What a delight! This book would be great for mystery fans and foodies alike. This would be great to recommend to kids who aren't quite ready for full-on murder mysteries just yet.

Laila and Lucy want to attend high school together. District lines will keep them apart in public school, so they work to obtain a scholarship to Sunderland, an elite boarding academy. Laila needs to win a baking competition to get her entry, and Lucy wants an article about Laila's journey to earn her a scholarship as well. What could possibly get in their way?

Attempted murder.

Chef Remi, a mean judge who makes Gordon Ramsay look like a teddy bear, collapses after trying one of Laila's cookies. Though the other judges insist that Remi had a weak heart and there was no foul play, someone calls the cops and says murder was involved. Soon the other contestants point fingers at Laila since it was her dessert that made Remi collapse. But Lucy knows there has to be more to the story, and is determined to find out who would dislike the chef enough to murder him; she and Laila had only just met him. And she needs to move fast, as the killer may strike again, service is spotty, and a storm has flooded the roads.

This is a really fun book about friendship and a fair-play mystery. Everyone is a suspect, but Lucy uses the power of observation to crack the case. Meanwhile, Laila does what she can to gather information and clear her name.

Remi is also a deconstruction of what people think Gordon Ramsay is. The real chef does have skeletons in his closet, but he has always been gentle with children. Trust no one that bullies young bakers who are just learning. Remi also doesn't build; he destroys. But he is still a person, meaning anyone hurting him is a shocker.

Totally recommend this one.

What a cute middle grade novel full of mystery in a cooking contest and the high stakes of a scholarship to a boarding school. This is immersive and truly perfect for any age

The Cookie Crumbles is a fun middle grade mystery full of friendship, secrets, and delicious-sounding food. I found the setup a bit unrealistic (mainly the paucity of adults/support staff and the storm/flooded streets), but most middle graders will not care about this. It was overall a quick and enjoyable read!

First off, there were a few things that struck me as odd about this book: 1) the prologue sounds like an elementary student, yet in the next chapter she says she is headed to high school. The voice does not sound like that. Second, the cover is more suited for an elementary reader so I would chznge that. Third certain words used, such as 'oodles' do not sound like something a teen would say.
There was a line in the book that I didn't like when describing the protagonist as a walking Hershey bar. Bad taste.
I did not finish this book due to the aforementioned things, as well as the fact that the story is not that interesting to me. The whole baking thing has been done. But thanks for the ARC.

In THE COOKIE CRUMBLES, Lucy and Laila have been inseparable since kindergarten, but unless they can both figure out a way to gain admission to an elite private school, they’ll be headed to separate schools in the fall. When talented baker Laila is invited to participate in the Golden Cookie baking competition for a chance to earn a coveted scholarship to the school, she jumps at the opportunity. Aspiring journalist Lucy comes along in hopes of writing an article about the competition that will impress the school’s admission committee and secure her place at the school. When one of the competition judges appears to have been poisoned after eating Laila’s cookies, fingers are pointed at her. The duo must figure out who they can trust and who is behind the poisoning so they can clear Laila’s name.
The dual point of view writing gives readers insight into both Laila and Lucy’s thinking—and lets readers see the action that transpires beyond the competition floor while the competitors are hard at work. A fun cast of characters who all have motives for wanting the judge out of the way will keep middle grade readers thinking until the culprit is finally revealed. This is exactly the type of book my school’s mystery readers have been asking for and I know they’ll devour it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of the book to read and review.

This fun mystery is about Laila and Lucy who are trying to get into an elite high school-Laila is competing in a cooking competition and Lucy is trying to add to her news writing portfolio, but when the celebrity chef falls ill and appears to have been poisoned, the girls have to find out what happens before someone else gets hurt!

I received a free copy from the publisher through Netgalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

The Cookie Crumbles sounded so good and I was excited to read this one. I liked the set up with a cookie bake competition for kids to win a scholarship. Sadly I struggled a bit with this one, I did get into it more the further I got and I thought the ending was well done, but it never fully won me over. I liked the friendship between Laila and Lucy, especially once they get over the bit of conflict at the start. I also appreciated having a cozy mystery with middle grade characters.

The Cookie Crumbles starts with Laila and Lucy starting their journey to the school were the competition takes place and most of the book takes place there. I especially struggled with the start as there are journal entries written later in the book and it just pulled me out of the story with every journal entry. I didn't like the vibe it gave of the chapters being written with the characters afterwards instead of just experiencing the story as it happened. Once the first day is over the journal entries stopped and it was easier for me to stay in the story.

I also just wasn't as invested in the story for some reason and wasn't as hooked as I had hoped. I thought Laila and Lucy were interesting characters and I liked their friendship and how they were there for each other. I didn't like the drama and conflict between them at the start and Lucy sometimes seemed to go a bit too far in her quest for answers. I liked the cookie baking competition idea and reading about the cookies they made, I almost wish there was more about the competition as I liked those parts and the mystery overshadowed it a bit.

It also bothered me how characters acted sometimes. There is the conflict between Laila and Lucy, which I didn't like, even though it luckily got resolved without too much drama when they have a moment to talk things through. Then there's a guy whose pretty rude to Laila, it makes more sense later and I liked how that added to this character, but it bothered me when he kept being rude and accusing her at first. There's also the victim who gets almost murdered, who was just so over the top mean to everyone. It just wasn't very interesting to read about, but it did make it easy for everyone to have a motive. And then later the way so many people jump on suspecting Laila, again that makes a bit more sense later, but I still didn't like it and thought it was a bit much.

The mystery was pretty solid. I didn't really care for it at first as the victim who got almost murdered was one of those characters that everyone disliked and everyone has a motive. It felt a bit too much how everyone had a motive, but it made for some interesting reveals along the way as things come to light about why the characters are acting suspicious. Some of them I guessed, but others were interesting surprises. The further I got in the book the more I liked the characters as there is more I knew about them and their personalities. Some clues for the mystery felt pretty obvious, but I still liked seeing it all play out and there are some interesting reveals along the way.

To summarize: I really liked the idea and set up for this book, but it failed to fully hook me and keep my attention. I liked reading about Laila and Lucy and their friendship, especially once the piece of drama/ conflict between them gets resolved. There are some characters who act in ways I didn't like. There are journal entries in the first part of the book which got me out of the story and I am glad when those stopped so I could get into the story more. The mystery didn't fully grab me at first, but I felt like it got more interesting later on with some interesting reveals about the characters. The wrap up made sense and was well done. All in all this is a solid middle grade cozy mystery read and I am sad I didn't get as into the story as I had hoped.

The Cookie Crumbles is full of best friend baking charm and mystery. I loved both Laila and Lucy. Not only did I think their friendship was super cute, but I also loved how passionate they are. And how much they love their friendship. It's infectious! Being dual POV was a fabulous way to see their own love for each other and their own secrets and insecurities. It was easy to fall into The Cookie Crumbles and this is perfect for any middle grade fans in your life.

Laila and Lucy may have different strengths, but that's part of what makes their friendship so great. When Laila gets accepted to a cooking competition, Lucy tags along to write an article about the competition. What starts out as a typical cooking competition gets more heated when accusations of cheating fly around - especially when one of the judges gets sick after eating contestant cookies and some suspect foul play. Will their friendship survive Laila's experience cooking and Lucy's desire to earn a scholarship for her article?

Though uneven in pacing at times, this mystery was a quick and fairly lighthearted read. Laila and Lucy's friendship is a central theme, while developing friendships with other contestants feels less developed. The judges feel a little thinly drawn at times, but readers who enjoy mysteries will have a good time with this book. Especially readers who enjoy cookies.

Mystery, friendship and cookies! What a great combination! The setting is perfect for a mystery with 6 kids coming together to compete for a scholarship at a prestigious boarding school. The school is closed for the summer so only those competing, and the judges are present. This, I admit, is a little far-fetched from my perspective as a parent. Why wouldn’t there be at least one adult school representative there? But it certainly added to the mystery element. There is a terrible storm raging outside and most communication is cut off with the outside world. All great elements of a mystery. One thing that keeps readers guessing who the possible murderer might be is that everyone is a suspect. With alternating perspectives between two best friends, The Cookie Crumbles is a fun fast-paced adventure in friendship, competition, and secrecy.

A middle grades mystery about Laila and Lucy, best friends who are both trying to get a scholarship for a prestigious school so they can stay together in high school. Laila is part of a cookie competition and Lucy is there to add more articles to her journalism portfolio. Things take a turn though when one of the judges gets poisoned (almost fatally, but not quite because it still is aimed toward middle grades!). Laila and Lucy don’t know who to trust and try to find the culprit.

I thought this book was so delightful! Laila and Lucy were such fun protagonists (it switches between their perspectives). I did find the whodunit a bit obvious, but it is for middle grades so it would be strange for a child to be the culprit.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lucy, wants to be an investigative journalist. Ever since kindergarten she has been best friends with Laila who has grand dreams of becoming a chef. Lucy and Laila are at a crossroads, they need to win competitions to earn scholarships to a private school, Sutherland or they will be separated. Lucy enters a writing competition and Laila a baking competition. But both are at risk when a chef dies after eating one of Laila's creations and they are thrust into solving the death in an effort to clear Laila's name.
jumped at the chance to read a book by Alechia Dow, I will read her grocery lists. She is one of my favorite authors. This venture into a who's done it mystery had me laughing and rooting for Lucy and Laila to clear their names and solve the crime.
Although I loved this book there were a couple things that I wish had been different. (1) A bit more character development. This book is very plot driven which made sense but I was missing more of the characters and the behind the scenes glipse into them to understand their choices and decisions a bit more. We get peeks but I wanted more. Now, I believe this is the start to a series to we might get more with time and I am eager to see that. (2) With the character aspects we would most likely get more about Lucy and Laila's friendship. We know the story of how they became friends but I think I wanted to see more of them as friends. The little things that you get only with friends- sayings, looks, secrets etc... again we get little glimpses of it but I was craving a bit more. I hope we get it as we see more of Lucy and Laila in upcoming books.


I will submit the links when they are posted on release day.

If I could give a million stars, I would. Don't sleep on middle grade mysteries!!! Alechia Dow & Tracy Badua shine in this novel, & I really need this to get into more people's hands.

The Cookie Crumbles is an intriguing mystery that feels like a mashup of Eli Over Easy & Murder on the Orient Express!
Told through alternating POV between Laila (baker par excellence) & Lucy (reporter extraordinaire), it follows a kids’ cooking competition- for a much-coveted prize of a full scholarship to a prestigious school. When Laila’s cookie recipe seems to cause one of the judges to have a near-fatal reaction, the pressure is on- for each contestant to prove their innocence, & to find the real criminal.

I was really into this one for the first 40% of so, but then I just couldn't buy into the premise anymore--there's no way those middle-school kids would have been left alone with three adults with no childcare experience and completely cut off from everyone else at the school with no custodial staff or dining or anything. I was also confused about how the roads were supposedly inaccessible when everything else in the town was presumably operational. And I found the solution to the mystery extremely obvious and disappointing--the authors just didn't give us enough suspects, and the motives were also very obvious. I also thought the sub-mystery that Pamela and Maeve were secretly dating was super obvious, but I think it's because that trope has become a cliche in middle grade at this point--I was waiting to find out which character(s) was queer. This one will definitely appeal to fans of baking shows, though.

Pitch perfect middle grade mystery. Even if a young reader isn’t necessarily into baking, there’s plenty that they will love in this story. I’d love to see more from this duo!

**Thank you to HarperCollins/Quill Tree Books, the authors, and NetGalley for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review. This book will release June 11, 2024.**

*The Cookie Crumbles* features best friends Laila and Lucy, two almost-eighth graders who are highly driven when it comes to their respective passions—baking and journalism—especially when they realize that they’ll be going to different high schools unless Laila can win the Golden Cookie competition and a scholarship to a boarding school that has amazing programs for both friends. And then the competition begins, a celebrity judge collapses after eating Laila’s creation, and a storm prevents any outside contact, leaving the two girls to investigate and clear Laila’s name.

I was so excited about this book, I broke my self-imposed eARC ban to read and review it, and I’m glad I did. The authors did a fantastic job with this concept (I mean, a middle grade mystery that’s *GBBO x Knives Out???*) and I accidentally read it in one sitting.

“Accidentally.”

This book is the perfect blend of the setting and atmosphere of a traditional mystery, and some of the situations and elements common in contemporary middle grade. I loved investigating alongside Laila and Lucy, and probably should’ve had cookies on hand. I know that Alechia Dow used to be a pastry chef and does an Instagram series where she bakes a cookie inspired by a certain title and discusses the book with its author; maybe the final version of *The Cookie Crumbles* will have its own recipe featured?

I also discovered that this book is going to have a SEQUEL, so sign me up! I can never have enough food-centric books, especially in the middle grade space (I actually have Tracy Badua’s *The Takeout* on hold at the library right now), and I love cozy mysteries, so a fun series that combines the two takes the cake.

This was such a fun read! Lucy and Laila t tangled up in something bigger than them at a weekend baking competition. All Laila wants to do is bake and win, while Lucy wants to crack a great story for her journalism scholarship.
What they get is more than they bargain for. They make some new friends, find some clues and solve a mystery.
I liked that their friendship wobbled for a minute, like all real friendships do sometimes. But they were still there for each other.
Loved the baking and the baked goods.
A fun elementary read.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!