I always enjoy my forays into Ashland, Oregon, the charming theater town and home to Torte Bakeshop. The mysteries in this series are charming and light and delicious, and they're always a solid 3-1/2-4 stars for me. Until now.

The decision to make almost 2/3 of the ENTIRE book Jules and Douglas sitting at a table in Torte and reading Jules' (long-dead) father's newly found diary aloud is ludicrously slow and ridiculous. Business at this hopping joint goes on all around them, while Jules is in some kind of daze listening to her father's retelling of the past. Meanwhile, that retelling is SO detailed and not written at all like a diary...like someone sorting out their thoughts.

Ugh. I almost gave up on it several times, but my history of liking this series a lot kept me chugging through.

Sadly, even once we leave the past and come to present day, the depiction of Jules and Lance trying to figure out the killer feels kind of...dry and dusty. This just isn't really good enough to be part of this series, in my opinion. I'm crossing my fingers that the next entry is back up to par, because I really do look forward to visiting Torte!

Review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

It’s springtime in Ashland, Oregon & Jules Capshaw is busy. She & the staff at Torte are gearing up for the increase of patrons during the annual Shakespeare festival & Jules is moving into her childhood home. There she finds a journal of her late fathers that contains information about an unsolved hit & run case from the 1980’s. Now Jules will have to solve a decades old crime to put it all right, all while getting a window into knowing her father better.

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Another great instalment in one of my all-time favourite series. This book has such a unique & creative plot device to connect the past & present. I really enjoyed hearing about Ashland in the 80’s & getting to learn about Jules’ father through his journal entries. I also liked seeing Jules team up with her stepfather Doug, he’s a character I always enjoy spending time with. Usually this many books into a series you’d find it getting stale but Alexander keeps it fresh & ever changing. The town & the characters continue to grow & change. So much that I always anxiously await the next one. I really loved this book but sadly now I have to wait until the next book, #12 Chilled to the Cone, coming out this December.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the complimentary eARC of NOTHING BUNDT TROUBLE by Ellie Alexander for an honest review.

I needed a book with a pun in the title for one of my reading challenges and I knew that the cozy mystery genre would be a great place to look. I have not been a big cozy mystery reader, but when I spotted NOTHING BUNDT TROUBLE by Ellie Alexander, I was instantly intrigued. The description promised sweets, a town with a focus on Shakespeare and an interesting mystery so I was thrilled to be approved to review it!

NOTHING BUNDT TROUBLE is the eleventh book in Ellie Alexander’s A Bakeshop Mystery series. Juliet Capshaw has her hands full managing Torte, a premiere bakeshop in Ashland, Oregon full of staff passionate to create the best in sweets, food and premium coffees. On the homefront, Juliet has recently moved back into her childhood home. When going through boxes her mother left in the basement, Juliet finds an old journal left by her late father detailing something called the “Pastry Case” from long ago when Juliet was only five.

As Juliet reads further on, she realizes that her father, the man who opened the Torte bakeshop, was just as interested in mysteries as she seems to be. In this case, he was attempting to help the police solve the mystery of a hit-and-run death from the 80’s. The journal lays out all the investigation, suspects and clues which lead everyone to believe it was no accident. Juliet is determined to find a conclusion to the long cold case!

This was a really fun read and I’m glad that I picked it up - I flew through this one in a single afternoon! There really is a cozy series for nearly every interest and this one spoke to me on several levels – food, pastries, coffee and Shakespeare! Much of the story is told through Juliet’s father’s very detailed journal entries from years ago, giving glimpses into his family life, the early days of Torte with the first espresso machine in town, and the burgeoning theater scene.

The mystery itself was intriguing with no shortage of peoples who weren’t too terribly upset to learn of the victim’s death. The journal begins with Juliet’s father talking about the danger his investigation posed to his family and business with someone clearly not wanting this case solved.

This one had a cast of colorful characters, food descriptions that will make you hungry (do not going into this one on an empty stomach!), and a fun mystery to solve. As a newbie to the series, the author did a great job of introducing characters and places so that this worked quite well as a standalone!

Definitely keep an eye out for this one when it’s released on 6/30/2020!

I love this series and this is a great addition to it. This one has a different feel to it since it takes you back to the 80s through Juliet’s dad’s journals. It was an interesting look at some characters we already knew. I continue to really like Juliet’s character and as always, the mystery whodunit aspect was well written and kept me guessing.

Full review to come!

I didn't like this book in the series as much as others. It takes you back to an eighties murder via Juliet's dad's journal. It's a sad city back then and depressing. The murder, a hit-and-run is unsolved to present day so Juliet decides to investigate it with Lance. They succeed in flushing out the murderer and put Juliet in danger. But all ends well. #Nothing Bundt Trouble #NetGalley

In Nothing Bundt Trouble, Juliet Capshaw is making her family home into her own.
When Juliet discovers a journal written by her father, she begins to bond with him, and reaches out to the professor to help decipher the book.
I really had a great time reading this book. It was fun to read about her dad and how Torte got started.
Seeing Juliet and her step father bond over this whole mystery was a nice touch.

In the latest book in the Torte bakeshop, Juliet uncovers a journal written by her late father. This leads to an old case/mystery that involved her dad and his friend, police officer Doug. The journal writings are gone into detail about the Pastry Case and Juliet gets drawn into wanting to solve this case that interested her father but never got solved. It took place back in the 80's, so most of the suspects are still around. This was a diffferent and novel approach to a cozy mystery. It was interesting to be introduced to Juliet's father this way. At times I did feel a bit bogged down in the journal and wanted to more current day action., however the story did not disappoint. The culprit got discovered and things were set right.

This is another wonderful cozy mystery from Ellie Alexander, the 11th in the Bakeshop Mystery series. While Jules begins to make her childhood house her home she finds one of her father's old journals...and a mystery. This book moves between pages of Juliet's father's journal and Ashland of the 1980s and the present. I really enjoyed the background on Ashland's past, as well as exploring what some of the characters would have been like 30 odd years ago.
I love Ellie Alexander's books, they always have a great plot and wonderful characters, this book is no exception. Reading one of her books is like visiting family.!

Juliet Capshaw is making her old family home her own and comes across her father’s old journal as she is hunting for furnishings in the basement. As she reads through the journal, she discovers that her father had been helping the police to find a murderer back in the 1980s. After reading the first entry, Juliet speaks with her step-father who was her father’s friend and the detective he was working with. Turns out the cold case is heating up again and Juliet is looking for clues, just like her father. Is the murdered long dead and gone, or does the murderer still live among the residents of Ashland?

Another delicious entry in this series. You can never go wrong with a book from Ellie Alexander. This flash back to the 1980s was fun and the whodunit was well written. Always a pleasure to have a new book from this Author added to my reading pile.

Reading is a special pleasure in this difficult time, and reading a Juliet Capshaw/Torte Bakery mystery is , as always, a delight. It is filled with warm, wonderful characters, with family and good friends, with a compelling plot and a beautiful setting in the Shakespeare themed city of Ashland, Oregon. This book was a wonderful addition to the series because it brought to life Juliet's father, William, who died long before Juliet came back to run Torte but who was always a major influence on her life. William and his then best friend Doug, who is now Juliet's stepfather got involved in a murder investigation when they first came to Ashland, and when Juliet is cleaning her basement and finds her father's old journal it gives her a glimpse into his life. I loved it and can't wait for the next installment in this series.