Abby Collette (A Deadly Inside Scoop) embraces the quirks of the charming town of Chagrin Falls in A Game of Cones, her second Ice Cream Parlor mystery. Bronwyn "Win" Crewse is happy that her family's shop is finally thriving in her quaint Ohio village. One of the few Black families in Chagrin Falls, the Crewses have managed the ice cream parlor for decades, but it had begun to fail in recent years, so Win left her advertising job in New York City to work on revitalizing it.
At a town meeting, Win and her fellow shopkeepers are stunned to find out that Zeke Reynolds, a developer, is planning to put a mall right on the town "square" (it's really a triangle). The small-business owners are appalled at how Zeke's plans would alter their village and affect their livelihoods. And then, just a day after he's booed out of the meeting, Zeke is found dead in an alley.
To complicate matters, Rory, a former ad agency friend, abruptly appears, offering Win an amazing deal to come back to New York. Rory's erratic behavior makes her a prime suspect in Zeke's murder, so Win and her shopkeeping pals can't help but get involved. Nobody liked Zeke's plans, but there's no way Rory would actually be involved in his death, would she? Lighthearted and full of delicious-sounding ice cream, A Game of Cones is a cozy treat. Win and the quirky cast of Chagrin Falls add flair to this charming #ownvoices mystery. --Jessica Howard, bookseller at Bookmans, Tucson, Ariz.