choose from.

[June Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

Allie's emotions are all over the place in this one. The usual characters make an appearance but it's her relationship with husband Rex that seems to be the focus this go round. It begins simple enough when Allie opts to take some fudge next door to Melonia, Rex's former wife, who is new in town. With her usual knack for finding bodies, she finds the woman dead. In the meantime, Rex gets a call that his wife has been killed. Only when Rex arrives, it isn't Allie, phew, but his ex, Melonia. Still stunned from thinking Allie had been killed, Rex makes the mistake of trying to ward off Allie's usual inquisition of questions mumbling something about his wife being dead. That sets off a series of clashes and misunderstandings that seem to send Allie off the deep end. It doesn't help that given Rex's connection to the victim that he's not only removed from the case but replaced by an Officer Laird, who seems to be a major league, arrogant jerk. He tolerates none of Allie's meddling, even forcing officer friend Charles to perp walk her through the crowd to the police station. Fortunately, she's released but only after she learns the seemingly magic word "lawyer" and holding her tongue. And that is just the very beginning.

I'm not going to detail the plot, as noted it sorta zigs and zags all over the place as possible clues send her in one direction or the other, all while trying to be as secretive about her investigation as possible. She's also finding things to be upset about that aren't really important in the grand scheme of things. In the meantime, we meet a new character, Rowan Giles, and her amazingly well trained Great Dane Finn. Quite frankly, I lean toward thinking this book was as much to introduce the personable and amazingly well connected but broke Rowan as for Allie's story. Rowan, we find out, will have her own series soon. I think Rowan's nervous, almost non-stop chatter when we meet would drive me nuts but she proves herself (with Finn's help) as the story progresses. I'm already looking forward to it after the teaser chapter.

In any case, there are multiple suspects who might have wanted Melonia dead although that, once again, is only the top of the iceberg of trouble facing Allie and her friends on Mackinac Island which, sadly, we didn't get to spend much time virtually enjoying this read. The theories of whodunit and possible reasons is all over the place due to some well place red herrings and misdirection by the guilty and, of course, there are some absolutely delicious sounding recipes included. Thanks #KensingtonPublishing for the early peek into the roller coaster life of Allie as well as introducing me to an intriguing new character. I'm already in love with Finn, as is Allie's dog Mal, so am looking forward to getting to know Rowan soon.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read every one in the series before and was happy to visit Allie and the McMurphy hotel on Mackinac Island. This book starts after she and her police officer Rex have been married just short of a year. His ex-wife has been living in town and now works next door, so Allie, wanting to extend an olive branch takes her fudge, but finds her dead. It is up to her and a new friend to figure out who committed the crime. While the mystery was good, the execution was a rocky. From the first chapter, I was super confused. There were so many characters with very little explanation of who was who. I constantly felt like I was getting whiplash from all the bouncing around and felt like I had come into the middle of the conversation. I know that readers do not like when series get too repetitive, but a quick one or two sentence reminder who someone is helpful in the beginning. I also was taken back by the wild emotions of Allie through this whole book. The whole fighting with Rex was way over the top and took up the first 6 chapters when they would have been better served explaining the murder and who the new suspects were. The last quarter of the book, after something major happens, left her in a contradictory place of extreme emotion. It was way over the top to me. After reading this series for year, I was shocked by how different this book was from the others. The first thing I thought, as a long reader of Joanne Fluke, was that whoever wrote her last few books, must have written these because they are very similar in style and change from the original. I have really enjoyed these series up until now, and like I said, the mystery was good, the execution was not my favorite. I will keep an eye out for the next one in the series and give it another try before writing it off. Thank you to Kensington and Netgalley for the advanced copy.

[L.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rex's ex-wife is still in the picture and Allie has decided to play nice. When she takes Melonie an offering of fudge, she finds her dead in her photo studio. Of course Allie can't let it go no matter how much everyone wants her to so she decides to hunt down the killer.

I'm a big fan of Nancy CoCo's books, I like her writing style and she creates a great setting. But this is not a Nancy CoCo book. Whoever has been writing Joanne Fluke's books for the last few years wrote this book. Same silly conversations, same immature drama, same crudely painted characters, recipes that call for using a box mix, confusing ending where two different motives are presented that don't jive with each other or with anything that happened in the book. It's not good. There's so much more I'd like to say about how the story played out but can't without spoilers. This is a series I've really enjoyed so I'm giving it a lot of grace with a three-star rating but I was very disappointed that this book wasn't written by CoCo. Maybe CoCo will do some editing before it goes to print, I hope so because her name is worthy of more.

Honestly, the rest of this series is great (though book 12 was similar to this one and probably also ghostwritten) and I highly recommend it. If you do read the books, read them in order and maybe skip this one.

Thank you to Nancy CoCo, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Shirley Chapel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some Like It Fudgy is book 14 of Nancy Coco’s Candy -Coated Mystery series. This cozy was a puzzler with the murder happening early in the book . Sleuth Allie McMurphy has a tough time trying to find the killer in this mystery. Suspects seemed to be plentiful but clues didn’t line up with opportunities or motives. I tried myself to come up with an answer to this puzzler but didn’t even come close to who or why in this murder. Allie has to sleuth this murder undercover this time or face being put in Prison for interfering in a police investigation.
This book has another murder happen later in the book. The author blends in mouth watering recipes throughout the book. Then at the books ending readers get a sneak peak into a new series that will branch off this mystery series. Pets and Pastries will be the new series name. I enjoyed this mystery because it kept my attention to the books ending. It was an easy read, unpredictable and a page tuner.
I recommend this book to readers of mystery and thrillers. Though this book is part of a series it can be read s a stand alone. It’s scheduled for release on 4/28/26.
I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed here in this review are solely my own.
#SomeLikeItFudgy #NetGally

[Joni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rex's ex wife Melonie is working next door to the McMurphy and in an effort to make nice Allie takes over a box of fudge. However when we she walks into the shop she finds Melonie dead on the floor. A very chatty woman shows up immediately after Allie and starts taking pictures for Shane. Who is this woman and why does she know everyone in town? Turns out she's from the area and is staying at the McMurphy for a few days with her large, but well behaved, dog. Allie isn't sure what to make of the woman but soon warms up to her and enlists her help with solving Melonie's murder. Rex is not on the case, as it is his ex wife, and the officer brought in to lead the investigations makes no secret about his dislike of Rex and his willingness to lock up Allie if he catches her or anyone else investigating.
Oh my was this book a rollercoaster for the emotions! There was a lot going on but the book is well written and hard to put down. Once you think you're at a good stopping point something else happens and next thing you know you've finished the book. Another great trip to Mackinac Island, one day I hope to make it there for real.
Thanks NetGalley and Kensington for the ARC

[M Steinbrink · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the latest book in Nancy Coco’s long running Candy-coated mystery series. I don’t think this book was as good as the other books in the series, but it is a fun, fast read and I do enjoy reading about Mackinac Island. There was a new character in the book that felt awkwardly placed in the book, but there is an explanation for her at the end of the book that helped the situation make sense. There were also a couple of times that I thought Allie’s actions were really questionable, but I think that with this series you just have to go with it and enjoy it as the fun, not entirely realistic mystery that it is. As always, the pets in this book are the best and I loved reading about the quaint, little town on the island.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book. All opinions are my own.

[Karen Stallman · Rating 5 out of 5]

“ Some Like it Fudgy” book 15 in the Candy-Coated Mystery series by Nancy Coco. I really love this series and visiting Mackinac Island! I found myself engrossed in the story and reading in a couple days. The mystery is interesting and well plotted, and I loved the characters which are well developed. I liked the new character of Rowan Giles and look forward to reading more about her and her Great Dane Finn.

I kept guessing and second-guessing myself on whodunnit right to the very end. I did figure out who the villain was shortly before Allie did.

I recommend this book to all my cozy lover friends and can’t wait for the next instalment to come out!

I requested and received an advance reader copy of this book from Kensington Books and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Michelle Rhoden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a fun cozy mystery that brought a smile to my face. I always enjoy how Nancy entertwines the characters with pets in the storyline to make it even more exciting. Such a great book.

I received a a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher. All words are my own.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like this was the ending to this series, which would be a bummer, but I am super excited to read the new spin-off with Rowan and Finn. I really like them and her habit of rambling when she's nervous. Excited to meet her large family. This was a fun book but a little confusing at times. I liked the ending, though. The mystery was very good and multi-faceted.