Game of Cones
From the moment Kate arrives at the imposing Mohawk Mountain Resort, not even luggage brimming with hot fudge and ice cream can sweeten her stay. Instead of savoring alone time with her on-again boyfriend Jake and leading workshops on whipping together delectable frosty treats, she finds herself stranded at the isolated hotel with a small group of nutty characters and a dead body.
When the corpse of wealthy cosmetics executive Bethany La Montaigne is suddenly found following a blackout, any of the five strangers trapped with Kate and Jake could be the killer. Chilled to the core, Kate vows to discover whether the victim’s mortal enemy was a smooth-talking playboy, bubbly millennial, mousy librarian, charming Englishman, or the Mohawk’s creepy general manager.
Bethany’s life was chock full of scandals, and there’s little doubt that someone refused to endure another taste. With just a sprinkling of clues, it’s up to Kate to bring justice to a culprit who believes that revenge is a dish best served cold.
Series: A Lickety Splits Mystery – Book #4
Author: Cynthia Baxter
Genre/Category – Cozy – Amateur Sleuth/Culinary
Publisher: Kensington Books
Page Count: 256
Rating: 
I read Game of Cones three times before I decided to write this review. The idea of having an ice cream shop owner conduct an ice cream-making class while staying at what is supposed to be a high-end hotel sounds sweet and is enough to catch a reader’s attention but in truth is gets a bit sour once you read the story.
Kate and her boyfriend arrive at the hotel just as a storm hits and find themselves cut off from any help. At first, things go okay, they meet the guests who will be attending Kate’s lectures and demos, and even though they are an eclectic group, they seem excited and happy to be there and are looking forward to making and eating lots of ice cream. This is wonderful for Kate and thrills her even with a storm raging. But soon after they settle in, a murder occurs, and now they find themselves locked up with a killer on the loose.
Most of the book’s characters are average; I like the mystery surrounding the hotel manager more than the murder mystery aspect. However, I do not care for Kate’s boyfriend. His sudden show of temper when he thinks things are not going his way should be a warning to Kate. How many abused women forgave an abuser when he first yelled or displayed a bad temper only to find themselves beaten and worse later on?
The mystery was okay but not great. Even in a hurricane, the police would have been up the mountain, clearing away the debris as soon as they received the call that a murder had taken place at the hotel. People would not have been left on their own to possibly mess with the evidence and dispose of anything incriminating. As far as I am concerned, the killer was easy to figure out right from the start. Ice cream aside, without a reasonable investigation and some concrete evidence, no plot will work, and unfortunately, I found this one lacking on many fronts. Overall, Game of Cones is an okay, easy, and quick read but is not overly exciting, and I hope it improves with the next installment.
Another culinary/Ice Cream inspired book, readers will enjoy Sarah Fox’s yummy addition to the “A Pancake House Mystery” or the excellent cherry inspired book from Darci Hannah in the “A Very Cherry Mystery” series.
About the Author
Cynthia Baxter, also writing as Cynthia Blair, has written 40 other novels, including contemporary women’s fiction and young-adult novels. Her young-adult books include a series about a pair of identical twins. Cynthia has worked as a travel writer, which took her to such exotic destinations as Tahiti, Brazil, and several Caribbean islands. She has taught creative writing at Hofstra University on Long Island and given fiction writing workshops at the Cape Cod Writers Workshop.
In her spare time, she enjoys making modern art quilts and fabric jewelry. She is passionate about traveling, reading, and of course, ice cream. Her favorite flavors are peach, coconut, and chocolate hazelnut.
Represented by: The Evan Marshall Agency.
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