About book Obsession, Deceit, And Really Dark Chocolate (2007)
Sophie gets an odd request from her friend and mentor, Melanie O’Reilly, and feels compelled to help her out. Melanie, who is married to a man involved in a political campaign, suspects her husband of infidelity. She asks Sophie to try to seduce him to see if he is eager to take the bait, so to speak. Fortunately, Eugene O’Reilly proves to be an honest man, unfortunately, he is shot and killed in a drive-by shooting just minutes after parting ways with Sophie. Feeling sorry for her friend and determined to keep her ex-boyfriend, Anatoly (a private investigator) from getting the case, Sophie decides to play detective again.Sophie discovers multiple suspects and signs that point to some sort of cover up related to the political campaign Eugene was involved in. Of course, while searching for clues and trying to find the killer, Sophie herself starts getting odd threats and unwittingly attracts the attention of the very man she set out to avoid, Anatoly.Can Sophie catch the killer without getting killed herself? Will Sophie and Anatoly patch up their relationship, or just annoy each other? Read the book to find out!This series is my second favorite book series. These cozy mysteries are so much fun, and Obsession, Deceit and Really Dark Chocolate is no exception. Sophie is such a great character; headstrong, opinionated, witty and just genuinely likeable. Her friends are original, interesting, and likeable as well. I love her gay hairstylist, Marcus. He’s got some of the best lines in the book. And Sophie’s friend Dena, who owns a sex toy shop is also unforgettable and a lot of fun. And, of course, I can’t forget about Anatoly, the sexy Russian Jew, who drives Sophie crazy. Obsession, Deceit and Really Dark Chocolate was a really fun read. I laughed out loud sometimes, making my husband look at me like I was crazy. I had trouble putting it down, so it was a fast read. I think I finished it within twenty-four hours of starting it.This is a great book, just like the others in the series. The only thing that bothered me a little was the ridiculousness of the scandal that the killer was trying to hide. It was amusing, but a little too weird for my taste. Regardless, I highly recommend both this book and the series. You can read more of my reviews at http://bookwormbookreviews.com
★★★★ Obsession, Deceit, and Really Dark Chocolate is the third installment in the Sophie Katz novels. It is a chick-lit mystery with plenty of witty humor and a smidgen of romance. Just my cuppa tea for a break from my plethora of Historical Romances!Sophie Katz is the heroine in this series and, though she is a successful writer, she finds herself involved in a murder mystery again. This time she is helping out her friend and mentor, Melanie, who thinks her conservative husband, Eugene, is cheating on her. Melanie asks a small favor of Sophie: Make a pass at Eugene and see if he takes the bait.When Eugene ends up dead by page 17, Sophie steps in to try and solve the “whodunit?” After all, she cannot ask, Anatoly Darinsky, her on-again/off-again P.I. “boyfriend”, as their relation is currently off…or is it? Soon they are both involved in a local political mystery where they are pressing their lips not only together, but closed to suppress their more open-minded viewpoints in front of the conservatives politicians -- or attempt to keep their eyebrows from rising in front of the liberal ones.All the while, more bodies are piling up! Each chapter posts something from Sophie’s current best seller C’est La Mort. Here are a few jewels: People expect so much from the individuals they bear a fondness for. That’s why I focus my energy into being as disagreeable as possible.Without the lies I am uncomplicated and uninteresting. My bullshit gives me depth.As awful as this sound most of us do not want to live among the mentally ill. That’s why we try to keep them all in Washington.Kyra Davis’s series has funny and witty dialogues with a daily vernacular that makes it flow. I have the next one, Lust, Loathing and a Little Lip Gloss, all lined up!
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Finished the 3rd Sophie Katz book on Friday. And finally the herioine was not a drunken idiot. I still do not care for her but she didn't annoy me as much. The plot was entertianing and had some unexpected twists. I don't want to give it away but let's just say that there are a lot of sick Politicans who engage in very immoral and strange behavior. I'm glad the author showed a more human side to Sophie instead of crawling inside a vodka bottle whenever things got difficult. Also huge shout out to Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins!
—Ashlie
I love the Sophie series and this story was quite good, though a big strange compared to the other books. It was interesting to learn more about the Furries and quite funny to have Sophie and Anatoly involved in that world. But I can't say I've ever been as surprised with the story line as I was in the first book. Nothing can probably live up to that one in this series so far!edited to add (12/12): LOVED the audiobook version of this! Definitely laughed out loud and loved the ridiculousness of this book compared to the other books in the series (up to this point). I recommend listening to all the audiobooks in this series!
—Laura
This is not a synopsis of what this novel is about. You can get that when you look at the page for it. I don't think there are many real spoilers in this review... i really have enjoyed the 3 Sophie Katz mysteries I've listened to. I liked this plot, the characters, and the truly laugh-out-loud moments. I am so glad i was cleaning house while listening, instead of grocery shopping. Not much character growth, but it is part of a series, so that should be gradual. We'll see. Sophie's lack of being able to make intuitive leaps in her thinking or being able to connect the dots is somewhat unbelievable. Or maybe not, since she seems to be somewhat madcap by nature. But don't you think you'd remember the last two words of a man when you started getting scary phone calls using one of the two words of the aforementioned man? Maybe the dots Sophie failed to connect would or wouldn't have led to a faster resolution to the mystery, but it could have led to side developments. I have to say that I love Anatoly - I'd have him in a New York minute - but I truly don't understand the issue of putting a label on his relationship with Sophie. Can't they just agree to agree to be sexually exclusive without the label of boyfriend/girlfriend? Seriously, when a male is in his 30's, let's hope he cannot be referred to as a boy. I no longer wanted to be referred to as a girl after the age of 21. And as far as their relationship goes, they both seem to have more of a love affair with coffee products than with each other. I know this book could be referred to as comedic mystery with a little romance on the side, but call me kinky, I like my love scenes to be a little more explicit. As my writing instructors used tell us "don't say it, show it." But it's Harlequin, so I guess I shouldn't expect more. If this book sounds interesting to you, I recommend the audible format narrated by Gabra Zackman. She does a creditable job with accents and cadences and I loved the way she captured Johnny.
—Kym Collar
