Wow! Let me preface this by saying I am a huge fan of GBBO. I think because of that this book really came alive for me. I was able to ‘see’ the tent. I could hear the voices of Betsy and Archie as I pictured them through the lens of my fandom. I enjoyed the cast of characters and the mystery of the story carried through all the way to end. And, it was done beautifully! Just when I thought I had everything figured out I’d turn the page to a new chapter only to see I was completely wrong. This was a such a delightful book to get lost in.

Preparations are underway to begin filming the tenth season of Bake Week. Thanks to host Betsy Martin, the six contestants begin to arrive one by one to her picturesque manor where the show will be filmed over the course of several days. Bound to be unbothered by her new co-host Archie, Betsy is determined to make this year's Bake Week the best season yet. When cameras start to roll and the contest begins the recipe seems off from the start - unexplained mistakes, suggestions of sabotage and one dead body do not make the best ingredients for success but they sure make for excellent TV. As those who are left alive at the manor wait for help, the secrets that they all wish to keep hidden begin to simmer to the surface. Who will be left standing and earn the coveted Golden Spoon? The concept of "The Golden Spoon" had me intrigued and sounded like a fun concept. British Bake Off meets Only Murders...sort of. However, I found myself dragging to finish it with the book's slow pace. The constant alternating POVs and lack of any real connection with the characters I struggled to be excited about this one. I'm not a big Bake-off fan but I imagine someone who loves to bake as a hobby would find this "cozy mystery" a fun read. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I did enjoy this, and it did live up to the Agatha Christie meets British Baking Show comparisons. However, it was a little drawn out before the quickly wrapped up ending. I would have preferred a slightly quicker pace and maybe a few red herrings to completely love!

Great British Bake-Off in America with a thrilling mystery! There are 7 POVs in this book, and while I found some characters more interesting than others, I loved the multiple POVs. The plot hooked me immediately, and I found this story riveting and interesting. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for sharing an advanced copy.

In this book, we are on the set of a quasi-Great British Bake-Off, with just eight contestants competing over the course of a week until one can be crowned the winner. The show's host and "America's Grandmother," Betsy Martin, also owns the family estate on which the show is filmed, though this season she's joined by the charming, younger, and male Archie Morris, who is used to judging shows more akin to Chopped than the sweet, comforting baking show. Told in rotating POV among the contestants and Betsy, the story opens with a prologue teasing a gruesome murder and then flips back to when filming began. Each character has quite the distinctive personality, backstory, and reason for being on the show, that's slowly unveiled to us throughout the book.

The premise of this book is genius--charming reality television baking show x locked room murder mystery. While I found it odd that Betsy's chapters were third-person POV and the contestants' were first-person POV, I stopped noticing it after a while. Each character is also a little stereotypical, fitting neatly into their boxes with no overlap. But I thought the plotting and overarching story was excellent, and disagree with reviewers who say it started too slow. I thought it started and finished with a bang, and didn't mind a little bit of investigation and character-building in the middle; it's a quick enough read. Overall, this book was a win for me.

Thanks to Atria and S&S Book Club Favorites for my eARC and finished copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 8/10

This was such a good and quick read! The description of it being a mesh of Clue and The Great British Bake Off is very apt. In short it is a baking show that takes place at a manor on Vermont over the course of a week. From the start there appears to be someone sabotaging the contestants by switching ingredients. It reaches a head when a body is found…

The POV from seven people and differentiating the characters took a little bit to get used to, I’ll admit. But, once I got that down, I really like the way the author was able to switch perspectives but kept the story moving at a good clip without it being a constant rehashing of the same plot points. The chapters were relatively short which made it easy to “just read one more chapter”. As someone who loves cooking reality tv, this was right up my alley and I really enjoyed it!

The description said Clue meets GBBo, so how could I not read this? Unfortunately, while it was much like both, the whole thing just didn't resonate with me. I kept reading it hoping that I'd get more into the storyline as it went along, but it just wasn't the case. I can't quite pinpoint what the problem is, but I didn't connect with any of the characters. Still, it was a reasonable fun read.

As someone who loves Agatha Christie/cozy mysteries on TV AND The Great British Bake Off, I was looking forward to reading this book. This book incorporates both well, and I'd say make sure to have something sweet and delicious on hand as it will leave you wanting to snack as you read. While it took me a minute to readjust after figuring out that this didn't actually take place in England, I grew to love the Vermont setting. I was dissatisfied with how the mystery ultimately played out and I feel like this book could have been a little longer, but all-in-all this was a fun book.

I’ve been a big Great British Bake Off fan since before it was trendy, so I was super excited about a book that is essentially based on the show. The baking competition in Golden Spoon definitely mirrors GBBO, tent and all. Then we get what is essentially a locked room murder mystery thrown in. It all takes place in a slightly creepy old manor house.

The murder pops up at the beginning and at the very end. In between we mostly get drama of the show progressing and a bit of a mystery around a woman who once disappeared. That was fine but it was underwhelming and didn’t really build up to the murder at all. The murder almost felt thrown in again at the end in order to wrap everything up in a nice little bow. I also struggled to remember that the book was set In Vermont. With the GBBO parallels, the old Victorian manor house setting, and the Britishisms (keen, supreme bore, etc) sprinkled into the writings it might as well have been set somewhere in England.

Overall this ended up being an enjoyable read more because I love a good cooking of baking competition, and less because of the murder mystery.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

This was pretty good. Many thanks to the publisher for the arc. It felt very cozy mystery with little action. I liked the premise and idea of the story. Read if you like a cozy mystery with a baking competition.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

I couldn't connect with the characters in this book. The premise was good and I loved the baking completion setting. But the jump between POVs kept taking me out of the story. I give this book 3/5 stars.

I absolutely loved this. The combination of murder mystery and baking show is something I never knew I needed and I'm obsessed. I want this to be its own genre because I need more of it.

I knew going in this was kind of a mix of cozy mystery and locked room mystery with baking show added in. However how it all came together just didn’t work for me.

The sudden reveal at the end came out of left field and wasn’t explained well enough for it to make sense

An engaging cozy mystery with similarities in setting to The Great British Baking Show.

Did I constantly think of Paul Hollywood when reading this book? Why yes, yes I did. I hope he's much nicer in person than the cooking show hosts in this story.

This was pretty fast paced. It kept my attention and was an enjoyable cozy mystery.

NetGalley supplied the read, I supply the review. I would have given the book 5 stars but I wasn’t completely satisfied with the last dish. I did enjoy spending time, I love baking shows, with Betsy at her home Grafton, hosting Bake Week, a show along with its success has allowed her the means to make much needed repairs on her beloved home.. We start on a dark and stormy night with a murder, we’re left hanging, like the victim, til the last course. In the meantime we learn of the personal lives of the six bakers which throws into the mix some delicious subplots, some present, some past. So all in all it a tasty read, leaving us wanting more, including variations on the last dish. Once you finish the book I hope you review it, can’t wait to see how others will finish the dish.

Thank you to NetGalley + Atria Books for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I loved the premise of this book (Great British Baking Show meets murder), but to be honest, that is not what was delivered. It was a very slow burn, with nothing interesting really happening until the very end - and even then, it felt more chaotic than anything. The character development wasn't really there - I truly didn't care about anyone in this story.

I do think the idea was there, but the execution fell flat in my opinion.

This book had such an original and creative concept, a combination of a Bake Off reality show and a murder mystery, all set at a gothic estate. It was dark, witty and lots of fun to read...Are these bakers or killers is the question that keeps flying thru your mind. I loved the creepy estate setting and the characters were quirky, funny and deceptively delicious. A fun read!

A television baking competition is being filmed on the estate of the show’s longtime host and judge Betsy Martin. Now in her 70s, Betsy needs the show in order to fund the upkeep of her estate. This season, she has been forced to welcome a cohost who might be after her job. She also has to deal with questionable assistants, apparent sabotage of the competition and 6 new contestants with varying degrees of skill and ambition.

This book is based on a tired mystery trope. A group of people with secrets are in a closed setting when one or more of them turns up dead. I was a little iffy about reading this, but I wound up enjoying it. That probably had something to do with all of the baked goods that were described in delicious detail. Also, the characters were not a group of back-biting idiots hiding secret indiscretions and animosities (which is usually the case in this sort of book). They were actually pretty sensible and likable people. My favorite character was the oldest contestant, Lottie. She had the most interesting backstory. Although there were a lot of characters to keep track of, I did manage to keep them straight. And the book wasn’t so cozy that it turned my stomach. I would read this author again.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell is a mystery about a hit TV baking competition that is being filmed at the gothic estate of celebrity chef Betsy Martin. But the competitors and the show personnel are in for more than they bargained for. When things start going wrong and then someone is murdered, the real competition begins. This was a fun read, and I enjoyed it. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

I haven’t really delved in to the mystery genre too much before, but this book sounded like fun, with a little bit of tv bake-show fun intertwined. Each chapter is told from the point of view of the different contestants on the Golden Spoon baking show, and from the beginning we learn about their backgrounds personally, their experience with baking, and their motivations to be on the show. There is not only competition to win the Golden Spoon amongst the contestants, but also some competition amongst the crew and hosts to keep themselves in control and seen as relevant in their jobs and tv-world. This keeps the reader guessing as to who will be murdered and what the motivation is. As the story continues, we find that there is a surprise and interesting connection between one of the contestants and the host. This builds up until the very end when, at the same time, a murder takes place, very suddenly. The story wraps up very quickly as well, which leaves not much time left in the book for solving the crime and not much time for an in-depth resolution.

The Golden Spoon was a murder mystery “light”. I found it a fun and enjoyable read.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for a chance to read and review an advance copy of this book.