VANISHING INTO THE 100% DARK

By Amber Royer

Cozy Mystery

Publisher: Golden Tip Press

Pages: 288

Publication Date: March 4, 2025

SYNOPSIS

Bean to chocolate maker Felicity Koerber has been invited to be part of a chocolate festival in Tokyo. It’s a big deal for a Texas gal with a chocolate shop on Galveston’s historic Strand, so a whole group of her friends come along to support her. It’s intimidating enough to be giving a class on chocolate making with the help of a translator – she also stumbles across the scene of a murder, where a quirky group of international actors and stunt performers are making a monster movie. Felicity has already solved half a dozen murders back in Texas, so at this point her friends basically expect her to get involved – even before the young media influencer in Felicity’s group becomes the main suspect.

Felicity has taken on the role of chaperone for Chloe, so she can’t imagine how she could explain what went wrong to the girl’s mother. Which gives her even more motivation to figure out the real killer.

In the meantime, things get complicated at the chocolate festival when a rival chocolate maker tries to get her disqualified from the awards competition – and claims that her amateur sleuth status is bringing undesirables into the festival. And things are even more complicated as the stress of being in an unfamiliar place brings out secrets about Felicity’s friends – and her fiancé.

Honda the calico cat makes an appearance on the movie set, making Felicity homesick for her pet bunny, left at home. But the cat may know more about what happened than she is letting on. Can Felicity solve the murder in time to keep Chloe from getting arrested, while making things right with the people she cares about, and presenting a good showing at the chocolate festival?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amber Royer writes the Chocoverse space opera series and the Bean to Bar Mysteries. She is also the author of Story Like a Journalist: a Workbook for Novelists and has co-authored a chocolate-related cookbook with her husband. She also teaches creative writing and is an author coach.

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REVIEW

A fresh spin on what’s promising to be a long-running series. I have been reading Amber Royer’s Bean to Bar Mysteries series from the beginning and am delighted with the setting change. I enjoyed getting to know Galveston and the community Felicity Koerber has built there. I also appreciate the author widening her character’s world and inviting the readers to travel with them.

In moving this latest installment to Japan, Ms. Royer retained her signature elements while creating new challenges for her amateur sleuth to conquer. Vanishing Into The 100% Dark brought Texas to Japan through Felicity and her large entourage–her fiancé, his sister and her partner, a former love interest and his partner, a podcaster and his fiancée, and a teenage YouTuber. Even those left in the US like Carmen and Autumn showed up via FaceTime.

As with the previous seven books, events happen early and quickly. New characters are introduced, the main (murder) mystery to be solved is established, and suspects pile up. As usual, a first edition copy of a mystery novel shows up and it’s somehow connected to the case. There’s also a business rival to contend with, and loads of familiar and newly-created chocolate flavors mentioned. Finally, there’s always a pet involved — this time, a calico cat.

With seven solved cases under her belt, Felicity has developed a keen sense of when an impending disaster is about to happen. She has resigned herself to the fact that she must lead the investigation. Finding out who did it is never easy, but especially difficult in an unfamiliar location while trying to navigate cross-cultural communications using technology and relying on the generosity of strangers.

I loved Ms. Royer’s integration of Japanese culture in this story–about the kaiju (media involving giant monsters), shogi (chess-like board game), the food, and the daily life of local citizens. I also admire the massive research she undertook while creating this book. It clearly showed up in the dialogues, the anecdotes, the backgrounds of new characters, and the case resolution.

There’s a lot to enjoy in this latest book in the series. However, this is best suited to those who have already read the previous seven. First-time readers might find the multitude of characters, loads of information, and fast pace overwhelming. Plus, there are relationship updates that would spoil storylines from earlier installments. They should also get familiarized with Felicity’s unique style of investigation, otherwise they would not appreciate her methods.

The last thing I want to say is–I want more chocolates. Felicity’s competence specialty was not fully highlighted here like in previous books. Ms. Royer can’t go wrong with more chocolates in her next book.