Christine DeSmet Books In Order

Publication Order of Fudge Shop Mystery Books

Publication Order of Mischief in Moonstone Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Tales from the Treasure Trove Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Author Christine DeSmet is a noteworthy author from Wisconsin, United States. She is best known for writing the all famous Fudge Shop Mystery series. Christine is also an award winning screenplay writer for feature films and novels. Other than writing exciting mysteries, Christine also teaches the art of screen-writing and fiction to the students of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She and her script-writing partner have won the contest at the Slamdance Film Festival. Christine DeSmet was born in Illinois and was raised on the farms in Wisconsin. In her profile, she has mentioned herself as a professional screenwriter, novelist, playwright and short story writer.

Christine is associated with the Continuing Studies division of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she teaches the style of writing novels and short stories. Apart from these, she also works as the director of the annual workshops such as the ‘Write-by-the-Lake Writers’ Workshop and Retreat’ which is conducted in the month of June and the ‘Weekend with Your Novel’, which is conducted every year during the fall. The success of fudge shop series has made her a famous novelist, one whose works are often talked about by many readers, writers and critics. She has been a part of a number of writers’ associations such as the Sisters in Crime, the Jewels of the Quill, the Mystery Writers of America and the Romance Writers of America.

Christine DeSmet is the recipient of the Golden Heart and also a finalist of the same for three times in the sponsored contests of RWA. The other novel written by her, Spirit Lake, which is based on romantic suspense has won the Golden Pen Contest held by RWA, even before it was published by the Mundania Press. She is also associated with the Writers Guild of America and has won the Slamdance Film Festival Contest along with Bob Shill and Peggy Williams for the writing the screenplay ‘Chinaware-Fragile’. It earned her the first place in the contest and was also optioned by the New Line Cinema during that time. Along with writing novels, Christine continues to option her projects and write screenplays, stage plays and scripts. She has spent her childhood days on the dairy farm in Wisconsin. She has learned great lessons about life and happiness in hard work by working on the dairy farm. She graduated valedictorian and then earned her degrees in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Fudge Shop mysteries written by Christine consists of three different novels published between 2013 and 2015. The series is set in Wisconsin and depicts the life of the central character, Ava Oosterling. Ava runs a fudge shop situated on the docks near the Fishers’ Harbor. Her shop faces the Bay side of the county, which is full of peninsulas and forms the ‘thumb’ of Wisconsin in the Lake Michigan. Ava has the dream of making her fudge famous among the tourists of Door County. She wishes that her fudge may become so famous that it could be found in the bags given at the Academy Awards. She is assisted by her grandfather who offers her his bait shop to run her fudge shop.

The first novel of the series was titled ‘First-Degree Fudge’ and was published in the year 2013 by the Mundania Press. The novel consists of several fudge recipes filled with murder mysteries. The plot of the novel is set in the region of Door County, Wisconsin and it opens up with the introduction of Ava Oosterling, who is the owner of the new candy store and specializes in preparing heavenly and homemade fudge recipes. But, she often gets stuck in some or the other troubles. Ava has her plate full in trying to set her store up and running it, even though she finds it difficult to settle in Lake Michigan, which is otherwise a charming place to live. She hopes of making a unique fudge recipe by using the local fresh dairy products and her own imagination, and add unique flavors to it so that it becomes one of its kind. If this happens, she would become famous and spend her life happily.

Ava tries to get the wealthy former film star Rainetta Johnson to try her new fudge recipe, the Cinderella Pink at a local event. If she approves her newest creation, Ava might get all that she hopes for in her life. However, her dream gets shattered when Rainetta Johnson chokes to death due to a hidden diamond in the fluffy fudge prepared by Ava Oosterling. She becomes the prime suspect of the crime and has to make her way out of the trouble on her own. She begins to investigate several people of the town, whom she suspected to have reasons to hate the ever so disdainful and frequently bargaining Rainetta Johnson, in order to save her reputation and business. She has to perform the difficult task of finding out the real killer as fast as possible before facing any further trouble in her life. Ava is helped by her best friend in the process. The next installment of the series was titled ‘Hot Fudge Frame-Up’ and was published in the year 2014 by the Mundania Press. The novel continues to showcase the mysterious life of the main character, Ava Oosterling. In this novel, Ava has to face the murder charges of a judge, who loses his life after eating her fudge in a local contest.

The plot of this novel is also set in the Door County, Wisconsin and starts with the introduction of the Annual Arts Festival. Ava is shown gearing up for her first experiences of the festival. She thinks of it as an opportunity to become famous as a fudge recipe maker by drawing national attention towards her shop through her recipes. As the festival is a widely celebrated one, she invites a couple of celebrity chefs to take part in a fudge contest with her. Her hopes of becoming famous get shattered once again when a judge of the festival is found dead. Once again, she becomes the prime suspect of the murder because of her fudge. However, she gets some relief from the investigating Sheriff, who does not think of her as the real killer. With his help, she tries to find the actual murderer and clear her name from the crime. Ava is also required to catch him soon in order to avoid further troubles in her life.