Three Fudges and a Baby by Nancy CoCo

Available: March 26, 2024

Rated: 4 stars

Jenn is about ready to pop with her new baby (son or daughter, we don't know yet!) Her dream is to have her baby on the island but the clinic isn't equipped for that so Jenn finds a midwife and a doula and makes arrangements to allow her to have her baby at the clinic. Everything is going great until her doula, Hannah, is found in the alley behind her apartment with a smoking gun in her hand and her dead fiancé, Matthew, at her feet. Jenn demands that Allie figure out who really killed Matthew so Hannah can be present for her delivery.

I will start out by saying that I had very definite feelings about a lot of the things that happened in this book. Though I didn't like a lot of it, it's a sign of a well-written book if it can evoke strong feelings in the reader. That being said, the things that bothered me were many. Jenn being at least three weeks past her due date when the baby was born was unrealistic. I can't imagine that being allowed to happen, if only because the baby would be enormous and the likelihood of being delivered by a midwife at a clinic (particularly one not prepared to perform a C-section) at that point would surely be very, very small.

Another thing that bothered me was Allie's mom. She's really something else. She's only concerned about having grandchildren and having a son-in-law she can brag about. Allie's passions and feelings are meaningless to her mom, she only cares about what she wants for Allie, not what Allie wants for herself. Which unfortunately is very realistic. Also, Allie's mom trying to foist Brett upon Allie even though he's not Allie's type at all was super annoying. Allie's only response to her mom's overstepping was "I love you," which felt almost as though she was inviting the abuse.

I felt like the investigation was a bit clunky and marred by some silly arguments that popped up between Allie and Rex. In the past I've felt that Allie's stubbornness when it comes to others worrying about her safety was a bit childish and I felt that here too. She overreacts and assumes people are just trying to tell her what to do and I find that a bit annoying. People who care about her should be telling her to be careful, she shouldn't be faulting them for that. I also thought it was odd that Allie didn't speak to one critical witness until very near the end of the story. The suspects were few and the killer was quite clear from very early in the story. That's not necessarily a bad thing but it took some fun out of the investigation.

Overall, I did enjoy this story though it was probably one of my least favorite of the series. I love the setting on Mackinac Island and the McMurphy Hotel is very cool. The fudge recipes all sound really good, though I have never tried to make any of them. I also appreciate that they're not all chocolate based, some are other flavors and chocolate-free. Though this wasn't my favorite of the series, this is still a series I highly recommend.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.