I'm really enjoying this series. It's a cozy mystery culinary delights series.
This is the fourth book in the Beacon Bakeshop series.
Beacon Harbor, Michigan's residents are looking forward to a Halloween weekend filled with fun events including a pumpkin contest and a podcaster catching ghostly happenings at the lighthouse, so they prove it's haunted. Full of Halloween themed decorations more on the cute side rather than scary one can't help wondering what the horrifying decoration is that seems so lifelike until it's determined it truly is real. Could those pesky teens who are trying to break into the lighthouse to record the ghost be the responsible party?
Will this prove to be too much excitement for Lindsey and her canine companion this Halloween evening? I enjoyed the atmospheric lighthouse with its creepy vibes as it was being explored. The book kept me reading late as I had to see how things would end. This is a great series and I'll be adding to my collection as I read more of it.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Dollycas's Thoughts 

Where better to celebrate Halloween than in Beacon Harbor, Michigan, and the haunted Beacon Bakeshop? Especially when Kennedy has convinced Lindsey to host a live ghost-hunting investigation by professional ghost hunters and record it for her podcast. Lindsay is unsure if Captain Willy will make an appearance or how he will react to the ghost hunters but she never expected such a horrific happening. When a bright, eerie green light suddenly fills the lightroom it scares Kennedy and the "ghost guys" sending them scrambling down the stairs and into the night. Kennedy ran into something that knocked her off her feet. Looking up she realizes there is a creepy clown costume hanging from a tree, but it isn't just a costume, it contains a dead body!

______

Lindsey Bakewell, her family, and friends have really settled into Beacon Harbor. The town has big plans for its Halloween Bash and Lindsey is baking up all kinds of treats and making pumpkin spiced lattes to serve to the masses. She has found a new assistant baker but her former Navy SEAL boyfriend Rory and her dad still drop by to help if needed. Her friend Kennedy has started a podcast that keeps her busy when she isn't working at the boutique Ellie & Co. she owns with Lindsey's mom. Her podcast brings the "ghost guys" to town and Lindsey's haunted lighthouse.  What I love about Ms. Hannah's characters is that they are so true to life. The core characters and the residents of Beacon Harbor are people you would find in small-town America with their own interests and issues. Each story feels like we are catching up with good friends. Of course, not typical of all small towns is that Captain Willy Riggs who died at the lighthouse in the 1800s still calls the Beacon Lighthouse his home, and he has various ways of making his presence known. And I can't forget Lindsey's Newfoundland, Wellington who has stolen my heart. He is such a good dog.

For purely personal reasons I had some trouble with the mystery this time, really the way the victim was found. It was too close to the way I lost my son to suicide in 2015. I thought after this much time had passed certain words wouldn't be as much of a trigger as they turned out to be. At times, it kept me from following along with the plot but I couldn't just set the book aside. I needed to know why such a good person had been killed. The author gave us several suspects to work through and many twists and turns. Scary situations led up to a chilling reveal, showdown, and rescue. I was right on the edge of my seat while it all played out.

One character was having a difficult time at the end and I truly felt for them. I am not sure they are making the right decision but they have to do what they feel is best for their well-being. I am a little anxious to see what the author has planned.

With Halloween quickly approaching you need to be sure to check out the recipes after the end of the story. Pumpkin scones, muffins, cheesecake and lattes are joined by Savory Roast Chicken and Apple Stuffing.

Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant was an entertaining read. I do love these characters and even with my personal issues, I couldn't stop reading which is a tribute to the author. She captivated my attention enough to push past what I needed to and still enjoy the story.  I am now looking forward to reading Murder at the Blarney Bash. I do have a little Irish in me, so I can't wait to search for a pot of gold or another killer.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you to Kensington Cozies and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you like:
🎃 baking cozy mysteries 🧁🍩🍪🥮🥧
🎃 cast of quirky characters
🎃 small town vibes
🎃 descriptive, picturesque scenery
🎃 a little bit ghosty 👻👻👻
🎃 doggy sidekick
🎃 short chapters
🎃 single POV

I have wanted to read this one for so long, I don’t know what took me so long!
Be prepared not to read this one on an EMPTY STOMACH 🤪🤪 I was soooo hungry throughout the whole thing!! All the descriptions of the treats and the smells and the sights 😍😍 I was definitely reaching for a sweet snack the whole time I read this one!!
I also really enjoyed the setting and the scenery painted in this one. I feel very fallish and Halloweeny throughout the whole book, and that’s exactly the type of book I am looking for in a spooky season read! All the festivals, and the fall contests, and treats and the scenery…. I really did feel like I was in a small Halloweeny town, and it honestly made me a little jealous there are none of these type of fall/Halloween activities & festivals in my actual hometown 😭 but it was so nice to get immersed in this book and really feel like I was there! 🩷 Some “Halloween” books just mention once that it’s Halloween time and then you don’t really see much else… but this is a HALLOWEEN book right through to the end… very very enjoyable 🩷🩷
I love small town settings because the characters all usually know and really care for each other, and it makes for a really nice, fuzzy (murder 🤪) story. The characters are more like family, and it’s a lot different from this world we’re living in right now 🤪
The author is obviously very hip and up on all the current trends and language now because there were a few things in here that made me laugh… Witchtok, cottage core 🤪
As an extreme dog lover, the missing dog part made me so much more invested in this story 🤪 Murder is totally fine, but where is the dog?? 🤪
I did not see the end coming!! That is the one thing I ask for in a mystery 🤪 and I definitely got my wish here!! WOW!!
I am just finding out that this one is actually #4 in the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery series, and I now can’t wait to read the rest of the series 🩷🩷

Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant by Darci Hannah (Beacon Bakeshop Mystery #4) 3.5 stars

It is Halloween season and everything at the Beacon Bakeshop was “Pumpkin” everything – muffins, scones, cakes, lattes, etc. Along with the scent of pumpkin comes various pranks at the lighthouse. It gets to be macabre and scary but relatively harmless, until a body is discovered hanging on a tree nearby. The victim is Leslie Adams, local high school teacher. In Lindsey’s eyes this crime is on her turf and she needs answers. Why was her body swinging from the tree? Did Leslie Adams have any enemies? Is this crime related to the Lighthouse’s past? Lindsey and her friends will have to dig out the clues to solve this murder.

I found this book to be a little slow at times, but the clues did lead me to right culprit. One of the highlights of this book is the description of the various desserts and cooking techniques. The next book in this series has an Irish theme, Murder at the Blarney Bash comes out in early 2024.

Thank you Netgalley and Kensington Books for this ARC.

It’s Halloween weekend and Beacon Harbor, Michigan, has a packed schedule of events, including the Pumpkin Pageant, featuring humans and their canine counterparts. For treats, there’s plenty of pumpkin goodness from bakery/café owner and local lighthouse resident Lindsey Bakewell. But someone wants to spoil the fun with a deadly trick. This is fun lighthearted mystery but it still kept me glued to the pages all the way through.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant by Darci Hannah. I have given this book three out of five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you want cosy, autumnal, murder mystery and pumpkin goodness, then this book just might be for you. I felt like Winnie the Pooh when Autumn arrives in Winnie the Pooh’s Grand Adventure, if you’ve seen it you’ll understand that reference 😄

I’m a lover of murder mystery and this book had a fun story and kept you guessing with who the murderer might be. Following Lindsey Bakewell, the owner of the Beacon Lighthouse bakeshop, we learn that the lighthouse is haunted and becomes a huge hit with ghost hunters. When a live ghost hunting investigation video goes horribly wrong, there’s a lot of secrets to be revealed and a whodunnit scenario to figure out.

The side that let this book down for me were Rory and Kennedy. Rory is Lindsey’s boyfriend and Kennedy is her best friend; I found them really irritating and would like to read the first few books to this series to see whether my perception would be changed about them.

I love when a book can make you ridiculously hungry for all the yummy goods that are mentioned in detail, but even more so having recipes for drinks and baked goods at the end of a book for you to enjoy making is the cherry on top of the cake.

I’d really like to go through this series and read all of these books, so cosy and fun!

I really love this series. It's fun and unique and who wouldn't want to run a bakeshop and live in a lighthouse? I will definitely keep reading this series.

I have mixed feelings on this book. It was more cozy mystery than I typically look for. Overall, good plot and character development.

Okay, I loved this! This was one of the first cozy mysteries I ever read and I flew through it. It was indeed cozy and I loved all of the spooky aspects. I felt that it was well written and outlined. The ghosthunter aspect was fun!

Fantastic Halloween mystery! I loved the characters and the mystery was solid. Great addition to the series.
Many thanks to Kensington and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

WOW, this was a harrowing cozy with some nail biting, page turning, reading-with-the-lights-on parts. Oh and some really good recipes! This time the Beacon Bakeshop owned by Lindsey Bakewell plays host to ghost hunters, high school hijinks, and a macabre murder. On the plus side there are recipes for the wonderful sounding baked goods such as pumpkin scones with maple glaze (YUM). A live airing of a ghost hunter group goes terribly wrong and now the bakeshop crew must put away the treats and use all their best tricks to solve this latest mystery. There are plenty of suspects, a fellow teacher, the high school hooligans, oddly reclusive teenagers, the neighbor, and a treasure hunter. There are also plenty of tasty treats and recipes at the end of the story. This edition of the Beacon Bakeshop Mysteries comes with happy news and some not so happy news but I don’t want to spoil any of it.

Featuring a haunted lighthouse, a ghost hunting live stream that ends with the discovery of a very real body, and lots of pumpkin flavored baked goods, this cozy mystery should have been exactly what I was looking for, but I never got caught up in the fun. Clever plotting made the solution to the murder satisfying, but I'm not entirely sure if I want to read the rest of the series and spend more time with these characters.

Do you like pumpkin flavored food or drink items? What is your favorite? I love pumpkin flavored baked goods such as pumpkin bread.

Lindsey owns a bakeshop in an old lighthouse on the shores of Lake Michigan in the small town of Beacon Harbor, Michigan. The lighthouse is rumored to be haunted and local teens have tried to break in near Halloween to see it for themselves. Lindsey’s best friend Kennedy has arranged for the Ghost Guys to do a livestream podcast as they look for supernatural beings in the lighthouse. Unfortunately, they instead found a dead body on a tree outside still dressed in a costume from the local pumpkin pageant. Who murdered them and why?

I enjoyed this cozy mystery. It is the fourth book in the A Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, but the first book that I have read in the series. It worked well as a standalone novel. I enjoyed how the start of the novel set up the scene, introduced the characters, and then after the murder, Lindsey and her friends investigated and started to piece together what was happening. The ending was very good and I had not guessed the murderer. After the novel ended, there many tasty looking pumpkin recipes that I want to try out. I loved the autumnal setting of this book and I really liked it being set in a small town on Lake Michigan. I live in a small town on Lake Michigan, but on the Wisconsin side. I need to read the rest of the books in this series!

Book Source: Review copy from NetGalley and Kensington Books. Thank-you! Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I have loved all of the books I’ve read in the Beacon Bakeshop series. What a delightful setting of a bakery in a lighthouse in Beacon Harbor, Michigan. The characters are well developed and the mystery is always one to pull you in and keep you invested in the story. While you could read this book as a standalone, I would strongly encourage you to read the first three books to get a little background about the primary characters. Lindsey and her boyfriend, Rory, are a delightful couple. And Lindsey’s family add so much to the dynamics. With Halloween right around the corner, it was a perfect time for me to read this book. The delicious recipes at the end of the book has my mouth watering. I can’t wait to visit with the gang at the Beacon Bakeshop! Just make sure Wellington, Lindsey’s Newfoundland hound, is part of the adventures.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Cozies for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

For more reviews, please visit my blog at: https://www.msladybugsbookreviews.com/. Over 1000 reviews posted!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC. Full disclosure I have never read a “ cozy mystery” before, and after this not sure I would again. While I loved the setting , fall vibes, pumpkin recipes , and the dog, I couldn’t get though this one.

Lindsey’s lighthouse home is haunted, and some neighbourhood teens have tried to wreak havoc in an effort to have an encounter with the resident ghost. Lindsey decides to allow her best friend to livestream a ghost-hunting investigation where a professional team is brought in.

It ends up not being a case of what is found in the lighthouse, but what is found outside. There looks to be a clown hanging from a tree, but upon closer inspection it’s not a decoration. Lindsey and her crowd will need to work together to find out who the murderer is before the Grim Reaper claims their lives too.

This was a great book to get in the spirit of Halloween. This is the second book I’ve read in the Beacon Bakeshop series, and I can’t wait to read more of them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for allowing me to read an ARC of this novel. #NetGalley #Murderatthepumpkinpageant

Rory gave the table a coffee-mug salute as he added, “To livestream ghost hunts and unexpected dead bodies. May the two never cross our paths again.”

This is a fun Halloween read. The whole gang returns for Halloween hijinks including ghost hunting, pirate treasure, and of course, murder.

Murder at the Pumpkin Patch. Lindsey is trying to stay baking even though her place is haunted so they say everyone. It's a very Halloween mystery in a different way. Lindsey and Rory are trying their best. They are a bit fun, and the dogs add to the mixture trying to give their part in the story.

Book Review: Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant by Darci Hannah

Rating: 4.5 stars

First off, let me start by saying that I absolutely adored the cover of Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant by Darci Hannah. As a sucker for colorful, cute, and festive cozy mystery book covers, this one did not disappoint. It immediately drew me in and set the tone for an enjoyable reading experience. Now, let's dive into my review of the book itself.

Set in the charming small town of Beacon Harbor, Michigan, Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant is the latest installment in Darci Hannah's delightful Beacon Bakeshop Mystery series. The story revolves around Lindsey, a talented baker who lives in the local lighthouse with her beloved Newfoundland dog, Wellington. While Lindsey prefers to keep the Halloween decorations in her bakeshop light and autumnal, her lighthouse home is infamous for being haunted.

When her influencer and podcaster best friend, Kennedy, convinces her to host a live ghost hunting investigation in the lighthouse, Lindsey reluctantly agrees. Little does she know that this seemingly harmless event will take a terrifying turn. As the team conducts their investigation, they stumble upon a corpse disguised as a creepy clown costume. Now, Lindsey and her friends must keep their cool and solve the murder if they want a ghost of a chance to see another Halloween.

One the that stood out to me about this book was the fantastic writing. Darci Hannah has a way with words that draws you into the story from the first page. The narrative flows smoothly, and the pacing was just right, keeping me engaged and eager to uncover the truth alongside Lindsey.

What impressed me most was that Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant worked exceptionally well as a standalone novel. Although it is part of a series, I didn't feel lost or confused by not having read the previous books. The author ensured that new readers could easily follow along while still providing enough background information to satisfy longtime fans.

The setting of Beacon Harbor was incredibly charming and served as the perfect backdrop for this cozy mystery. The descriptions of the small town, its inhabitants, and the pumpkin pageant created a vivid and festive atmosphere that added to my overall enjoyment of the story. I could almost smell the delicious aromas wafting from Lindsey's bakeshop as I read.

The mystery itself was well plotted and kept me guessing until the very end. Darci Hannah skillfully planted clues and red herrings throughout the narrative, making it difficult to pinpoint the true identity of the killer. I love a good whodunit that keeps me on my toes, and this book certainly delivered in that aspect.

Furthermore, all the characters in Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant were incredibly likable and relatable. From Lindsey's determination to protect her ghostly companion to Kennedy's enthusiasm for solving mysteries, each character had their own unique charm. I found myself rooting for them and genuinely caring about their well-being throughout the story.

Lastly, I must mention the mouthwatering addition of delicious recipes featured throughout the book. Darci Hannah has thoughtfully included a plethora of treats that will leave your taste buds craving more. These recipes not only added an extra layer of enjoyment but also complemented the storytelling and enhanced the cozy atmosphere.

In conclusion, Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant by Darci Hannah is a delightful cozy mystery that will satisfy fans of the genre and captivate new readers alike. With its fantastic writing, well-paced plot, charming setting, likable characters, and delectable recipes, this book is a treat for both mystery enthusiasts and food lovers. Whether you're looking for an engaging standalone or an enticing addition to the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery series, this book has it all. Highly recommended!

Note: This review was written based on personal opinions and experiences with the book. Individual preferences may vary.

Another winner by Darci Hannah! I'm a fan of her books, so I was really looking forward to this one. The Halloween/Autumn season was captured wonderfully by the author. All the characters I've grown to love, are back in this book with a new mystery to solve.

While this book can be read as a standalone, I highly recommend checking out the rest of the books in this series as well. Each book is fun and enjoyable to read.

My thanks to Kensington Publishing and NetGallery for a digital copy of this book for my review. I'm looking forward to more of this series!