Chilled to the Cone by Ellie Alexander | book review

Chilled to the Cone is the latest book in the Bakeshop Mysteries by Ellie Alexander. This long running series is one of my absolute favourite cozy mystery series and I couldn’t wait to see jump into this new one.

Title: Chilled to the Cone
Author: Ellie Alexander
Series: A Bakeshop Mystery #12
First Published: December 29, 2020
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genres: Mystery
Acquired: from the publisher via NetGalley

*** Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with an advanced e-copy of this book via NetGalley, this book in exchange for an unbiased review. ***

The deep freeze has thawed in Ashland, Oregon and Torte is gearing up for a busy spring. When a surprise opportunity to launch a pop-up ice cream shop comes her way, Juliet Capshaw, owner of Torte, jumps at the chance to showcase her team’s signature iced drinks and cold custards. But selling the desserts of her dreams comes at a price. . .and, before she knows it, Jules’s life swirls into a nightmare.

One of the town’s most colourful characters, a street performer known for wearing capes and a cone-shaped hat, turns up dead just as Torte 2.0 is set to open its doors. Can Jules get the scoop on what happened to “The Wizard” of Ashland before her new business venture reaches a chilling conclusion?

The usual Bakeshop Mystery but with a cold twist

As an avid reader of cozy mysteries, I know that one of the toughest things to do is keep a long-running series fresh and interesting. Chilled to the Cone is the twelfth book in the Bakeshop Mystery series and honestly, it’s as great as ever.

While the series usually focuses on Juliet’s bakeshop, Torte, and its luscious baked goods and savoury meals, this adventure features a new location – Juliet’s new seasonal ice cream pop-up shop. I absolutely LOVED this idea.

I’m a huge fan of ice cream, frozen custards, gelatos and sorbets – I even make my own ice cream at home – so I couldn’t wait to see what new frozen treats Jules and the gang were going to create. I wasn’t disappointed – from new frozen custard flavours to monster milkshakes and iced coffees, the Torte team’s creations had me drooling.

But while the Torte team is busy setting up their new space, some of their neighbours aren’t happy with ‘The Wizard’, a local street performer who seems harmless enough. When The Wizard ends up dead on the train tracks, Jules can’t help but get involved in solving the mystery (along with her ‘sidekick’ Lance).

Introducing new characters and developing old ones

One of the new characters introduced in this book is Laney Lee, the proprietor of Nana’s, a Hawaiian-themed food truck. As soon as I saw that, I knew I would love the character. Hawaii is one of my favourite vacation spots and I just squealed in glee when I read two of my favourite Hawaiian eats mentioned: “Laney needed a stove and an oven to make her delicious fusion Kalua pork tacos and sweet and sugary malasadas.“

There’s also Addie, owner of the yoga studio and the space where Jules opens her pop-up shop and Hunter, owner of the Cycleshop, a neighbouring shop. Both Addie and Hunter have an antagonistic relationship with The Wizard, the eventual victim of the story’s murder.

One way that Ellie Alexander keeps this series fresh is constantly building her characters up. There is A LOT of character development in this story, mainly by focusing on their relationships. Not only do Jules, Thomas and Sterling make major decisions about their respective relationships, but one of my favourite characters, Lance, also gets involved in a budding romance.

While part of me loves the familiarity of cozy mystery series, sometimes change is good too. What I love about this series is that Alexander manages to balance the familiarity of keeping things the same with the inevitable changes that life brings. In this way, the series still gives you the cozy feeling of getting together with old friends, but also never gets boring or stale.

I think all the new developments in the characters’ lives will make for some very interesting future storylines. Since Book 1 (Meet Your Baker), this has consistently been one of my favourite cozy mystery series and I’m really looking forward to the stories to come.