Toxic Toffee: An Amish Candy Shop Mystery by Amanda Flower

Image provided by Kensington Books.

        Okay, really?  What is with parents and pushing their children to get married?  Aiden’s mother is practically shoving him into marriage with Bailey even though they haven’t had their first official date, yet.  His mother, Juliet, is so bad, she’s already running around town planning their wedding.  This includes the wedding date.  If Bailey wasn’t the type of person she was, Juliet just might end up being the next murder victim.   

          It has been an exciting six weeks for chocolatier Bailey King.  She has been in New York City filming her new cooking show about how to make Amish candy.  As much fun as it was to be back in the city, Bailey is ready to go home.  She has missed her new home of Harvest, Ohio; especially her grandmother; the family’s Amish candy shop; and her boyfriend, Sheriff Deputy Aiden Brody.

       Life gets off running for Bailey the moment she arrives in Ohio.  Actually, it was the night before.  That’s because Bailey received a call from Margot Rawlings, the woman always trying to bring more attention to Harvest.  Their call got cut off, though, so it isn’t until Bailey arrives home that she finds out what Margot wants.

       What Margot wants is for Bailey to make a giant bunny out of toffee.  This is a big undertaking.  One made even bigger as Bailey finds she has a murder to solve at the same time.

       While Bailey and Margot discuss the bunny project, a rabbit farmer named Stephen Raber dies right in front of them.  It is a very sudden death, and having heard from an Amish friend that Bailey is someone to trust, Stephen’s son Eli asks Bailey to look into it.  He’s not the only one wanting Bailey to investigate, though.  The Bishop’s wife, Ruth Yoder, wants her to as well.

          Over and over while Bailey investigates, she finds how well-liked Stephen was.  That’s why it’s so puzzling that Stephen had been receiving threatening notes before he died.  Who would want to threaten and kill someone everyone loved so much?  That is the great mystery.

            I am really glad to see Bailey able to have the life in New York City she loves as well as be able to live in Harvest, a place that very quickly became home.  She has been able to do this because of the supportive people around her. 

I include Juliet in these supportive people.  While she does need to back off on the whole marriage business, Juliet from the start has been very welcoming to Bailey, when others were not.  I’m hoping, now that Juliet has her own relationship to concentrate on, some of her behavior towards Aiden and Bailey will be curbed.

            It’s also nice to see the Amish community Bailey lives in starting to accept her as well.  Not being Amish herself, this has not always been the case.  It still isn’t with everyone.  Some still keep their distance and don’t trust Bailey, but there has been progress.

         Just as there has been progress with Bailey and Aiden’s relationship.  They are nowhere near ready for marriage.  I think they are, however, fully ready to be together as a couple.

        One new relationship I definitely look forward to reading about in future books is the one between Stephen’s favorite rabbit Puff and the candy shop cat Nutmeg.  These two hit it off right away, and I am very curious to see in which direction their relationship will go.