"If nothing changed, there'd be no such things as butterflies." This was a sweet surprise! I mostly read adult fiction nowadays, but I've missed books like this! What surprised me is that THE CANDYMAKERS took itself surprisingly seriously - it sold itself as a mystery, and it was a mystery, and an especially good one at that! It starts out as a fun, sweet candy-making adventure, but it doesn't end on that note. It's never until it's over: THE CANDYMAKERS doesn't stop revealing secrets until the very last page. Somehow both unexpectedly funny and unexpectedly touching, THE CANDYMAKERS never turns treacly and the fun never fizzles out - it has plenty of meaningful stories to tell. There is something so nostalgic about reading something I would have enjoyed as a child. Some things never change: I will always love elaborate candy factories and child detectives, and this was the sweetest, funniest, smartest combination of both.