The Chocolate Moose Motive

Description for THE CHOCOLATE MOOSE MOTIVE by Joanna Carl:

When Lee hires a free-spirited employee with a tie-dyed, troubled past, she discovers that even the counter-culture can conceal a killer…

As much as the chocolate concoctions at TenHuis can tantalize people's tongues, Lee's newest hire is more likely to make them wag. Forsythia “Sissy” Smith is the granddaughter of Warner Pier's only remaining resident hippie, and lives out at the Moose Lodge -- once an informal commune in the forest east of town. But the fact that Sissy is a third-generation flower child is the least of Lee's concerns.

The previous winter, Sissy's husband, Buzz, was found shot to death, and local talk named Sissy the number one suspect. Even though her alibi was airtight, the gossips are still pointing their fingers at her. Lee sympathizes with the young woman -- even more so when Buzz's dad, a tough retired Army colonel, threatens to sue Sissy for custody of her son.

Then the chief gossip is found dead, with Sissy on the scene. Was she lured there? Or is she the killer? Lee has a sneaking suspicion that there is someone even more sinister to blame. Someone out to keep a dark secret from coming to light. And they would have no problem killing a certain clever chocolatier who might uncover the truth…

This is #12 in A Chocoholic Mystery.