Member Reviews

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. What a lovely read set in a lovely location with great characters and also a great storyline. I enjoyed this.

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Jodie 'Nosey' Parker, the ex-copper turned chef heroine, is persuaded to enter the ‘The Best of British Baking Roadshow’ when it arrives in Cornwall. But soon a murder amongst the TV crew is taking Jodie's attention away from her baking, and focusing it upon the show's star presenter and chief suspect!

The latest entry in Fiona Leitch's 'Murder on the Menu' series once again contains all the ingredients which make these books such delightful confections.

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Although this is book 5 of the 'Nosey Parker' series of books, it worked really well for me as a stand alone. That being said, I enjoyed this book enough that I'm now looking to get the whole series and read them all!

I love crime/thriller books and really enjoy watching GBBO so this book ticked all my boxes for being a top class read and it really was. Very easy to read and engaging I found this book light hearted in places which provided a nice relief from the more devious aspects of this story.

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Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I hadn't realised that this was part of a series so it can definitely be read as a standalone book. I really enjoyed this - a baking roadshow, a drag queen and a murder what more could you ask for!

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I received this ARC via Netgalley and HarperCollins UK/One More Chapter, in return for an honest review. While the 5th book in this series, it is easily read as a standalone. I love this series and the adventures of retired police officer turned chef, Jodie “Nosey” Parker, her DCI boyfriend, her precocious daughter, and her septuagenarian Mum. This is another fabulous entry, centered around a British Baking Show environment. Such fun and I can’t wait for the next in this series!

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Bake Off, hosted by a drag Queen, meets murder mystery…

This is a fun book where reality television turns true crime! There’s a lot of characters to get to grips with right away, but you soon get into the swing of it.

I’ve not read any of the other books in the series, but that doesn’t affect things at all. You instantly get where all the series long characters are in their journey and it makes me want to go back and find out where it started.

Having a recipe in the back was a nice touch, can’t wait to try it out!

This book contains all the ingredients for a great murder mystery, and they’ve been baked to perfection!

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This was a very interesting story with a great cast of characters. A murder takes place during the filming of a Bake Off Competition programme. The murder is investigated whilst the programme continues around it! The conclusion was too good to be true! I was laughing by the end.

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Jodie is surprised when she finds that she will be taking part in the hottest baking show in Great Britain. Her family and boyfriend submitted her application and surprise her with the news. But that’s not the only surprise.

When one of the show’s crew is murdered, Jodie can’t help but dig a little while Nathan works the case. With the inside edge as a contestant, Jodie is able to get a different take on a few suspects. Can Jodie help Nathan find the murderer, or will Jodie get burned like a bad cake?

I done this British cozy series! Who can’t relate to Jodie being nosey since we all love good mystery? With a tweenie daughter, a handsome detective beau, her senior mother and an adorable Pomeranian, their antics will have you laughing and rooting for Jodie to succeed. A well written whodunit is what makes each entry in this series another wonderful to a fabulous series!

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I love this series and for me, this was my favourite book so far.

Jodie is back with Nathan to uncover who has murdered a tv crew member in the local bake off, a competition that Jodie herself is a contestant.

The storyline was very good but for me the real attraction is the setting and the characters. Jodie's mum is such a delightful character who has me chuckling with her escapades. This book had me laughing from chapter 1 and kept me enthralled until the final page.

It helps if you read these books in order, however you could easily read this as a stand alone.

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Another fantastic addition to my favorite series!

This time we have Jodie 'Nosey' parker juggling between baking and sleuthing. Well, she's participating in a Baking Roadshow and... may the best baker win! Unless, one of the bakers is a murderer in which case, may the perp be brought to justice!

When a production assistant is found murdered on the premises, Jodie has to poke her nose around. After all, she's called 'Nosey' for a reason. Since she's a participant on the show and can interview suspects in an unofficial capacity, she starts to juggle her time between baking and sleuthing. It is not easy, though. She might not have hopes in winning the contest but she must try her best and not get eliminated. Elimination means losing her only access to crime scene and suspects.

I absolutely enjoyed reading every bit of this story. Fiona Leitch is a master storyteller and I am a huge fan of her writing and the Nosey Parker Cozy Mystery series.

Suspects are plenty and so are the red herrings so I suggest you not to don your detective hat. Unless you want to end up 'arresting' the wrong person for the murder.

If you are looking for a quirky, totally engrossing and entertaining mystery, I recommend you to give A Cornish Recipe for Murder by Fiona Leitch a try.

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“A Cornish Recipe for Murder” (Nosy Parker Cozy Mystery #5) by Fiona Leitch. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Cozy Mystery series. Location: Penstowan, Cornwall, England. Time: Spring in the present.

SERIES: Jodie (Nosey) Parker quit her job as a London Police Officer and moved home to Penstowan with her teen daughter. She now owns a small, safe catering business. But murder keeps finding her, and true to her nickname, Jodie gets involved.

THIS BOOK: It’s a bake-off mystery! The Best of British Baking Roadshow is in town, set up on the grounds of 15th century Boskern House. Jody is determined to win the contest to get publicity for her catering business. As contestants bake their 1st recipe challenge, the dead body of an unpleasant crew member is found by the creek. Does this mean Jody and Nathan (aka Cornwall’s Dishiest Detective) will work together again to solve a murder? Of course it does!

Suspects include:
* An unknown baker who wants to win at any cost, including stealing Jody’s white chocolate, unplugging her stove, and salting her custard.
* Drag Queen host Barbara Strident, aka Russell Lang, whose on-camera clothes were sabotaged by the deceased.
* Indira, production assistant who got the job for the ungrateful deceased.

Meanwhile the contest continues and Jody bakes:
* Unusual Ingredient: Brownies with sweet potatoes
* Technical Challenge: Baumkuchen (many layered sponge and jam cake)
* Easter: Hot cross decorated donuts
* Showstopper Cake: Rich Cornish Fruitcake
Unfortunately the only recipe we get is for the fruitcake.

This book is the definition of a great summer read. The writing is funny, the action moves along, there’s a sweet romance, and the characters are enjoyable. Author Leitch has created a cozy mystery series that keeps you wanting more. She manages to keep the book light enough that you don’t get bogged down, yet complex enough to keep you interested. Publication date: August 18, 2022. With many thanks to Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter, and NetGalley for the advanced copy, it’s 5 cozy stars from me.🌵📚👩🏼‍🦳.”

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I enjoyed this book. I didn’t realise this was part of a series. I will definitely go back and check out the others in the series. Well written and easy to read.

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Available as an ebook from August 18 (in a paperback in October), this is only the second in the Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker cosy crime series but it’s one that’s full of wit and warmth. As national institution The Best of British Baking Roadshow rolls into town, former police officer Jodie finds herself competing to represent Cornwall in the final. Her baking is ok, but how will she match up to her fellow home cooks? Well, she might not need to worry about her culinary creations too much when a murder is announced, totally messing up how the cookery show operates. Couple this with a presenter with an ovenful of secrets, contestants who’ll stop at nothing to create showstoppers and Jodie’s growing relationship with her police officer partner, and it’s a pacy read until the culprit is revealed. Jodie is very likeable and someone who you’d want to be friends – and investigators – with.

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Jodie Parker has been entered into the best of british cooking show by her daughter and partner Nathan,there to showcase her culinary talents and compete to win the last thing she expects is to be involved in investigating the murder of one of the crew

Love this series and enjoyed thoroughly

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Loved the characters and the story! I didn't know this was part of a series, so I'll have to go back to book 1 now, hope the previous books will be as good as this one.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

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Jodie Parker, or Nosey to those in the know, is quite happy running her catering business, spending time with her detective boyfriend Nathan, daughter Daisy, and mum Shirley, in her lovely home in Penstowan, Cornwall. She wasn't planning on applying to take part in The Best of British Baking Roadshow but her friends and family had other ideas. So, now she's cooking up a storm in the tent at Boskern House and there's also the small matter of the body found in the grounds!

With DCI Nathan Withers on the case and needing her insight Jodie finds herself splitting her time between completing the variety of baking tasks and investigating who killed a crewmember and why. The competition is fierce but Jodie can't leave Nathan to investigate alone, especially as more than one of the production crew, presenters, and fellow competitors are definitely keeping secrets.

Book 5 in this wonderful series doesn't disappoint in any way. Josie, Nathan, Daisy and Shirley are all on top form and the scenes in the big white tent are my favourites by Fiona Leitch so far. The original characters are obviously based around those familiar from a very well-known TV series but are different enough to withstand the comparison.

There are things happening in Josie’s home life which will, I imagine, continue into book six. The ending left a few signposts towards what may happen next but was very satisfying and I didn't work out whodunnit until I was supposed to which is just as I like it.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the opinions expressed are my own. I have loved Josie since book one, and this is a brilliant continuation which is everything I hoped for.

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I love this series, not only because of the mystery part, but because of the characters as well. This book also had a motley crew of characters, although we did not see a lot of them. I felt sometimes there was a bit too much domesticity - Jody and Nathan, Jody's mother etc. -, which took off the sharp edges of the story a little. (For me the best novel of the series so far has been the Christmas story where not only Jody's family members, but also her friend Debbie was present. I loved these sharp-witted (and with Shirley sharp-tongued) female characters and their interactions).
Although in A Cornish Recipe there were unexpected twists in the story, but I felt the ending a little sudden.
However, I did enjoy the book and are eagerly looking forward to the next one by the author.

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Cosy Crime meets The Great British Bake off and it’s a great combination. This is the fifth in the Nosey Parker series featuring ex police sergeant turned cook, Jodie Parker. This time she has been invited onto a regional baking competition when a murder takes place. This sets the scene for another light-hearted crime novel where Jodie helps her boyfriend Inspector Nathan Withers solve the murder.
The Cornish setting is gorgeous and the characters are as diverse as ever. The mystery is well plotted and keeps you guessing to the end. Jodie’s relationship with DI Withers is now well established and I felt that this meant the dialogue between them was less snappy as a result. There was also less involvement for Jodie’s mum Shirley who can always be relied on to raise a smile. However it was a still a great read and although the fifth in a series, would work perfectly well as a stand-alone.
Thank you so much to the publishers for asking me to read this book and to Net Galley.

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Who couldn't fail to warm to these books. Jodi "Nosey" Parke is back and going to be on TV ....she will appear on "the best of British Baking Roadshow" loosely based on that other baking show we know so well!!!! It is such a riot of fabulous characters including a drag queen host Russell/Barbara. Jodie as her name suggests is a nosey as ever and yes there is a murder to solve. Of course DI Nathan Winters is on hand....will they solve it in time?? Or is it the perfect murder??? Such descriptive and often humorous writing, I couldn't put it down. I urge you to give these titles a try you won't be disappointed.

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The Nosy Parker Mystery series puts the cozy in English cosy, because not only are they engaging mysteries, but they are stories about family as well. The characters are lovable, a real family, including the darling little dog. I really enjoyed the descriptions of food and baking in this book. It was a book I enjoyed sitting back with and relaxing into.

Thank you to One More Chapter for a complimentary copy of this book! Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. (I will post reviews also on Amazon and B&N upon publication.)

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