This cozy-type mystery, the Golden Spoon, combines murder with a baking competition. Grafton Manor in rural Vermont is the ancestral home of renowned cookbook author, baker, and cooking competition host, Betsy Martin. Six amateur bakers converge on her home to compete in a televised baking competition. The story begins with a dead body, but the writer does not share the identity of the victim. Then the reader is taken back in time to the day that the six contestants arrive. With the knowledge that someone has been murdered, there is a heightened sense of suspense. The reader is on edge, not knowing the identities of both the murderer and the victim. Told through alternating perspectives, the reader gets to know each of the characters. The characters are a bit quirky and each seem to have secrets in their past and/or a motive. During the competition, it appears that someone is sabotaging the bakers. Is it one of the bakers? Then on one stormy night, a body is found. Is the saboteur also the murderer?

I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery. This was a “locked door” style of mystery that I found hard to put down. The mansion is dark and foreboding which lends to the mood of the narrative. Very well done!

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for providing me with an advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Huge thank you to @atriabooks for my #advancedreadercopy this book was an absolute delight . First I love the Great British Bake Off so obviously I was immersed in the details of the show, even down to Grafton Manor and the descriptions of the different wings. Each character telling their own story added to the drama, this book was meant to be listened to in audio and @simonaudio made an excellent production.
I was nostalgic to play a game of clue and I found myself mentally eliminating people for the mystery within a mystery . Lottie and Pradyumna truly were the best characters. There was something about the tech playboy that makes me hope he will show up in Jessa's next book . I mean he really was the only one playing sleuth and he needs a purpose why not solving murders? Who really did kill Archie? I think who got convicted deserved it . I think the actual murder should have happened sooner not in the last quarter of the book .If the author had led with the murder , then went backwards to solve it..that would have made this a five star book.

The premise of this book is great - a murder mystery on the set of a televised baking show. Unfortunately, the execution didn’t work for me.

The best part of the book for me was the subplot, a historical mystery involving one of the contestants and a former employee of Grafton Manor. At least I think it was a subplot. It’s difficult to know the author’s intention, because the opening murder is assumed to be the primary mystery, but after the prologue, it plays very little part in the rest of the book. So what the reader expects to be the main plot is really a subplot. Confusing.

I also feel that modeling the competition after Bake Off was a mistake as it set the wrong expectations. The real-life competitors of Bake Off are endearing and genuine individuals. That’s what makes the show so special. But in The Golden Spoon, most of the characters are quite unappealing. This contrast to the model show felt uncanny.

With two mysteries, there are two big reveals. The first was predictable and the second … Well, the second didn’t even feel significant to the characters involved. Instead of engaging twists and creative red herrings, The Golden Spoon simply had a lot of dead ends.

* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

The Golden Spoon is an interesting mystery about a baking competition in Vermont, where the contestants are sabotaged and somebody dies. We find out in the prologue that someone dies, but we don’t know who until about 75% of the way through the story. All of the contestants have their own backstories which we learn at the beginning but get expanded upon throughout. I also really liked reading the competition chapters because I could picture it like The Great British Bake-off in my head!

Reminds me a lot of The Guest List by Lucy Foley, so I think fans of hers would also love this book. Cozy mysteries can be a struggle for me because I don’t like waiting for the last chunk of the book for the action. I prefer to get there by 50% because otherwise it feels a bit rushed to me.

This is the type of book you want to curl up with, sipping a warm mug of tea. It isn’t necessarily a thriller, but a mystery. An Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes vibe. It is slower in the first half, but picks up a lot in the second half.

Read number 33 of 2023 (& my fourth March Break read) was this cozy mystery. It reminded me of A GOOD DAY TO PIE at times, but maybe a little slower paced. I liked the cooking show connection. This definitely seemed to be a character-driven mystery. I was in for a bit of a twist, but did guess part of it. A quick and easy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read if you want a cozy mystery.

Told through alternating perspectives, The Golden Spoon follows along the baking journey of several contestants as they compete a la The Great British Baking Show at an old gothic estate in a a remote Vermont town. Throw in a pinch of sabotage and a dash of murder, and you’ll have yourself one delicious cozy mystery.

Although there were several characters that took some getting used to, I enjoyed each of their back stories and how they formed a connection with one another through their shared experience on set and off. The location was another highlight for me. I could picture the scenes as they played out.

While the twists seemed predictable at times, I didn’t mind it. It was nice to slide into the book for a little getaway full of goodies.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jessa Maxwell and Atria Books for an advance copy of this book. It was a decadent delight!

This was an enjoyable mystery and had many moving pieces throughout the theme of a bake off.

The characters were easy to connect to and understand since they all seemed a little lost in their world. This bake off allows for each of them to find a piece of themselves that they were missing in the “real world”. Even though the time that these characters are joined is very short, they connect on an intimate level rather quickly. This is where I might have allowed a longer period of time to lap instead of just three-ish days from start to finish. Although I had a lot of fun reading this book and would recommend it for others who like fast mysteries.

I really wanted to love this one! The premise is right up my alley! Murder mystery combined with a baking show?! That’s totally my jam!

Six contestants compete over the course of 5 days to win a televised baking competition set in the host’s childhood manor house. The competition is brought to a halt when a body is discovered in the filming tent.

The characters and the plot alike felt a little flat. The whole book seemed like a creative writing assignment, not a polished, well-constructed novel. It dragged through much of it and i found myself putting it down often.

The baking competition was a mediocre facsimile of The Great British Baking Show. There was an attempt at a side plot of someone sabotaging contestants bakes but it was poorly executed and was seemingly forgotten until the end when the author was like “oh yeah, that thing happened” - obviously it wasn’t necessary to the story.

2.75 ⭐️ rounding up to 3 because the idea was good even if the author didn’t do it justice.

Anything that brings The Great British Bake Off and murder together is always going to be a storyline that I have to get my hands on! There was so much to enjoy about this one, all the quirky characters, their backstories, the twists, the food!

The first two-thirds of this book sets up all the catastrophes later in the book, but I wish it had grabbed my attention sooner. It felt like I could put this book down any time and not feel the "need" to pick it back up until I got to the last third of the book - and then I was gripped. But that's really my only complaint! I really enjoyed the setup and the way the author wove the stories together, and the creation of all the characters. In the last part of the book I was so excited to see how things were going to intersect and end and I wasn't disappointed!

Very enjoyable read and one that I'll definitely be recommending!

I just reviewed The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell. #TheGoldenSpoon #NetGalley #jessamaxwell #bakeoff #bakingandmurder #cookingcompetition

The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell follows six amateur bakers as they compete on the tenth season of Bake Off, hosted by famed baker and "America's Grandmother", Betsy Martin at her ancestral home Grafton Manor.

The novel features seven POVs, the six bakers and Betsy herself.

As a fan of both The Great British Bake Off and Downton Abby, I could not wait to read this cozy mystery and the book felt as cozy as both of the aforementioned shows, despite the murder plot.

The number of POVs did take some getting used to. At the beginning of the book I had to keep referencing the "baker's bios" to figure out who was who. But eventually I caught on and I came to like and root for all of the baker's. I did feel that I wanted more from each baker and it seems like the number of POVs and the overall short length of the book made it feel like each character was a little under developed.

I absolutely LOVED the part of the book that featured the baking competition. Learning each character's motivation and thought process was interesting and allowed you to get to know them and learn their back stories.

Now, the reason this isn't a four or five star read for me is the "thriller" or "mystery" aspect of the book. Every single "reveal" or "twist" could be seen from a mile away. At one point, I thought the characters already knew something because it seemed so apparent only for ten pages later them to come to the realization.

With that being said, the twists being predictable did not ruin the book for me. If you're only looking for a thriller that will make you gasp, I would probably skip this one, but if you want something that will leave you feeling transported to a world of bakes, cakes, and mysteries then I would highly recommend The Golden Spoon.

3.5/5 Stars, Rounded Down

Many thanks to the publisher, Atria Books, and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book.

I'll admit to being a little bemused by The Golden Spoon in the beginning of the book. I went into this expecting a Cozy Mystery set against the backdrop of a baking competition, and while I got the baking competition and I got the cozy vibes, where was the mystery?

Where was the murder?

We get introduced to the contestants and the hosts. We learn a bit about the beautiful property hosting the competition. Over time, a bit of a historical mystery is revealed, a possible murder. I thought, is this it?

Nevertheless, even without me noticing it at first, Maxwell did something great here. She pulled me in with her character work and setting alone. It didn't even take long. By 20% in, I was hooked with these characters. I was intrigued.

The cooking competition itself is quite reminiscent of The Great British Bake Off. If you're a fan of that show, as I am, there is no way you are going to read this and not picture everything about that show in your head. In fact, the two judges of the competition in this book are basically Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood.

The biggest difference is the setting is a stately property, Grafton Manor, in Vermont versus the UK. The competition itself does take place in a tent though, so hurrah!

I loved the competition aspect and getting all the perspectives of the contestants was so much fun. Learning their motivations and insecurities as they set about their bakes each day made it easy to get to know them.

I also really enjoyed some of the relationships that developed among the contestants. Being thrown into the competition, it would make sense for them to bond a bit over their shared circumstances. Of course there will always be some drama too, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. It's a competition after all, but I did appreciate some of the special friendships that were formed.

Particularly lovely to me was the odd couple of Lottie and Pradyumna. Lottie, the oldest contestant, and Pradyumna, a younger tech millionaire, a real playboy, the two of them together, oh my word, they made me so happy.

As far as the show went, everything that could possibly go wrong pretty much did. The competition itself is only 5-days, but man, they packed a lot in. Early into the competition, it's clear there may be a saboteur in their midst, but who and why?

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this. It doesn't follow your standard Cozy Mystery format, but in spite of that, the vibes are there and the cast of characters is fantastic. I loved that this slow burn paid off with building intensity and a satisfying conclusion in the end. I'm not sure if we will ever see these characters again, but I certainly hope so. Maybe we'll even get a fresh season of competition.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Atria Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I'm really looking forward to reading more from Jessa Maxwell in the future!

✨this was a fun and fine book! i LOVED the concept and the setting, (the comp tv titles being the great british baking show and i believe only murders in the building??? and also knives out????) but the characters and the mystery really fell flat for me.

✨I think that if you’re new to mystery and you want something with more secrets and mysteries rather than murder and consequences then this would be great for you. I found myself thinking while reading that it was giving off extreme cozy mystery vibes. a big estate with the great descriptions of desserts and more, I couldn’t help but picture GBBS while reading even though there was more of a darker element afoot.

✨I did like how the ending played out. we got the POVs from each contestant throughout and in the end we were able to get their POVs of the conclusion as well.

✨my main issue with this would honestly just boil down to my expectations. I went in with such high hopes because this had been so hyped for being a 2023 release and the cover is cool and the synopsis sounded great. I just wanted more from the characters, more from the plot, and I’m left feeling a bit ???? from the reading experience. It was such a quick read though! and I’m looking forward to hopefully pick up more from this author and other books with these ~vibes~ in the future.

✨thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for allowing me to read an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

The premise here was fun and definitely appeals to the tried and true GBBO fans. The characters certainly embody some of our beloved hosts and the typical characters that each season always has — the young, beautiful, and knock out baker female, an uptight scientific baker that makes it feel like science class, the hokey grandma figure, etc.

While the hallmarks of GBBO were endearing at first, I did quickly tire of it a bit and found myself searching for more, something that made this feel refreshing and new, instead of just appealing to a comfort show. Yes there’s a murder we see at the beginning before going back in time to try and piece together who the killer is, but honestly, I needed more murder and nefarious hijinks along the way. Is there some baking sabotage? Sure, but trying to sabotage the competition and making the jump to blown murder just never really materialized. This needed more tension along the way.

Overall, this will be a success depending on what you’re looking for. For fans of cozy mysteries and GBBO, this will be perfect, but for thrillers fans, this will likely be too slow.

Rating: 2.75/3, rounding up to 3

The perfect book for fan of the Great British Bake Off and murder mysteries. With switching POVs and short chapters, you'll easily want to devour The Golden Spoon while eating your favorite dessert.

I would have liked a little more drama between the contestants, but perhaps that in the American in me.

6 contestants gather at Betsy Martin’s stately Vermont mansion to participate in Bake Week, her cooking show. Things get chaotic quickly, as there are pranks, sabotage and then a murder! I found this book quite entertaining and full of quirky characters.

What an unexpected surprise! I saw a blurb that this book is what happens when the Great British Bake Off and Clue make a book baby and if that isn't the best and most accurate depiction I don't know what is.

The story starts with a murder during "Bake Week," a GBBO inspired cooking show. The rest of the book follows various contestants and the host Betsy (think Mary Berry) from their perspectives up to the fateful event. While there are a lot of characters, this is really easy to follow and each character is different enough that it wasn't hard for me to keep track of. Each character had their own backstories that contributed to the whodunnit and I frequently changed my mind as to who the culprit was. This is not wholesome like the GBBO is so don't go into this thinking it's exactly the coziest of mysteries. However, this was great fun to read and one I"ll be recommending a lot this year!

A blurb pitches this book as Clue meets The Great British Baking Show and I feel like that nails the vibe!

This is a debut locked room mystery set at a Vermont estate where Bake Week, a reality baking competition, is being filmed with its six contestants! Multi POV.

I am a massive fan of The Great British Baking Show, which is why I picked up this book, and it didn’t disappoint on that front. I would have loved this book even without the mystery aspect as a fictionalized baking competition haha!

A fun, sometimes eerie, read that I definitely recommend! 👩🏼‍🍳 4 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to @netgalley for an ecopy in exchange for an honest review!

This book was so fun! It really felt like The Great British Baking Show combined with Only Murders in the Building, which are both comfort shows (although it did make me imagine everyone with British accents despite the book taking place in Vermont)! It was weirdly relaxing even though it was a murder mystery! 😂 I also liked how everyone seemed to have motive for the murder, and the last minute plot twist. I definitely wasn’t expecting one of the villains 👀 The ending was a bit too abrupt and wrapped up for me, but other than that it was a quick, fun, little cozy mystery!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read before pub day (although I did not in fact finish the book before pub day)! This book is out now!

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley

3.5 stars rounded up

This is a cozy locked door mystery that takes place on a lush Vermont estate. 6 contestants show up to compete for The Golden Spoon, the coveted prize for the tv show, The Bake Off. Locked room mysteries are some of my favorites. This was a quick and entertaining read. I wish some of the details about what was going on with production were fleshed out more. The ending also felt a little bit rushed. Overall, I enjoyed it.