Dangerously Dark

By Colette London

A victim gets iced in this chocolate-themed mystery with recipes and “a loving description of the food scene in Portland”(Kirkus Reviews).
 
Hayden Mundy Moore is an expert on everything chocolate, helping clients develop new products and revamp recipes until they're irresistible. But sometimes, a dash of murder finds its way into the mix . . .
 
After her involvement in a murder case in San Francisco, heiress Hayden Mundy Moore has moved on for the moment to Portland, Oregon, where her old college friend Carissa is celebrating her recent engagement. Naturally, while Hayden’s in town, staying in a house rented by her financial adviser, she has to visit every local destination known for serving chocolate treats.
 
Among them is Carissa’s ice cream business, Churn PDX, part of a group of food carts called Cartorama. Then Carissa’s fiancé is killed by the liquid nitrogen used to make ice cream—and Hayden gets the scoop on his notorious womanizing, which leads to more than a sprinkling of suspects . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kensington Books
• Release date: Oct 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781617733482

Colette London

Colette London is the pseudonym of a best-selling novelist who's published more than three dozen books worldwide. Her Chocolate Whisperer series (featuring chocolate expert—and amateur sleuth!—Hayden Mundy Moore) kicked off with Criminal Confections and now includes Dangerously Dark, The Semisweet Hereafter, Dead and Ganache, and The Peppermint Mocha Murder, all from Kensington Books. Visit www.colettelondon.com today to find fantastic chocolate recipes and catch sneak previews of upcoming books in the Chocolate Whisperer series.

Reviews for Dangerously Dark

[ethel55_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Chocolate whisperer Hayden Mundy Moore is making her way up the West Coast with a visit to Portland, to celebrate a college friend’s engagement. Portland’s well known for a diverse crowd and the Cartorama set-up, with various foods and characters, made for a great setting for the murder. There were many twists that kept me guessing as to who may be responsible for the death. My quibble with poor Hayden is why she hadn't kept in better touch with college friend Carissa. She sure didn’t really seem like the type of old friend you’d bother going out of your way for, engagement or not. Really a great second book for the series. London managed to expand on all the good parts of the first book and temper back some of the unnecessary. Can't wait for Hayden's next adventure.

[kris_anderson-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Dangerously Dark by Colette London is the second book in A Chocolate Whisperer Mystery series. Hayden Mundy Moore is a freelance chocolate expert. She helps companies improve their products. Thanks to an inheritance, Hayden can pick only jobs that appeal to her. Hayden is heading to Portland, Oregon for an engagement party weekend for an old, college friend, Carissa. Hayden arrives in Portland and goes to Cartorama where Carissa has a cart called Churn PDX. Every food cart specializes in chocolate. Carissa opens her food cart and they find the dead body of her fiancé, Declan Murphy. The police declare Declan’s death an accident. Hayden does not believe it is an accident and decides to poke around a little. She is still running on a high from solving the mystery at her last assignment. Carissa (who does not seem very upset over her fiancé’s death) also asks Hayden to take over Declan’s Chocolate After Dark tour. It is already been scheduled and publicized (I think Carissa has an ulterior motive). Hayden agrees to run the tour since it will give her more time to poke around. Her friend and security expert, Danny Jamieson shows up to help out (and try and convince Hayden to leave Portland). Will Hayden find out that Declan was killed? Who would want to kill him and why?I found Dangerously Dark to be a silly novel with a very simple mystery. I was really hoping the second book in the series would be significantly better than the first (it is actually worse). Hayden does not really solve the mystery. They seem to solve themselves. Hayden is more focused on guys (especially Travis, her finance manager) than the mystery. I have no idea why she is friends with Carissa who was more concerned over making connections than the death of her fiancé. I give Dangerously Dark 2.75 out of 5 stars. I do not think I will be reading any more books in this series. I just cannot take the idiocy. I received a complimentary copy of Dangerously Dark from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[carlathelibrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the second book in the Chocolate Whisperer series. Hayden Mundy Moore is the main character. She goes to different places to help trouble shoot chocolate problems. She is single, loves to travel and has the money to do it which she inherited from a rich uncle. Travis Turner is her financial advisor/helper. He books her gigs, travel etc. In order to have access to the money she must travel the world 6 months every year. There seems to be a mild love interest here as she often talks about Travis' sexy voice etc, but she has never met him. Danny is Hayden's friend and bodyguard at times. He has met Travis and doesn't like him. Danny is hot a ex-con, who also seems to be a mild love interest for Hayden.

Hayden is in Portland, OR to attend a bridal weekend with a old college friend Carissa Jenkins. Carissa owns a food truck. She sells ice-cream made with Nitrogen that is all the rage. It resides at Cartorama. Cartorama is a group of food trucks that only sell food with chocolate in it. Carissa sells only chocolate ice cream flavors. When Hayden meets Carissa and goes into her cart she finds her fiance Declan dead and they almost die too.

Hayden is convinced that Declan was murdered and she sets out to find out who did it. As you read this book, you like the characters less and less. Carissa is self-centered, Declan is mean and backstabbing as well as a Casanova who fools around on Carissa and the others are not much better.

I did not realize how many different foods have chocolate in them. Hayden ends ups leading the Dangerously Dark tour in a van that is slightly pornographic, but she does an amazing job. I love chocolate and would love to go on a tour like that just once. You might get hungry for chocolate reading this book. There are some recipes in the back of the book for you to try.

I had mixed reactions to this book. Some sections had me not wanting to put the book down, and others almost had me close it. I might try one more in the series before I make a final decision about it.

I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.