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Abby Shaw has inherited a candy store, Divinity, in Paradise, Colorado, from her Aunt Grace, one of the most beloved women in the town. Though Abby is mystified as to why her aunt chose her, an attorney, above one of the other cousins who had worked for Aunt Grace, she is determined to continue her aunt's tradition of exceptional candies and excellent customer service. Abby is having a mildly flirtatious relationship with Brandon Mills, owner of Men About Town, even though she is aware that he is notorious for his "love and leave 'em" attitude to women. When Brandon's store burns down, with his body inside, Wyatt, Abby's brother is the chief suspect in the arson/murder, because he suspected Brandon of having an affair with his wife and was found confronting the victim on the day of the murder. Abby feels compelled to find the real killer of Brandon, because she's convinced that her brother is innocent. The book has several assets. First, while Carter tells us enough about the ins and outs of Abby's candy business, she doesn't bury us in details. Abby, her employee/cousin Karen and her friend Rachel are fun to be around. The two friends try, with no success, to give Abby a sense of reality about her quest. And, mercifully, the requisite protagonist in physical peril is short. There are a couple of problems, however. The first is endemic to the amateur sleuth. Abby asks questions, that, in real life, would provoke a good kick in the rear and a door slammed in her face. Second, the intensity of the brother/sister relationship between Abby and Wyatt never materializes for me. It is especially tough because he keeps telling her to butt out, and he refuses to give her information that would clear him. Finally, the reader may feel cheated by the identity of the murderer.
Reviewed by Mary Elizabeth Devine, January 2006
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