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A Chocoholic Mystery #7
The Chocolate Jewel Case
In her rare free time, newlywed Lee McKinney Woodyard works on TenHuis Chocolade's newest offerings, chocolate jewels. But soon the town of Warner Pier has its very own jewel heist, and then a body is found in the lake. Lee can't help but wonder if the crimes are related. Maybe if she digs up some dirt, she'll hit the mother lode.
228 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 26, 2007
31 people are currently reading
758 people want to read
About the author
JoAnna Carl
36 books433 followersJOANNA CARL is the pseudonym for the multi-published mystery writer Eve K. Sandstrom. The author writes about the shores of Lake Michigan and has been reviewed in Michigan newspapers as a “regional writer.” She has also written about Southwest Oklahoma and once won an award for the best book of the year with an Oklahoma setting.
Eve K. Sandstrom is an Oklahoman to the teeth: she was born there, as were five previous generations of her mother’s family. Both her grandfathers and her father were in the oil business, once the backbone of Oklahoma’s economy. One grandmother was born in the Choctaw Nation, and Eve is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Eve and seven other members of her immediate family are graduates of the University of Oklahoma. Eve even knows the second verse of “Boomer Sooner.”
Eve wrote two mystery series: the “Down Home” books, set on a ranch in Southwest Oklahoma, and the Nell Matthews mysteries, semi-hard-boiled books laid in a mid-size city on the Southern Plains.
But Eve married a great guy whose family owned a cottage on the west coast of Lake Michigan, not far from the Michigan towns of Fennville, Saugatuck, and Douglas. Every summer for more than forty years she, her husband and various combinations of children and grandchildren have trekked to the community of Pier Cove for vacations that lasted from two weeks to three months.
The area features gorgeous beaches, lush orchards, thick woods, and beautiful Victorian houses. Eve grew to love it. So when her editor asked her to come up with a new, “cozy” mystery series, Eve set it in a West Michigan resort town, scrambling up Saugatuck, Douglas, South Haven, Holland, Manistee, Ludington and Muskegon with her own ideas of what a resort ought to be to create Warner Pier.
As further background, she plunked her heroine into a business which produces and sells luscious, luxurious, European-style bonbons, truffles and molded chocolates. Most small towns couldn’t support a business like this, but the resorts of West Michigan – with their wealthy “summer people” – can. The “Chocoholic Mysteries” were on their way.
Eve’s editor requested that she use a pen name for the new series, and Eve picked the middle names of her three children, Betsy Jo, Ruth Anna, and John Carl. “JoAnna Carl” was born. So that’s how JoAnna/Eve became a regional author in two widely separated regions.
JoAnna/Eve earned a degree in journalism at the University of Oklahoma and also studied with Carolyn G. Hart and Jack Bickham in the OU Creative Writing Program. She spent more than twenty-five years in the newspaper business, working as a reporter, editor, and columnist at The Lawton Constitution in Lawton, Oklahoma. She took an early retirement to write fiction full-time.
She and her husband, David F. Sandstrom, have three grandchildren, whom they love introducing to the lore of their two homes – Oklahoma and Michigan.
She spent 25 years in the newspaper business as a reporter, feature writer, editor, and columnist, most recently at the Lawton Constitution. She holds a degree in journalism from the University of OK and also studied in the O.U. Professional Writing program. She lives in Oklahoma but summers in Michigan where the Chocoholic Mystery series is set. She has one daughter who is a CPA and another who works for a chocolate company and provides yummy insider information on the chocolate business.
Eve K. Sandstrom is an Oklahoman to the teeth: she was born there, as were five previous generations of her mother’s family. Both her grandfathers and her father were in the oil business, once the backbone of Oklahoma’s economy. One grandmother was born in the Choctaw Nation, and Eve is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Eve and seven other members of her immediate family are graduates of the University of Oklahoma. Eve even knows the second verse of “Boomer Sooner.”
Eve wrote two mystery series: the “Down Home” books, set on a ranch in Southwest Oklahoma, and the Nell Matthews mysteries, semi-hard-boiled books laid in a mid-size city on the Southern Plains.
But Eve married a great guy whose family owned a cottage on the west coast of Lake Michigan, not far from the Michigan towns of Fennville, Saugatuck, and Douglas. Every summer for more than forty years she, her husband and various combinations of children and grandchildren have trekked to the community of Pier Cove for vacations that lasted from two weeks to three months.
The area features gorgeous beaches, lush orchards, thick woods, and beautiful Victorian houses. Eve grew to love it. So when her editor asked her to come up with a new, “cozy” mystery series, Eve set it in a West Michigan resort town, scrambling up Saugatuck, Douglas, South Haven, Holland, Manistee, Ludington and Muskegon with her own ideas of what a resort ought to be to create Warner Pier.
As further background, she plunked her heroine into a business which produces and sells luscious, luxurious, European-style bonbons, truffles and molded chocolates. Most small towns couldn’t support a business like this, but the resorts of West Michigan – with their wealthy “summer people” – can. The “Chocoholic Mysteries” were on their way.
Eve’s editor requested that she use a pen name for the new series, and Eve picked the middle names of her three children, Betsy Jo, Ruth Anna, and John Carl. “JoAnna Carl” was born. So that’s how JoAnna/Eve became a regional author in two widely separated regions.
JoAnna/Eve earned a degree in journalism at the University of Oklahoma and also studied with Carolyn G. Hart and Jack Bickham in the OU Creative Writing Program. She spent more than twenty-five years in the newspaper business, working as a reporter, editor, and columnist at The Lawton Constitution in Lawton, Oklahoma. She took an early retirement to write fiction full-time.
She and her husband, David F. Sandstrom, have three grandchildren, whom they love introducing to the lore of their two homes – Oklahoma and Michigan.
She spent 25 years in the newspaper business as a reporter, feature writer, editor, and columnist, most recently at the Lawton Constitution. She holds a degree in journalism from the University of OK and also studied in the O.U. Professional Writing program. She lives in Oklahoma but summers in Michigan where the Chocoholic Mystery series is set. She has one daughter who is a CPA and another who works for a chocolate company and provides yummy insider information on the chocolate business.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews
March 7, 2016
I'm sucking these books down like Coca Cola. Already I've read the 7th book in the Chocoholic series. Once again, the author managed to make this particular story differ from its likes. However the climax, if we can call it that, was similar because of Pete's predicament. It was nice to read about Joe's and Lee's - who's no longer a McKinney - post honeymoon period. I enjoyed reading about Gina, who loves specific genre books, like yours truly. Till next time.
July 3, 2022
The Chocolate Jewel Case by JoAnna Carl is the 7th book in the Chocoholic mystery series set in contemporary Michigan. Warner Pier on Lake Michigan is home to TenHuis Chocolades, a family business making exquisite European-style chocolates, managed by Lee McKinney Woodyard.
Newlyweds Lee and Joe don't have any privacy. Their small house is packed with guests.
- Darrell, a former criminal client of Joe's, living in his camper in the yard
- Pete, "a bird-watcher", invited by Joe without further explanation
- Joe's aunt Gina, who won't leave the house, hiding from someone she won't name
- Teenager Tracy, staying with the Woodyards while her parents vacation in Canada, and working at TenHuis
- Lee's teenage stepsister Brenda, also working at TenHuis for the summer
Hot and humid July weather makes a crowded house with only one bathroom, no air-conditioning, nearly unbearable. Joe is mostly away at his boat business, uncommunicative at home. One day so many odd things happen, Lee demands answers.
- Why is bird-watcher Pete packing a pistol in his duffle bag?
- How long will Gina stay? Who is she hiding from? If her husband, is he a danger to the girls?
- Why did Joe accept a dinner party invitation without telling Lee?
- Who is the stranger who showed up at the house claiming to be Joe's father?
Joe brushes off most questions with pat answers, but is totally stunned hearing of the impostor. They attend the dinner party at their neighbors - interrupted by armed robbers who steal invaluable jewels.
The next two action-packed (and sweltering!) days, Lee takes grave risks sleuthing. An attentive reader can spot a few clues Lee doesn't pick up on - until almost too late. Clues Lee probably would have noticed, if not distracted by hostess duty to her houseguests.
Lee has exquisite manners instilled by her grandmother, who "never got up from the table after one meal without knowing what she'd be serving at the next. When I'd teased her about this as a twelve-year-old, she'd firmly said that good meals didn't just appear on the table. They took planning." Feeling guilty about serving purchased food to houseguests, Lee takes out her recipes.
Their house has a "Michigan basement": concrete walls and a sand floor. Its renovation-in-progress saves Lee's life.
All answers are tidily revealed in the end, as the heat wave breaks and the houseguests leave. Joe and Lee finally have privacy to enjoy being newlyweds.
Rather than recipes (like many other foodie cozies) "Chocolate Books" are included between chapters, each with brief synopsis. A quick check online confirms the books are real (not fictitious).
- Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Light and Dark
- The Emperors of Chocolate - Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars
- The True History of Chocolate
- Chocolate Without Guilt
Newlyweds Lee and Joe don't have any privacy. Their small house is packed with guests.
- Darrell, a former criminal client of Joe's, living in his camper in the yard
- Pete, "a bird-watcher", invited by Joe without further explanation
- Joe's aunt Gina, who won't leave the house, hiding from someone she won't name
- Teenager Tracy, staying with the Woodyards while her parents vacation in Canada, and working at TenHuis
- Lee's teenage stepsister Brenda, also working at TenHuis for the summer
Hot and humid July weather makes a crowded house with only one bathroom, no air-conditioning, nearly unbearable. Joe is mostly away at his boat business, uncommunicative at home. One day so many odd things happen, Lee demands answers.
- Why is bird-watcher Pete packing a pistol in his duffle bag?
- How long will Gina stay? Who is she hiding from? If her husband, is he a danger to the girls?
- Why did Joe accept a dinner party invitation without telling Lee?
- Who is the stranger who showed up at the house claiming to be Joe's father?
Joe brushes off most questions with pat answers, but is totally stunned hearing of the impostor. They attend the dinner party at their neighbors - interrupted by armed robbers who steal invaluable jewels.
The next two action-packed (and sweltering!) days, Lee takes grave risks sleuthing. An attentive reader can spot a few clues Lee doesn't pick up on - until almost too late. Clues Lee probably would have noticed, if not distracted by hostess duty to her houseguests.
Lee has exquisite manners instilled by her grandmother, who "never got up from the table after one meal without knowing what she'd be serving at the next. When I'd teased her about this as a twelve-year-old, she'd firmly said that good meals didn't just appear on the table. They took planning." Feeling guilty about serving purchased food to houseguests, Lee takes out her recipes.
Their house has a "Michigan basement": concrete walls and a sand floor. Its renovation-in-progress saves Lee's life.
All answers are tidily revealed in the end, as the heat wave breaks and the houseguests leave. Joe and Lee finally have privacy to enjoy being newlyweds.
Rather than recipes (like many other foodie cozies) "Chocolate Books" are included between chapters, each with brief synopsis. A quick check online confirms the books are real (not fictitious).
- Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Light and Dark
- The Emperors of Chocolate - Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars
- The True History of Chocolate
- Chocolate Without Guilt
February 21, 2020
I haven't read anything by this author before (not even books 1-6: who reads books in order?..LOL!). Reading out of order wasn't an issue. I didn't feel like I was missing anything. I enjoyed the characters and the mystery. The mystery itself wasn't too easy to figure out. Mainly because there was a lot of stuff happening and a lot of people acting strangely. Overall, it was a fun cozy mystery and it was well written.
January 19, 2021
The usual good plotting and fun scripts, but the plot was just so stupid I had to give it a low rating. Lee and Joe have a crowd living at their place, when they're at neighbors for dinner and a robbery occurs. In solving it, Lee's phone exists and is missing depending on the suspense Carl wants to create, not for logic. There's a chase when Lee pulls up to the police station and doesn't stop because the only available spaces are marked "official use only." There are other bits ot stupidity that ruined it. These things swing, hopefully the next will be better.
November 1, 2020
3.5 stars! Better than the last one but the story was oddly slow and fast in parts! I liked the added house guests but it was almost too many characters to keep tabs on!
January 15, 2012
Entertaining and gripping story, exceeding my expectations. Rather convoluted cast of characters with tangled stories of their own...
Setting is in the small town of Warner Pier, on the shore of Lake Michigan, and revolves around the neighborhood of heroine Lee Woodward and her husband Joe's home on a rural residential street. She is the reluctant hostess to no less than five assorted houseguests of the moment.
The summer resort town has seen a rash of burglaries of valuable antiques and the Woodwards themselves are caught in a jewelry heist while dining at a neighbor's home one evening. The search for the burglars turn up assorted facts and clues, then a murdered body, finally leading to the mastermind criminal. Some members of her family have been entangled in some of the catalysing events, as it transpires at the end.
The author describes a very specific setting for her neighborhood which is likely based on a real one, and I wish there had been a diagram because I found it challenging to follow the turns and directions around the drives and the streets and the directions. She describes a very hot and humid string of days in an older home without air conditioning... Must be a local to know how it feels!
The chocolate business where Lee works is a secondary setting: the title "chocolate jewel case" is practically a play on words. At the end, the stolen jewels are dumped into a vat of molten chocolate!
Action is described at a fast pace and a restrained sense of the comic and absurd peeks through her description of people. The author throws in Lee's tendency to utter inappropriate slips-of-the-tongue (malaproprisms) when she is in the grip of a strong emotion, and i find it worth a chuckle.
Setting is in the small town of Warner Pier, on the shore of Lake Michigan, and revolves around the neighborhood of heroine Lee Woodward and her husband Joe's home on a rural residential street. She is the reluctant hostess to no less than five assorted houseguests of the moment.
The summer resort town has seen a rash of burglaries of valuable antiques and the Woodwards themselves are caught in a jewelry heist while dining at a neighbor's home one evening. The search for the burglars turn up assorted facts and clues, then a murdered body, finally leading to the mastermind criminal. Some members of her family have been entangled in some of the catalysing events, as it transpires at the end.
The author describes a very specific setting for her neighborhood which is likely based on a real one, and I wish there had been a diagram because I found it challenging to follow the turns and directions around the drives and the streets and the directions. She describes a very hot and humid string of days in an older home without air conditioning... Must be a local to know how it feels!
The chocolate business where Lee works is a secondary setting: the title "chocolate jewel case" is practically a play on words. At the end, the stolen jewels are dumped into a vat of molten chocolate!
Action is described at a fast pace and a restrained sense of the comic and absurd peeks through her description of people. The author throws in Lee's tendency to utter inappropriate slips-of-the-tongue (malaproprisms) when she is in the grip of a strong emotion, and i find it worth a chuckle.
November 17, 2018
I enjoyed this Chocoholic mystery, but not as much as some of the other ones. Still, it was a good read and I'll keep on reading the series. I felt like there was too much stuff piled on. Lee and Joe should be enjoying themselves in their new home after they get married. But there are house guests, and robberies, and refrigeration problems at the shop, and no air conditioning, and dead relatives, and people spying on people, and not enough bathrooms.
First line: Just when I finally found fifteen minutes for myself, the dead man came to the door.
First line: Just when I finally found fifteen minutes for myself, the dead man came to the door.
September 12, 2019
Jeez, there's a lot of characters in this one. Carl does an okay job at keeping everyone straight (and luckily we knew some of them from previous novels), but it could be confusing for some readers. I have to say this mystery threw me. I was torn between a few possibilities for the killer's identity. I also liked seeing Joe and Lee go through some of the normal grievances of a married couple. The only thing is that it seemed at times that the murder played second fiddle to Lee's own personal irritations. Because of that, the ending is pretty rushed. The reveal and the final wrap-up are squished together in just a few pages.
December 20, 2010
I felt that this one was strong. Although I was missing some favorite regulars, there were many regulars returning, and some new interesting ‘characters’. I was afraid the dynamic could change now that Lee and Joe were married, but it seemed that the author did a good job with so many other characters of making it not all about the two of them. Interested to see if it can maintain the integrity and carry on with the tone through out the series. Nice cozy mystery, with lots of action.
February 5, 2009
Wow, I am addicted to these Chocoholic mysteries. This one was great! I just love the humor in these books, and there's always a great chase scene somewhere. This had kind of a cool treasure hunt spin on it.
July 17, 2016
Good entry in the series! I did figure some of it out before Lee but I was lacking in details. As always I'd love to visit Warner Pier for some chocolate.
May 8, 2012
This interesting story was a great deal of fun. A good, light summer read.
August 2, 2021
The Chocolate Jewel Case
This started a bit slow for me. I was wondering if any plot would develop as there was so much time spent in describing what seemed to be insignificant. Consequently, I was starting to think that I would drop this series, especially since Lee, the main character, wasn't really being developed as a character who had the ability to solve mysteries. She is presented as bumbling, both in her speech and in her actions. It conflicted with her ability to put together important clues.
However, the plot and action finally started to develop on page 60. I could already guess some elements, but there was enough action and a few twists to keep me engaged all the way to the end of the book. Time will tell if I return to this series. After all, the sidebars (Hershey bars?) about chocolate have been fun and informative!
This started a bit slow for me. I was wondering if any plot would develop as there was so much time spent in describing what seemed to be insignificant. Consequently, I was starting to think that I would drop this series, especially since Lee, the main character, wasn't really being developed as a character who had the ability to solve mysteries. She is presented as bumbling, both in her speech and in her actions. It conflicted with her ability to put together important clues.
However, the plot and action finally started to develop on page 60. I could already guess some elements, but there was enough action and a few twists to keep me engaged all the way to the end of the book. Time will tell if I return to this series. After all, the sidebars (Hershey bars?) about chocolate have been fun and informative!
December 14, 2022
I’ve enjoyed the series to date, this one however found me wanting to throttle the main character most of the time. The lack of communication between husband and wife and her frustration with him makes the reader question why in the world they are together!! The author made her main character a “suffering little housewife” who does things that totally makes the heroine more like a 1950’s housewife with no mind of her own, a total departure from previous books. And then Ms. Carl puts her character in a position to solve the mystery that seems like a rush to end the book. And all the building up of periphery characters (most of whom as a reader you’ll find no connection or likability) ends with a series of neat bow ties that close out the characters in about 3 sentences each.
Overall just disappointing and I am hoping a fluke in what till now has been a good series. I feel cheated….hoping the next one is better….
Overall just disappointing and I am hoping a fluke in what till now has been a good series. I feel cheated….hoping the next one is better….
August 7, 2019
Thirty-year-old chocolate shop business manager, Lee Woodyard, and her boat shop owner / city attorney husband, Joe, have only been married for three months, but time alone is not meant to be for these newlyweds, due to their unplanned houseful of guests for the summer in the small resort town of Warner Pier, Michigan. Not only is their small home overflowing with a variety of personalities and people, they are in the process of adding on a much needed second bathroom to their house, and if that isn't enough to keep up with, there have been a string of robberies in the area, along with a heat wave that just won't end. Lee's nerves are frazzled, and get even more so, when a man she's never met comes to their door with a very unusual announcement.
October 29, 2019
The Chocolate Jewel Case is another fun entry in the Chocoholic Mystery series by author JoAnna Carl. It has been awhile since I read one of these books so it was a special treat to be able to spend a few hours with Lee and Joe and the gang again. I enjoyed this book and thought that the mystery was good. I definitely did not see the conclusion coming. The killer was someone that was not even on my radar, but everything was wrapped up logically and made sense within the story. This is a fun book and a fun series and I plan to continue reading additional books in the series.
September 1, 2024
This is one unhappy woman. All she does is complain. Of course I might too if my new husband and I were spending the summer in a house full of surprise guests and no air conditioning. Then throw in some thefts, a few shady characters and a murder and anyone would be down right testy. It seems the only happiness in her life are the chocolates made at her shop.
February 15, 2021
The air conditioning goes out in the chocolate store, many house guests and burglaries in the neighborhood what else can go wrong. Well, a man claiming to be someone who has been dead for 30 years and this is just the beginning.
September 14, 2025
Good book. I would have been better if the man character wasn't so obsessive and annoying. Outside of her, the rest of the characters were great. The storyline and plot were good. There were twists and turns. It's tough to enjoy a book when the main character is so anal. Recommend.
January 12, 2026
Clean, cozy, kept me reading. The main characters tendency to mix up words was distracting from the story and didn’t really feel like it added any value. The random pages that talked about books on chocolate were just annoying.
February 8, 2026
This book was a great little mystery read for the Valentine’s holiday coming up! I did enjoy the story. I just wish there was more things that happen throughout. It felt kind of slow in a way. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for the rest of the series.
July 30, 2017
A light read. Early on, I did figure out what a couple of the characters were up to.
February 9, 2018
Cute and fun. Some good twists and turns.
July 7, 2019
ad a couple in a row and I can almost smell chocolate. Lee McKinney has a chocolate addiction.
December 22, 2019
I loved this book and I love this series.
May 20, 2020
Fun read!
March 17, 2021
Cute, easy ready mystery
August 17, 2021
Lee and Joe seem to have a lot of company during a Michigan summer heat wave. What could go wrong? Well, you name it and it goes wrong. This is another fun book by JoAnna Carl.
November 25, 2022
Who wouldn't love a book featuring chocolate throughout? JoAnna Carl writes interesting mysteries without tons of violence.
December 1, 2022
Well written with clever twists and turns . Good setting and interesting characters makes this series a fun fast read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews