Review of Fudge Fatale

[Kaitlin Licato]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Fudge Fatale" by D.G. Stern.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Fudge Fatale by D.G. Stern is a children's mystery novel about a baker named Anna Belle who has a side hobby of being a detective. In this story, she is tasked with two jobs. First, she is the head judge of a county-wide baking competition. Second, she, her uncle, and her cousin (the police chief) are trying to solve a crime. Pearl necklaces are being stolen all over the county, and Anna Belle is on the job!

My favorite part of this story was the side characters. Uncle Clyde was hilarious, and any scene with him was entertaining. When he proved he could bake, judge, and be a detective, he became the highlight of the book for me. I also liked hearing about Anna Belle's assistant.

My least favorite part of the story was twofold. First was the narrative style. This story is told in the third person present. It is very jarring to have a present-tense story told in the third person instead of the first. It also gets awkward when referencing past events. For example, it says, "The committee, after weeks of review and countless discussions, finally decided that Pine Meadows will host the event." The switch from past to future is odd. If it were just this, though, I would likely still have enjoyed the book.

The biggest problem in this story was that Anna Belle did nothing to solve the mystery. Her uncle shows up at the end, having miraculously solved the crime with zero input from Anna Belle. Aside from updates that more houses were robbed, the mystery disappears during the book. Also, there was no problem-solving aspect for the reader either. There is no way the reader could have guessed the culprit as they were never previously introduced. It just made the entire mystery seem shoehorned in.

I would recommend this book for a younger reader, perhaps in the 8-12 range. The silliness of the ending and cartoonish quality of the illustrations would fit this age group. The writing is easy enough, and they would be less likely to notice Anna Belle doesn't solve the mystery.

While I enjoyed the bakery scenes, the entire story fell flat as it didn't deliver the mystery. Due to the lack of a solvable mystery and odd narrative choice, I give Fudge Fatale by D.G. Stern 2 out of 4 stars. Is it readable? Yes. Is it enjoyable? Some of it. It just didn't work for me. I hope the author works on Anna Belle actually being a great sleuth in future novels.

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Fudge Fatale
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[Theana De lima Araujo]

This is a little disappointing, it seems like the story has the makings of a great mystery with a couple of changes. It makes me wonder if the bakery was even involved. Though I am not curious enough to read the book to find out. In any case, thanks for the great review and have an amazing day.

[Medhansh Bhardwaj]

Thanks for the honest review. Although I was expecting this book to be a 4 star one, because of the illustrations and cover page used. But you right, the story has to come together and the mystery must be solved at the end.