This was a mix for me - things I loved and things I didn't. It was entertaining, but I wasn't blown away. Things I loved - I loved the description of the baking challenge itself. The different contestants, the "behind the scenes" aspects and the bakes themselves. What I didn't love was the "mystery/thriller" pieces that just seemed (to me) to be very obvious. I did like how the story was set up, but found the first 75% pretty slow and the only reason I kept going was because I was enjoying the baking bits. I also really did appreciate the underlying theme that threaded through so much, exposing the "important / successful men taking advantage of younger more vulnerable women" because it is a sickeningly common thing. I think some people will really enjoy this book as it is easy to read and entertaining.

So many people have described this book as The Great British Baking Show meets Clue, and well they NAILED IT! As an avid GBBS (and Clue) fan I could envision the manor and the tent. I knew based on the premise I would like this book, I didn’t realize I would like it this much!

I was really drawn to the concept here. I am a huge fan of baking shows and who done it and locked room mysteries and all of the elements that comprise this one - and yet somehow the execution didn't work at all for me.

Each chapter is told in the voice of a different character, yet 90% of them read in the same flat-affect tone that could have belonged to any of the previous voices. There is a tremendous amount of lead-in and the pacing is really slow and plodding - which is not a super dynamic way to set up a mystery of this type.

I struggled with this one and didn't enjoy it as much as I'd expected to...

The idea of a crossover between a baking competition and a whodunnit is a great idea, but unfortunately, the execution missed the mark. Although the story is told from multiple perspectives, many of the characters' inner dialogues sound exactly the same. Additionally, the murder is hinted at in the very beginning, but over 80% through the story, it still has not occurred.

The Golden Spoon was such a fun read! In this tale, 6 contestants gather for the 10th season of Bake Week to try and win the Golden Spoon and their claim to fame. But as the week goes on, accidents start happening and then someone ends up murdered.
What I liked most about this book was that I was basically reading The Great British Bake Off. I love cooking competitions, and this was the first book I read that revolved around that. This theme felt so refreshing.
As I read the book, it also wasn't clear who the big baddy was. Was it a contestant, one of the hosts, someone on production, everyone? It was enjoyable seeing the mayhem taking place behind the scenes and finding one who the bad guy really was
Lastly I liked how the author focused on so many characters. We really got to know all of the contestants and the hosts. The book was written with multiple perspectives, and the author did a great job.
The only negative I have about the book would be in the epilogue. The author did great at answering some questions there, explaining motive and who all the villains were. But at the same time it feels like the author just stopped writing.
I would recommend this book to people who like cooking shows, life long secrets, and mansion murders

I had heard great things about this and as a fan of both mysteries and the Great British Baking Show, I knew I had to read it! It is definitely a darker story rather than a cozy mystery and felt it fell more in a suspenseful category than a murder mystery. I enjoyed having each chapter as a different character perspective, letting us learn about the main judge/host and the contestants. The author built up each individual character in these chapters and they felt well-rounded. This was an easy, fun read and I loved the ending. Definitely pick it up if you're looking for a slightly darker Great British Baking Show vibe!

3.5 Stars

If you can't handle the heat, stay out of the kitchen. At least for one member of Bake Week.

For fans of Great British Bake Off and locked room mysteries, this book is perfect. Set almost exactly like the cooking show, contestants and crew spend weeks of heated competition in a large house with an accompanying tent for baking. However, one member finds themselves murdered before the wrap up of the show. We're left wondering not only who killed them, but also what happened in the past that led to this moment?

I love a locked room mystery, and I really enjoyed that there was a mystery in both the present and the past in this one. I felt like each character had something to hide and nobody could be trusted, which kept me curious and wanting to read more. The chapters were relatively short with a writing style that allowed an effortless flow, each chapter ending with just enough information and intrigue to keep you reading more.

With locked room mysteries I expect a bit of setup - the characters, the setting. This one starts off with a pretty clear and concise description of characters so I was hopeful that it would then get right to the story, however there was more to the layers of the backstory from the past and relationships between characters that the setup in this was actually really prolonged. It wasn't until the last 1/3 of the book that I felt things really picked up. I was interested throughout, but not to the point that I couldn't put it down. I thought the ending was a bit surprising and although I did not see it coming, it felt a little lackluster.

Overall I would recommend this for readers of locked room mysteries and lovers of bake shows. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review!

Quick, fun, and ultimately sweet, I really enjoyed this cozy mystery with a bit of extra suspense. The premise of a week-long bake-off that ends in murder was unique and very well done--my mouth watered as different bakes were described, and I found myself wondering who the guilty party could possibly be as they traipsed around an old manor a la the Great British Bake Off. A fun read!

If this mystery was a cake it would definitely be a Victoria sponge. A classic without being overly sweet. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the characters as they arrived to the set of Bake Week in rural Vermont. The multiple characters & story line didn't run together and the villains were believable.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!

Wow! This book really is Clue and Agatha Christie meets The Great British Baking Show! The characters were diverse and each somewhat mysterious. I read this book in two days!

No spoilers, but there was a brief moment of confusion when I couldn’t parse out the timeline of one of the confessions as it was happening and the narrative that was being told. I thought my digital copy had a glitch. Maybe one extra scene would have helped clarify for the reader.

That was truly the only criticism I have. Otherwise the plot was engrossing and the twists were shocking. Really great mystery novel!

THE GOLDEN SPOON

⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Great British Bake Off meets And Then There Were None. Suspenseful and atmospheric, a baking show’s filming at a secluded gothic castle is interrupted one dark and stormy night by murder. Each of the contestants has an ulterior motive for being there - but who dealt the final blow? And who, exactly, is dead in the baking tent?

This was a fun premise that was pretty well executed. I love stories where the location is almost like another character, setting the mood and influencing events. The characters were all suspicious and formed unlikely, but charming, relationships. I thought each act of “sabotage” on the cooking show could’ve been heightened; in the interest of knocking off contestants quickly, like on Chopped, the plot missed out on a few opportunities for greater suspense.

I did see the ending coming, but it was satisfying nevertheless. This would be a fun book to spin off into a movie: a baking version of Knives Out.

Thank you to @atriabooks for the gifted copy! THE GOLDEN SPOON is out March 7th.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Golden Spoon is a great murder mystery romp that uses the device of a baking competition similar to the Great British Baking Show as its premise. It made for a quick read, but the amount of characters and the changing perspective initially made things a little challenging to follow. Once you became familiar with the characters and settled into the story, it became very readable and enjoyable.

If you're looking to pick up something light for a weekend read and be entertained, this should be high on your list. It does end up tackling some of the #metoo perspective, but not in a heavy handed way.

Someone ends up dead on the filming set of a reality TV baking show. Was it the same person who is trying to sabotage the baking competition? Was it one of the other contestants who all have something different to gain from winning the competition? Or is it one of the hosts of the show? This book keeps you guessing until the very end.

This story is told from the POV of the six contestants and the main show host. Originally I thought it might be confusing to keep track of the characters. The way it was written is masterful as there is enough descriptions of each character to keep them all straight, while still being brief. Even with the brief chapters of each character I really was able to start to like some and dislike others. I even found myself rooting for the ones I liked. I am not a huge fan of reality tv shows, however give me a book about it and I will devour it.

There are secrets and twists throughout this book. This one kept me intrigued and I read it in one sitting.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for a digital ARC.

Great British Baking Show meets Agatha Christie! A body is found during filming of a reality show and then you are taken back a few days to try to unravel what happened.
This was a charming premise and I loved how each chapter rotated through the contestants on the reality show. For me, the story got a bit muddled with the multiple mysteries. There was a historical aspect as well as sabotage during filming and both of those things really detracted from the actual murder. It ended up feeling less like a mystery and more like a book about filming a show with a few loose ends tossed in.
It was an easy and enjoyable read. Liked it but didn't love it.

I loved this cozy mystery mashup of Clue/Knives Out/Nancy Drew taking place on the set of a Great British Bake-Off-esque show. The author did a great job differentiating each character and making the reader care about their arcs. I absolutely loved the setting - both the manor house and the baking show. Just so clever, fun, and absorbing. I loved reading the descriptions of the bakes and wouldn’t have minded a more in-depth exploration of the show. Overall I enjoyed this so much that I would have been happier if it were longer!

It's the 10th season of the hit show "Bake Week". A familiar white tent is erected ion the grounds of the Grafton Estate, which is owned by the Host/Judge Betsy Grafton. This year, the network has decided to stir things up by adding a co-host Archie Morris. In the very first pages of the book we see how the attempt to life to the show turns deadly. The six contestants all have their reasons for being there - a bored tech millionaire, a carpenter, an overlooked housewife., etc - but not all the contestants are just after the Golden Spoon award.
As production begins, there appears to be a saboteur. Salt is swapped for sugar, a burner is turned on high scorching the contents- is this the work of a cut throat contestant? Is there more at stake?
The Golden Spoon is a bit of an Agatha Christie meets Knives Out mystery. It is a very fast read with a few twists thrown in on the way. You will definitely be guessing until the final reveal.
I will definitely be looking for future works by Jessa Maxwell.

My Thanks to Netgalley for the Advanced Recording of this Audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

This was the fanfiction I didn’t know that I needed for Great British Baking Show. A second round purchase for most libraries.

I enjoyed this book although it started out quite slow. There are seven points of view and at times it gets a bit confusing. Also, this is a murder mystery but it doesn't kick in until the book is over 70 percent done. Yes, someone is found deadd at the beginning but we don't who and it just seemed like things could have moed along faster. That being said, it was a fun read, the charactes were interesting and it certainly seems that the author might be setting up for a second book based on the ending.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria books for this E-ARC.

A really interesting plot, particularly the blurb, which sucked me in and had me racing to finish the story. The Golden Spoon is a fun, cozy take on a murder mystery, but with a hint of underlying darkness that is skirted around. By the end of the story, I not only wanted a delicious dessert but also wondered if I could ever look at Mary Berry again without thinking of Betsy Martin.

This is a quick read, easy to gobble down over a weekend while you enjoy a nice cup of tea. I do think the publisher should reconsider billing this in the vein of other thrillers but embrace the coziness of the story. I have never thought that I would read a cozy mystery, and likely won't again, but I enjoyed this book all the same. Also, I am not quite sure of the Only Murder in the Buildings comparison (other than the friendship forged between two characters and a puzzle of a past they are trying to put together) so there is some potential for readers to be a bit disappointed when The Golden Spoon doesn't offer to the Martin-Short-Gomez dazzle they were promised.

Overall, I enjoyed this debut novel and would recommend to anyone that is looking for a quick read or something to get them out of a reading rut.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

4 ⭐️ This was pure fun, the frivolous upbeat positivity of the Great British Bake-Off meets an Agatha Christie isolated whodunnit in a creepy old manor. Told from several POVs of the contestants and host, you’ll get varying viewpoints of the bake-off and the shenanigans going on behind the scenes. Every character was pretty well established so I didn’t feel confused despite juggling 6 POVs! Definitely a fun book to throw in the mix if you’re a regular thriller reader, this one stands out from the rest for it’s unique concept.