Muffin But The Truth is the 16th installment in Ellie Alexander's Bakeshop Mystery series and my first entry into the series. Juliet runs my now favorite fictional bakeshop/restaurant, Torte, and she has been hired to cater an out of town companies executive retreat. The executives are a hot mess and have a lot of drama within their group that all culminates in one of the being murdered.

I enjoy our protagonist Juliet and her team at Torte. Another big part of the story is Juliet's personal life with her husband and her teenage step son who has just moved in to spend a year with them. And Alexander did a great job of blending Juliet's personal life with the drama of the executives.

I did think there was a lot of repetition and exposition which really dragged down the middle to the end of the story. I also thought the mystery element of the story was weak. Or that could have been a result of me not liking any of the executives so I didn't really care who did it. I did find the reason for the killing surprising and I loved the drama of the reveal at the end.

I liked this one enough to want to read more of the series (spoiler, I liked the next one even more than this one). Which makes me excited to dive into Alexander's extensive backlist. And this book was worth the read just for all the delicious and incredible sounding food and coffee. I've never read a book that describes coffee in the way this one did and as a coffee lover I was salivating and desperately wishing I could have a cup of every coffee described.

Once again, in Muffin But the Truth, the team from Torte are venturing out of town to cater an event. Outside of Ashland, the Rogue Valley calls to adventurers with its lakes, mountains, and rivers. An executive team from a big city firm will be rafting the Rogue’s rapids and gathering around the campfire for spooky stories as a bonding experience. Unfortunately, they are not a unified team and it shows quickly. Jules tries her best to keep the food and group on track, when one of the executives is found floating face down in the water, she is back in sleuth mode to try and figure out what happened and who might have helped the drowning along.

Muffin But the Truth is the 16th book in the A Bakeshop Mystery series by Ellie Alexander and she is still keeping the stories fresh. After reading all the books in this series, I am comfortable in the setting and with the wonderful team at Torte. The secondary characters, the Professor, Lance the director of Festival and others in town are always a welcome addition to the stories. Jules is such a great boss, family member, friend and sleuth. She is well liked by everyone except the owner of the restaurant across the way. I did miss the Shakespeare Festival goings on, but the mystery made up for that. The victim was not well liked so there are a lot of suspects, some unexpected twists, and finally a satisfying ending. Jules and Carlos personal life plays a role in all the books, but in this one, Ramiro, Carlos' son has come to stay and has Jules thinking about have a child with Carlos. This is a quick read and I enjoyed another visit to Ashland.

I love this series. With each book you get to know the characters in more depth. This is a wonderful series!

Jules Capshaw and the team at Torte have been hired to cater a weekend getaway on the mighty Rogue River. The executive team at a big city firm will be rafting the Rogue’s rapids and gathering around the campfire for spooky stories, but their dysfunction quickly begins to show. Jules is happy for a brief reprieve when they zip up their lifejackets and head out in their boats, but the serenity of the scene quickly vanishes when she discovers one of the execs floating face down in the water. She’s going to have to uncover the truth before she gets pulled under.
This was a great mystery with lots of scenic splendor. Ashland, Oregon is a place I need to visit because it's so well described in this story. The characters are diabolically created to baffle you with questions about the mystery. I was surprised when the culprit was revealed. I can't wait to read the next one in this series. This review is my unbiased opinion. Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this advanced reader's copy.

Once again, Ellie Alexander as Jules caters to a small company and having to provide for a toxic company for a retreat wasn't on her bucket list. I love reading about Jules and the crew.

Jules Capshaw regrets agreeing to cater the corporate "bonding" weekend for Bamboo as the bullied assistant keeps coming back with more and more demands from overbearing CEO Josie. When they finally arrive, the tension is palpable. It only gets worse as they get to the glamping site and go rafting. Next morning, Jules finds what she thinks is Josie's body in the water, but it is really Maddy, the CFO, who greatly resembles Josie and is wearing Josie's bright pink flotation vest. Who was the intended victim? Maddy seemed to be everyone's friend, but what about the rumors of financial trouble at Bamboo?
Jules wants to find the truth, while still managing the family bakeshop, and working at being a good stepmom to her husband Carlos's son, Ramiro who is staying with them for a year.
It is always fun to "visit" Torte and see what they are cooking and watch the interactions of Jules' great team.
I really like watching Jules and Carlos work at making their marriage work and more fully sharing their lives. Jules mother Helen is really great too, having found a second love after the death of Jules father.
The whole town seems to be a wonderful supportive place to live with a few annoying exceptions.
Really like this series.

Another enjoyable installment in @ellie_alexander ‘s Bakeshop Mystery series set in idyllic Ashland Oregon. Jules and Carlos have settled into a comfortable life in Ashland and have Carlos’s son staying with them for a year as they gear up for their first grape harvest at the winery. But before the harvest happens they must cater an executive retreat for a dysfunctional group of employees set on making things more difficult than needed. When a member of the retreat is found floating in the nearby water, all hands are on deck to figure out what happened to the victim and what went wrong within the company dynamics.

I hope the next book sees Jules and Carlos making a happy announcement soon and we will hopefully see some of the young Torte members spread their wings towards new adventures.



Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

I have read several of the books in the Bakeshop series and plan to go back and fill in the blanks with the rest of them. The characters are well developed and I feel like Juliet and her cohorts have become friends. Each of the individuals who work with Juliet at Torte are unique. They have different gifts when it comes to baking, creating coffee, cooking, etc. And they have such a wonderful camaraderie as they navigate the day-to-day grind of running a food venue and the occasional special events. (This is obvious when Juliet is hired to help with a company team building event because camaraderie is the further thing from their mindset. More on that in a few.) There are a few extra characters that add so much to the story … Lance, who is a hoot and definitely an extravert, as well as Juliet’s mother and her stepfather, The Professor. And I enjoyed getting to know Juliet’s stepson, Ramiro, while he is in the US as an exchange student.

The mystery will grab you from the beginning. There are all kinds of twists and turns and you will be second guessing whether the person who was murdered was the intended victim or a case of mistaken identity. And who really committed the murder?! Too many suspects and clues will have you guessing until the very end. And, honestly, who would want to work for Bamboo? The owner is just evil and the individuals who work for her are stressed to the max and cannot be happy with their situation.

The author does a wonderful job of bringing the story to life and keeping you interested as you flip through the pages as fast as possible to see if you can figure out the guilty party. Plus, the food that is described had my stomach growling and my mouth watering. I wish Torte was a real bakeshop because I would be booking a ticket to travel to Ashland, Oregon. I can’t wait for the next adventure with the gang.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

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I was pretty disappointed in this installment in the series. I liked the other book I read in the bakeshop series but, this story was sadly lacking in the mystery part of the cozy mystery. Too much atmospheric description. It just wasn't a good mix of mystery and cozy story. The main character was superfluous to the solving of the mystery. Just didn't hit the right notes for me.

A sweet, engaging story. I've not been writing professional reviews for a while now, but can say I found this book entertaining.

Although I thought this not one of my favorites of this series I still gave it 5 stars. I admit on this one the characters and their relationships was more interesting than the mystery. It's still a good mystery but I realize that look forward to reading more about the characters that feel like friends and I love hearing what has been Ashland. The mystery had twists and turns that kept me up late reading this one. I'm ready for the next one in the series.

The novel is a part of a series but can be enjoyed as a standalone. Plenty of baking references which I enjoyed. This was a fun read - perfect for the weekend.

Sixteenth in the Bakeshop series, and I have read 13 of them. So obviously I am a fan, and this book lives up to the high standards set throughout the series. Torte, the titular Bakeshop os the series, has agreed to cater a corporate glamping event for Bamboo. The toxic relationships within Bamboo permeate everything making each part of each event fraught with difficulty and tension. However, Jules and her posse of family, friends and co-workers manage to keep their cool with Bamboo with dealing with the everyday blips that often overwhelm us all. The characters and their relationships are stellar and the mystery has enough twists and turns to keep us turning those pages. A quick and engrossing read.

Whelp I did it again and read a cozy WAY out of order 😂 Good thing cozies can be read stand alone. I didn't feel lost...more so curious as the established relationships, and now I need to go back and read the previous 15 books and capers lol

When I saw the title of this one I had to request it. My favorite thing about cozies are the fun titles. Muffin But the Truth is a delightful treat. Small town. Baked goods. Murder and mystery. All of my favorite things.

This one is perfect for fans of the cozy genre and ones who enjoy a little food in their reads. I sincerely appreciate St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

I read an earlier book in the series and now this one, and I found this book easy to jump right into the series and quicker to read. Torte’s employees are background characters in this one but they nicely fill out the novel. Overall I enjoy this series and would recommend it to anyone who has been following along from the beginning or to anyone willing to jump right in.

This series always makes me hungry - the food described sounds delicious and beautiful! I wish we had a Torte around here!
I also love how the people and relationships have progressed. In this one, Torte is catering a company retreat and has to provide fancy food while the people are camping and rafting. That would be a lot of fun, except the company CO is toxic and of course, the bickering leads to murder.
This is a very enjoyable cozy mystery series, and I always look forward to the next installment.

Muffin But the Truth is number sixteen in the Bakeshop Mystery series by Ellie Alexander. It’s the first I’ve read in the series, but I had no problem jumping right in. Our protagonist, Juliet, owns a bakery named Torte in Ashland, Oregon.

They take on a catering job for a demanding tech startup hosting a retreat at the nearby Rogue Valley. The CEO is ruthless and ill-tempered and drives her employees without mercy. When she ends up dead, there is no shortage of suspects. Contrast this approach to how Juliet leads her team, encouraging them to find and develop their skills and creativity, even if it means they outgrow her small shop and leave to follow their dreams.

There is something for everyone in this book, from the descriptions of the Rogue River, the Shakespeare-themed festival, the behind-the-scenes bakery chat between Juliet and her employees and the love she has for her husband and his teenage son. Juliet has a long-standing relationship with local law enforcement, who do little to dissuade her from pitching in to help solve the murder.

I received this advanced reader copy of Muffin But the Truth from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is book 16 in the Bakeshop Mystery series. Jules and the Torte team are hired to cater a business retreat that is rafting on the river. When one of the team is found floating in the water it's lucky that her uncle, retired police chief is along for the ride. All the favorite characters are present and as always some great food recipes. I like this series and the setting in this Shakespeare inspired town in the Pacific Northwest. A fun read.

Muffin But The Truth is another good book in the long-running Bakeshop Mystery series. I have enjoyed all the books I’ve read in this series, mainly the most recent few, but I was curious enough about the origins of the series that I also went back and read the first one recently. This would probably work as a standalone but of course you won’t have all the backstory of the regular characters.

The “cast” of characters are diverse and lovable and the location in Ashland, Oregon, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, is delightful. Having visited Ashland a few years ago and attended a play at the OSF, I could picture everything easily. And I’m excited to go back again this coming June! I’ll be able to walk the streets so beautifully described by the author.

The main character is Jules (Juliet), who runs Torte, the bakeshop in the center of town. Her husband, Carlos, is now living with her in Ashland, having given up his chef’s job on the cruise line where they met. I love all the regulars at Torte, as well as Lance, the flamboyant artistic director of OSF. It was nice to learn a bit more about Ramiro, Jules’ stepson, who is spending the year with them, away from his native Spain.

The central mystery of this book involves a company from Los Angeles whose staff comes to Ashland for an executive retreat. Torte has been hired to provide food, both in town and on scene while they go white water rafting on the nearby Rogue River. Their boss is particularly awful to deal with. When someone winds up dead, there seems to be no shortage of suspects.

There are detailed descriptions of the fabulous food being prepared for both the bakeshop and the company retreat. While I love good food and drink, I felt that the detailed descriptions sometimes slowed down the action of the book. Other readers may not feel the same way. Incidentally, unlike some other culinary cozies, this book did not include any recipes at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book, even though I’m rather late to it. I bounced between the ARC and the published audiobook, courtesy of my public library. All opinions are my own.

I'm a fan of culinary mysteries in general, they're fun. I've had such a hard time with this book that I put it away for awhile thinking it might just be my mood that had me laying it down. No, didn't do any good. I felt like the plot was very, very familiar and it colored my view of the story. I also got bogged down in the first chapter, so much info thrown at the reader in such a short time. I skipped around reading a bit here and there and the writer never managed to hook me. As book 16 in the Bakeshop Mystery series I expected a formula but not that I'd be bored with it.
I voluntarily read and review an advance reader copy of this story. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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