i scream, you scream, we all scream for murder

Riley Rhodes and her ice cream shop Udderly Delicious are ready for Halloween. In addition to the town’s Halloween Happening Fall Fair that is bringing in extra customers, she’s also made a Halloween themed ice cream wedding cake for local celebrity Diantha Collins. Diantha is the owner of the Inn on the Green, a swanky inn where the wealthy and celebrities come to stay when in Penniman, Connecticut. She’s in the process of renovating the Inn and adding a restaurant, and she’s getting married to the man who will be the chef in her new restaurant, Dominic Dominello.

As if that’s enough action for Halloween weekend, there is also a film being shot at the Inn and around town, a small-town romance with two well known stars. Riley also has a date with the town’s handsome, popular vet, and as her birthday falls on Halloween, her family and friends have planned a party for her the day after. So there is a lot going on, not just for Riley but for everyone in town. Even for Sprinkles, the beautiful cat that belongs to her best friend and roommate Caroline, as Sprinkles has scored a role in the movie.

When the young women hired to help clean at the Inn get caught trying to take photos of the movie stars, they’re fired, and the Inn’s housekeeper Lucretia calls Riley in to help her out. Riley has wanted a glimpse in the Inn for a while, so she agrees. There are no paying guests, but Diantha has some family in town for the wedding, and the actors and director of the movie are staying there also. However, it’s clear that someone is against the wedding of Diantha and Dom when Riley’s fabulous ice cream cake is destroyed.

But the real problem starts the morning of the wedding, when Riley awakens at the Inn to find out that Lucretia has found Diantha, dead in her room. The police show up right away and start investigating, but that doesn’t stop Riley from taking a good, long look around to see what she can find out herself. As a replacement part-time housekeeper, Riley finds out that she’s invisible in her housekeeper uniform, so as she cleans up around the family and the filmmakers, she finds bits and pieces of the whole picture. But even though she thinks she’s slipping in and out unnoticed, the killer can see what she’s up to, and they want to stop her from getting all the dirt on them.

Fatal Fudge Swirl is the third installment of Meri Allen’s Ice Cream Shop Mystery series, featuring Riley Rhodes as the former CIA librarian turned ice cream shop proprietor. These books are filled with strong characters, delicious ice cream treats, small town charm, intricate mysteries, and the obvious stars of the novels, pampered Sprinkles and rescue cat Rocky Rhodes.

I like these books a lot, and Fatal Fudge Swirl is no different. There is so much going on with this story that it’s hard to put the book aside. But as much as I liked the storyline of the filmmakers and the Inn, I couldn’t help but wish we were spending more time at Udderly Delicious. I love hearing about the ice cream flavors and concoctions. But as part of this story, Riley was accepted into a prestigious gelato class, so I can’t help but hope that is a bit of foreshadowing for the next book. Book four in Rome? Count me in!

Egalleys for Fatal Fudge Swirl were provided by St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley, with many thanks.