The Diva Wraps It Up - Chapters 22-End...CONTAINS SPOILERS

[J]

Liza and Elvin both come under suspicion for different reasons but are pretty much eliminated as suspects. The mystery of the poison peanut brittle and the pink boxes is revealed; leading Sophie to deduce the circumstances behind Horace Scroggins' poisoning. Elvin confesses his part in the cover-up; Sophie and Nina tail Natasha who is tailing Patty - who then clears up the reasons for her disappearances. The mysterious purchase of that sleigh and antlers opens up possibilites as to the murderer's identity; while a found pair of pajama bottoms clinches it for Sophie. She confronts the murderer while he is attempting to kill Baxter Babineaux and ends up in a physical battle with him. Somehow he survives his wounds and later ends up in jail.
Since Gwen didn't actually die from the blow from the candlestick, guessing they can only charge him with attempted murder both on her part and Baxter's?
We finally learn who Brown-eyed Girl is and a happy ending ensues for all especially little Kat who now has a whole new loving family.
Another enjoyable read. Good job, Krista!

[Krista]

Aww, thanks, J! : )

[Tina]

I can't help feeling sorry for Mrs. S. To be in a loveless marriage all those years.

I did not figure or guess the perp. I totally was up a tree. With my box of uncooked tapioca lol

Another fine installment in Sophie's Diva series, Ms. D. Good to know there will be another.

Nice to have met you, Krista. You're a good sport!
;-)

[Krista]

Are you kidding? You guys are the best. No one beat me up! I loved meeting you, too! Thank you so much for inviting me.

The next book is tentatively titled The Diva Steals A Chocolate Kiss. As you might imagine, it's about chocolate. But I'm still deciding who she's going to kiss.

[J]

Can't wait for it! You know of course I will be rooting for Wolf

[Krista]

But what about his - [spoiler]?

[J]

I was sort of hoping they decided too much time had elapsed and they would both be better off going their separate ways. Guess I have no future as a mystery writer

[Krista]

J, you definitely have a future as a mystery writer. That's certainly an option!

[J]

Why thank you Krista! :)

[Tina]

Chocolate?! I'll be there. An important point to ponder...(say that 3X's quickly). In a box of assorted chocolates, which is your favorite? Okay, you can pick three. Bonus Q: Your fave chocolatier.

Krista wrote: "Are you kidding? You guys are the best. No one beat me up! I loved meeting you, too! Thank you so much for inviting me.

The next book is tentatively titled The Diva Steals A Chocolate Kiss. As you..."

[Tina]

A cat amongst the pigeons. I'd like to see a new beau...love interest enter the picture. Her perfect guy. And the three oldie but goodies fight or regret her being the one that got away. But if I had to pick from the three we're familiar with, I'd be with J: Wolf. He's about the best of the bunch.

As for chocolate quiz: Milk chocolate covered almonds from Hoffman's, Dark chocolate cordial cherries, any chocolatier, Butterscotchies from See's chocolates. Fave chocolates not in an assortment: Sponge Candy, Charlie Chaplin, Antoinette's Candies. Not that I had to do much thinking for this one. ;-)

[Tina]

Yes, I could see J as a mystery writer. I'd read her.

J wrote: "Why thank you Krista! :)"

[Krista]

I'm game. My number one favorite is the champagne truffle from Teuscher. Number two is salted caramel from Theo. (Thank goodness they only come in boxes of 4!) Number three, caramel covered with chocolate by anyone. Gee, thanks, Tina, now I'm hungry for chocolate! LOL!

And thank you for your input on Sophie's love life. I'm not sure which way it will go yet. ; )

[Tina]

Thanks for playing along, Krista. I'll have to check out Teuscher as I love a good chocolate sleuth out. You def. are a caramel lover. A good thing as I have someone to pass mine to. ;-)

Sophie's love life will be another layer of mystery to add to her next whodunit. Good job, Ms. Davis!

[Krista]

Thank you, Tina! And thanks for having me. I hope you'll like Teuscher!

[J]

I love them...their champagne truffles (as Krista has pointed out) are the best!

Krista-
Any idea when we can look forward to Sophie's chocolate adventure? I know you normally release June & December but I'm thinking maybe the chocolate theme has a Valentine's Day tie-in?

[Krista]

Don't I wish! I would love to write about Valentine's Day for the chocolate book but I got quite a few remarks about my Christmas book in June, so the chocolate book takes place in the summer. Sigh. Berkley wants to keep my books on the December and June schedule so people will know when to expect them. That makes it tough. I would have liked to write an Easter book for Sophie, too, but now I'm not so sure. So that's a long way of saying that the chocolate book will be out next June.

[J]

:(

[Mark Pghfan]

I'm sorry to be late in this final part of the discussion. I just finished last night and did not want to look at this last thread for fear of ruining the ending! Many SPOILERS ahead!


I have to say that I was plumping for Luis, only because he was neither a regular (like Natasha and some of the others) nor simply too likely to start with (like the unfortunate Mrs. S, Patty, Sugar.) I certainly didn't see the connection with Gwen, though. And I loved the twists and turns with Luis hitting Gwen but the tainted peanut brittle ultimately being the final killer. And it seems that when Horace fell, that was indeed an accident and not sabotage? And all the various real and not real parents of Kit? Whoa!

Krista, it was a great pleasure to have you with us. Its too bad that our nice little group has dwindled down to just us three (Tina, J and myself.)

I enjoyed the book greatly and look forward to the next one. And may even try to catch up on some of the previous ones I've not yet read.

[Krista]

Thank you, Pghfan! Yes, Horace's fall truly was an accident. It ultimately saved his life because the doctors caught the excessive blood thinner in his system.

I've had such a good time here. I bet more people would join if they knew about you. OTOH, the three of you get along so nicely that I'm not sure I would want to upset that dynamic!

[Tina]

Thanks, Krista! It was a joy having you along. Maybe we'll meet again with another read & discuss! Drop in any time you like. You are always welcomed in The Parlor!

[Tina]

Gang, if you have any ideas on how to promote the group more, feel free.

Meantime, care to discuss the new Poirots? I hear there's a video chat somewhere (think it's at Masterpiece) but I don't see any links to it. Do you know of any?

[Krista]

Thank you, Tina! I've enjoyed my visit!

[Tina]

Group hug, group hug! lol

[Krista]

LOL! Love it!

[Mark Pghfan]

Did you find the video discussion? I watched The Big Four last night. I wait for discussion...

[Tina]

pghfan, I didn't find the video chat but I'm up for a discussion. Either here or at the Poirot group on these boards. I'll go ck. and see if they have a discuss. If not, I'll start one here. That could work as our Aug. chat. What say you?

[Tina]

I posted a request at The "Hasting Dedicates to POIROT" group where there are many members but no recent activity that I can discern. It may take a while for a reply so meantime, we can start a new thread. An open chat with spoilers indicated. Think that should be safe being most involved would have seen the episode. Sound okay, PI's? Or Pghfan, don't want to usurp. Do you want to lead the discuss? Either is fine with me.

[Mark Pghfan]

I'm not sure if they want discussions of TV versions only on this site, given that it is for reading. I did find a discussion on the Masterpiece site: http://sharetv.com/shows/masterpiece/... If you want to start something here, Tina, go ahead, though I think there well be more action for this sort of thing at Masterpiece.

[J]

I recorded it but haven't watched yet. If you do find -or start- a discussion let me know.

[Tina]

PI's, Ashlee here at "Hasting Dedicates to POIROT" group is game. She is currently looking for the episodes.

Hmm, three choices. What to do? If we go to Masterpiece, she may not follow and we lose a possible candidate.

Would you PI's consider staying on Goodreads but joining the Poirot group? It's right here in the Goodreads village.

I have an idea: pghfan, I can start one on Goodreads, you or another peep start at Masterpiece and we'll just see if one perks along and another phases out. I dunno? Any more suggestions?

[Mark Pghfan]

The one on Masterpiece is already started.

[Tina]

I'll have to look for username and password.

[Tina]

Snoops, which title? I'll be glad to refresh but I forgot which one it was. lol

Pghfan, Sept. sound good for another read & discuss. How are things at the other place?

[Mark Pghfan]

Everything seems to be moving slowly. Here, people don't seem to discuss the book at the same pace. I liked our way, where we did it in sections and people were pretty together. On Masterpiece, it seems equally disjointed. We are not reading there, but discussing the TV versions.

[J]

Agree pgh! I peeked in at "other place" and most of what was going on did so at a very slow pace. (Although I was a bit confused about which other version besides the Suchet one was being discussed).
Shall we get things rolling over here and come up with a few suggestions for Sept read?

[Tina]

I should pop in but got caught up in things and then pbs not airing last few episodes seems a bit of a diss to fans. Can't part with the $ for the set just now. Movie expenses.
I too miss the old discussion formatting. As for dividing the sections, we can still do that. We almost had Diva back on track but it fell away just a bit. Was shaping nicely though and we can do it again.

[Tina]

Just missed you, Snoops! I'd be up for Séance too. In fact I borrowed it from library some time ago, started reading but had to return it. Didn't seem a bad read for what I experienced. I recall your having a title you were interested in.
Any one will do for me.

[J]

I don't recall mentioning any particular one Tina - the one I thanked you for referring was by Rhys Bowen ...Her Royal Spyness I think? I don't recall Seance as a possibility either but then I remember so little these days that's not surprising ;-)
Do we want to do a Fall read for September (I DO recall posting a few suggestions for a Fall read - could it really be a year ago??) and save Seance or some other one for a Halloween read?

[Mark Pghfan]

I will be open to holding off Seance until October, if we find a good September selection. I am more interested in something we all want to discuss than in choosing a particular book.

[Tina]

Séance as I see takes place in fall. I was hoping for a pumpkin, harvest, Halloween steeped read for Oct. Won't have a fall getaway...again this year and would love to emerse myself in a very autumn themed book. Hope that makes sense. Again, I will go along with you all.

What it does seem is that we do agree on Séance just need to pick the month we read it in. lol

Would you lot be up for a witchy, Halloween read for Sept.? I think there are a few out. There's a series by an Alt writer. Will have to look for her material.

[Tina]

Maybe we could utilize a new thread for Sept/Oct. selection should there be new readers who would want to join.