If you like cozy mysteries, then this is definitely a fantastic read for you!!!!!!! Not a well known author to me.

I really loved this book in a new to my series and author. I can't wait to read the next one. The characters and location really add to the plot. This book keeps you guessing until the end

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I really enjoyed reading it the plot was interesting and the characters made me want to know more about them. I highly recommend.

Sherri Oliveri has been asked to judge a cookie cook-off, rather than participate. She's fine with that since she considers herself a cook not a baker. The entrants are supposed to give not just the cookie but the story of the cookie's history as well. The contestants include one of Sherri's old Home EC teachers, and several friends but she makes every effort to be impartial. Sad news is that after the contest, he old home Ec teacher is found murdered. CAn Sherri put the past behind and solve the murder?

Fun continuation of this yummy series, the recipes sound delish!

This was the first book I’ve read by this author. I was a little wary of going into this without having read the previous books in this series but I wasn’t left behind at all. The main character, Sherry, is judging a cookie competition (though I understand she is usually the one entering said culinary competitions.) Sherry meets one of the entrants before the contest and then later his body is found. Sherry puts on her detective hat as she wonders who would have reason to do away with the victim and if it has anything to do with his cookies.

I liked this story enough to want to go back and read the previous entries in this series and to other books by this author.

Sherry makes a living entering all kinds of cooking contests. This time she gets to see how the other half lives.She gets to be a judge at a Thanksgiving weekend cookie contest. She also gets a blast from the past in the form of a former teacher. He is entering the contest as well. They catch up with each other and call it a night. The prizes for the contest go missing and are found next to the former teachers body. She needs to find the killer. This book is a great read. It moves at a fast pace and the characters are lovely. There are clues aplenty to keep you busy reading while you ponder whodunit. I definitely recommend this wonderful book.

Cook off champ Sherry finds herself on the other side as a judge in her town's cookie baking contest. The contestants keep hounding her for hints, advice, and general help. One of them is Sherry's former home ec teacher who has a new name. Sherry ends up inviting him to dinner. After the contest her teacher Mr. Currier is found dead. Sherry begins her own investigation. This was a nice twist, and I enjoyed the side story of Sherry's family. This was a different angle to the series, but it worked well.

This was my first Devon Delaney book but it won't be my last! I enjoyed it from start to finish. I liked how she works with her dad at his rug store, but is also a chef (not desserts as she mentions) and a judge of the cookie bake off. Sherry is very likeable and I love the side characters as well. She gets along with her dad's girlfriend which is nice, her sister is in town taking a break from her marriage and her old high school foods teacher comes home to enter the cookie contest and see his favorite student again. Delaney's story held my interest and I loved the setting - my ideal little town! I am a new fan and will definitely be recommending this book! Thank you for letting me read it!

When Sherry Oliveri, a competitive cookie baker, becomes a judge at a local Cookie Bake-Off, she fiinds the situation is naturalky, a little tense. Add to it that one of the contestants is her old high school home-economics teacher, who turns up dead, and you have the setting for a murder mystery that keeps you guessing!

I didn't guess "whodunit", however I loved the twists and turns of the story. It was fun to see more of Sherry's family and I'm rooting for her and Don! I love that each book can be read as a standalone, but why not start at the beginning of this delicious and mysterious series!

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Sherry Oliveri is a judge in the local cookie contest. She soon realizes that it's much better to be a contestant than a judge..... Unless you're the contestant that's murdered right after the contest ends.

Sherry and her sister are determined to identify the killer before he has a chance to kill again.

Sherry Oliveri is back and this time she is a contest judge instead of a participant. This is an unusual tale that takes a fiery tale of the past and a bitter bit of the present, not exactly the best ingredients for a cookie recipe but it does make for an interesting cookie recipe origin story. Sherry finds that being an impartial judge isn’t as easy as you would think, especially when her proverbial Doc Watson is also a cookie contestant. Plenty of engaging characters, clues and culinary coziness, especially the recipes found in the back of the book. I for one am looking forward to making peppermint patties for the holidays!

I've read several in the series and enjoyed them all. It was interesting to see Sherry acting as a judge rather than a competitor. The book kept my interest from the beginning but any book that combines cookies and murder has to be interesting.

The characters are varied and seem like a lot of fun. I look forward to more in this series.

Great cozy mystery set during one of the craziest times of the year. I loved the recipes in the book and even tried one. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves baking and a good mystery

Double Chocolate Cookie Murder
By Devon Delaney
Kensington
September 2021

Review by Cynthia Chow

As the holiday season approaches, Maine’s frequent cooking competition champion Sherry Oliveri is perfecting her snazzy sweet potato panzanella recipe. First though, she has the honor of being a judge for the local newspaper’s Story for Glory Cookie Bake-off. Bakers are challenged to present compelling origin stories for their recipes that match the tastiness of their creations. While Sherry’s own baking skills are admittedly lacking, her collection of other cook-off wins more than qualifies her to judge cookies as well as the accompanying heart-warming tales. After inadvertently inviting her contestant Crosby Banks to a Thanksgiving leftovers dinner, her favorite former high school home economics teacher discloses that his tropical cookie bar entry was first designed to win over his wife. That undeniably emotional anecdote is not the one he shares as being the inspiration for his contest entry though, which already was lacking in both technique and creativity. The more deserving win is upended when all of the prizes go missing, only to be found in the car near Crosby’s own corpse.

Weighed down with an anchor and dumped just off of the Augustin Marina, Crosby is soon revealed by the police to have had more than a few secrets. With his real name being Crosby Currier, his family has long ties within Hillsboro County that include an aging father and an angry ex-wife. Declaring that she will stay uninvolved – despite four previous encounters with murder investigations – Sherry still becomes the target of several attacks and threats. Even her possible boyfriend Don Johnstone has his boat nearly sunk, which does at least keep their romance lively. For additional support Sherry has her sister Marla in town for a holiday visit, although it seems that Marla may be as much vacationing as she is escaping from her struggling marriage. Their father may refuse to hold Black Friday sales within their Ruggery family store, but they otherwise continue to prepare for their favorite seasonal celebrations and cooking events. Along with Marla, Don, and Nutmeg State of Mind newspaper food writer Patti Mellitt, Sherry will track down the secrets that led to broken hearts, betrayed marriages, and even murder.

This fifth in the series may only share a few of Sherry’s prizewinning recipes, but it doesn’t hold back on descriptions of mouth-watering cookies and holiday meals. Perfectly building up an envious New England winter season, the novel will have readers vicariously wishing for a chilly Maine holiday. The mystery constantly zigs and zags with red herrings and numerous suspects, and the author has the challenge of introducing a number of new and familiar characters. It doesn’t take long for even new readers to the series to catch up and feel at home with the cozy town, and details about the challenges of both cooking for and judging cooking competitions prove compelling. This is a very fun and rollicking mystery that stays light-hearted even as the case gets more complicated, building towards a get-all-of-the-suspects-together-in-a-room conclusion. Cooking, holiday celebrations, and moving family drama all make for the perfect end-of-the-year escape.

Princess Fuzzypants here: Sherry is usually the contestant in the cooking competitions but this time, she is one of three judges. She admits her baking skills do not match her other culinary feats. One of the contestants is a blast from her past- the high school home ec teacher who first opened her mind to a future in food. While she cannot play favourites in the competition, she does acknowledge the impact he had on her life.

There is something “off” about his cookie and story so he does not win. But things go rapidly downhill when his body is discovered at the marina where his family has a long and complicated history. And it is that history and the lies and secrets that surround it that Sherry must unravel if she is to find the killer. She is asked by one of the suspects to do so but it seems every time Sherry discovers something new, the woman throws up barriers to prevent her from going too deep. The emotions around the events run intense and the killer is not amused that Sherry has been asking questions.

After a few close calls, Sherry does discover the who and the why behind the murder. It had me wondering right up to the end. It is an entertaining read. Four purrs and two paws up.

Sherry Oliveri is about to do something entirely novel for her: judging a cook-off contest instead of competing in one. That said, the Story For Glory Cookie Bake-off is probably a competition she would never have entered herself. Sherry prides herself on her cooking creativity, but baking has never been her forte, requiring as it does a much greater precision of ingredients and technique than her usual preferred methods.

When a blast from the past shows up in town to take part, Sherry is initially hesitant to do anything that might compromise the integrity of her judging. Crosby Banks has changed his name, among other things, since he was her home economics high school teacher, but since he was the one who initially encouraged her interest in cooking, she feels that she owes him friendliness, if not advice outright. And while she ultimately doesn’t award him the laurels in the cookie contest, she is pleased that they got a chance to reconnect.

It’s thus a horrible shock when Crosby is soon found dead down by the harbor where his father was once dockmaster. Sherry is still mourning his death when a boat ride with her love interest, Don Johnstone, and her sister Marla takes a dangerous turn. Someone seems to be trying to warn her off from looking into Crosby’s death. Despite her growing reputation as an amateur sleuth, Sherry had meant to leave any investigations to local police detective Ray Bease, but the obstacles the killer keeps throwing in her path only make her more determined to get to the truth and bring her former mentor’s killer to justice.

This elaborate mystery was another fun romp through the town of Augustin, Connecticut as we get to know more about Sherry’s family and neighbors while solving the complex case. It was cute to see the little flares of jealousy from Sherry’s male friends, though I do hope she and Don continue exploring their relationship in future books. The subplot with Marla’s marriage was also nicely done. As always, the insight into the competitive cooking scene and how recipes are whipped up was an engrossing highlight of both this book and the series as a whole.

There were three recipes included here, and I decided to try out the titular cookie recipe:

QUOTE
Candy Cane Kissed Peppermint Patties

14 tablespoons butter, room temperature
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¼ cup Dutch process cocoa
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon light cream
1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup crushed candy canes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream 10 tablespoons of the butter with the sugars in a medium bowl, and then beat in the vanilla and egg yolk. Add the flour and cocoa and beat until smooth. Transfer the dough to wax paper and roll into a 10-by-2-inch log. Wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.

Slice the dough into ¼-inch rounds and flatten gently on a baking sheet. Bake 7 to 8 minutes, and then let cool 10 minutes.

Cream the remaining 4 tablespoons butter with the confectioners' sugar, peppermint extract and 1 teaspoon of the cream until smooth. Spread about 2 teaspoons of peppermint cream each over half of the cookies and close with a plain baked cookie.

Melt the chocolate chips with the remaining cream in a small saucepan, adding more cream to make it smooth but not runny. Spread over half of the cookies and top with the candy canes while the chocolate is still wet.
END QUOTE

Chocolate and mint can be hit or miss together, but if you like that combination of flavors, then these cookies will absolutely wow you. I actually went a bit light on the peppermint and really enjoyed how this large sandwich cookie almost tastes like a chocolate mint cupcake texture-wise. I did wind up using regular baking cocoa instead of Dutch process, but I don’t think that affected the end result in a detrimental fashion. I will say that you ought to keep any leftover crumbs to sprinkle on top of ice cream as a delightful treat. This recipe made about fourteen large and tasty cookies for me, and they keep quite well, I feel, over a few days.

Next week, we head south a ways to try a delicious soup while looking into the death of a shady lawyer. Do join me!

Double Chocolate Cookie Murder by Devon Delaney is the 5th book in A Cook-Off Mystery series. Sherry Oliveri, is use to competing in cooking contests, but this time she has signed on to be a judge in a cookie contest. Sherry is no baking expert either, so she is hoping the other judges even her out. Sherry is keeping busy over this long Thanksgiving weekend between cooking, helping her father out at his store on black Friday, and the contest. When Sherry's old home ec teacher winds up dead, Sherry is determined to find out what happened. This book is a fun cozy mystery, but I am still not sure I like Sherry very much. If you like cooking and cozy's you might want to give this book a try. I love the cover!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is the 5th release in the charming cozy series "The Cook Off Mystery" series. Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinion is my own.

In this next in series our protagnist Sherry is excited to be judging her first cookie contest and preparing for being a judge. Sherry has trouble stepping out of her comfort zone and I love that the author writes of anxiety as normal for Sherry . She meets up with one of her old teachers and invites him to dinner and soon is in the middle of another murder. Between her judging duties, investigating and the clues she finds about the murder she is one busy baker.

I like Sherry and friends. The author has a talent for writing them as real people you relate to. I love the mystery that kept me guessing to conclusion. I always look forward to returning to Sherry and Friends. This is a cozy series with charm, great charcters and lots of yummy treats.

This is my second in the series although it is the fifth instalment, and Sherry Oliveri's first time judging the big cookie contest is looming. The contest is being held on a Saturday after Thanksgiving but first, on Black Friday, she will open up The Ruggery, her dad's shop that sells speciality crafted hand-loomed rugs. Protagonist Sherry is a terrific amateur sleuth and gets stuck in when a man is found dead at the marina behind the dockmaster's shed. It's one of the contestants from the cookie contest, her old home economics teacher from high school...

Set in Augustin, Double Chocolate Cookie Murder was a compelling, and fun, cosy read. I was sold from the very beginning, with its solid characters, great writing and a marvellous mystery that provided a good sprinkling of clues to satisfy even the most diligent armchair detective. Busy Sherry often works in The Ruggery when she is not entering culinary competitions and I found her to be spirited, peppy, curious and amusing.

Although the book is part of a series, it would work as a standalone novel. With an entertaining plot, the mystery itself was well done and there were divers and twists to keep me guessing the culprit's identity. Overall, a marvellous cosy and a very worthwhile read. I can't wait to see what the author has in store for Sherry in book #6 and like me, you might want to start the series from the beginning. Very highly recommended.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Kensington Books via NetGalley and this review is my unbiased opinion.

This is the 5th installment of the Cook Off mystery murder series. In this installment, Sherry Oliveri is a cookie judge versus being an actual contestant. The contest is being held the Saturday after Thanksgiving but first Sherry must open the Ruggery her Father’s Rug store on Black Friday. Her Father is not a big fan of sales so Sherry handles Black Friday for him. When a customer comes in who looks familiar to Sherry she is trying to place him when her sister Marla (who is visiting for Thanksgiving) says he was there home economics teacher Mr. Currier but he introduces himself as Crosby Banks. Why the difference. Sherry invites him to dinner for Thanksgiving leftover as she remembers how he passed her even after she failed her baking test. Sherry maybe a great cook but baking is not her favorite. She and her family enjoy their dinner with Crosby Banks but the next day he seems a little out of sorts at the cookie contest and he provides a totally different story for his Aloha cookies than the one he ran by her family the night before. Sherry finds being a judge very difficult and fortunately her fellow judges help her out. Sherry runs into Crosby’s wife Rachel who she learns is his ex-wife and she is not at all kind about her ex-husband. Sherry tries to catch Crosby to tell him his cookie was good and better luck next time. Later she learns that Crosby was murdered down at the Marina after the cookie contest. Rachel seeks out Sherry to help her find out his murderer and clear her name. Sherry wants to find Crosby’s killer because he could have failed her years ago and he did not. It turns out years ago Crosby was a possible suspect in the arson at the Marina and there are several possible suspects and Sherry becomes the victim of sabotage so she must be getting close. Enjoyed this mystery and was a great addition to the series.