A murder mystery set during a GBBO-style baking competition? I didn’t even know that was my niche, but here we are. The Crime Brûlée Bake Off serves up murder, pastries, and a dash of romance—and I ate it up.

The setup is irresistible: contestants baking under pressure while someone in the tent might be a murderer. It’s cozy crime with high-stakes piping bags and just enough tension to keep you guessing. But what really stole the show for me? The slow-burn, banter-filled romance between Claire and the Viscount. Baker’s kiss, truly. Every glance and awkward moment was pure serotonin.

This was such a fun read—light enough to breeze through but layered enough to keep me hooked. A solid four stars from me.

I let my ARC expire (life was too busy) so I had to get my own copy, and I’m glad it did. This is a great addition to the cozy mystery genre. While there are several books & comic books mixing a Great-British-Bake-Off series and cozy mystery, this is a particularly well done version. The mystery was intriguing, the romance was compelling, the setting was well-wrought, and the characters were extremely likeable. The baking reference were well-done and charming though some might find them heavy-handed. But the best part was the banter between our FMC and MMC. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this quick read and was happy to discover it’s the first in a series.

I really enjoyed the concept of this book, it had that mystery element that I was looking for and was hooked from the first page. It uses the genre perfectly and was hooked and thought the overall storyline worked with the characters. The characters had that development worked in this storyline and was glad it was so well done. I enjoyed the way the romance element that I was looking for and thought the overall feel worked with this story. Rebecca Connolly has a strong writing style and I hope to read more from this series.

2.5 stars 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑 - just...fine

Thank you to Net Galley & Shadow Mountain Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Genres, settings, categories, themes: mystery, cozy mystery, baking, baking show competition, history, England

💗 Tropes: 💗
> Competition / Reality TV
> Danger
> Forced Proximity
> Slow Burn

Series/Sequencing Style: standalone, no major cliffhangers (one minor one in that a side cold case mystery does not get solved)

Format: ebook (e-arc)

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Overall ratings

Heat level: 🍓 0/5 sweet 🍓
(from Ampersand’s guide to heat levels in romance novels – (0) sweet, (1) mild sizzle, (2) sensual steam, (3) spicy seduction, (4) red hot, (5) erotic)

~ MC/Heroine (Claire) ~ 2/5 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
~ MC/Hero (Johnny) ~ 2/5 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
~ Other characters ~ 2/5 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
~ Plot ~ 2/5 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
~ Pacing ~ 2.5/5 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑 slow
~ Romantic connection ~ 1/5 🌕🌗🌑
~ Mystery ~ 2/5 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
~ Writing ~ 3.5/5 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
~ Reading enjoyability & fun ~ 2/5 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑

~ Depth & tone (1 light & fun --> 5 more serious, addresses heavier topics?): 2

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❗CW/Triggers:❗attempted murder, murder

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📝 Review/Notes 📝

Before Reading
Going into this I am excited, but wary. I love Great British Bake Off and I love crime thrillers, and I love romance, so this seems like it was written for me. My hesitancy comes in because I read The Golden Spoon and it was a huge letdown. Off we go...

After Reading
I wanted to love it, I did, but I’m so sorry to say I was overall just bored. I didn’t get caught up enough in the story to want to keep reading, and honestly, it was a bit of a chore for me to get through it all. It wasn’t bad, just underwhelming on every front for me, sadly. The romance was lackluster, and I didn’t really buy their dialogue - something was weird in their interactions. Maybe something overall felt kind of immature? Other reviewers have pointed out the overly cutesy baking “cursing” which was admittedly lame, but I think maybe a symptom of a larger vibe I felt throughout the book that made it a bit twee and *meh* for me. Hard to pinpoint what was missing or wrong, but it just fell flat.

The detective needing their help was pretty ridiculous, like him calling them for help and asking what to do next? Come on.

There’s this whole thing about how the death could be accidental - she slips and falls in the mill water, scarf gets caught, strangles, drowns. Why is no one mentioning that she was found “alongside the bank of water…on the gravel”? How tf would she have gotten there? This was a plot hole that bothered me.

I don’t want to hate on this book, and I really hope it finds its crowd, but it just wasn’t for me, despite having multiple elements that are bang on for me. Maybe too cozy mystery for me.

P.S. I would have liked for them to have solved the historic murder of his relative

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🤠 Recommended for: cozy mystery readers; fans of The Golden Spoon

When Claire Walker gets selected to be a contestant on the cooking show, Britain’s Battle of the Bakers, she’s excited to pursue her dream of being a baker. Summoned to the historic Blackfirth Park where the show is to be filmed, Claire meets Jonathan Ainsley, viscount and owner of the estate. Struggling to keep the estate solvent, Jonathan hopes details of the 250-year-old murder of the viscountess doesn’t come to light. When a contestant is found murdered and thrown into the pond like the viscountess, Jonathan and Claire have to team up to solve the murder before the show is shut down. Will they succeed?

The plot is engaging, well-developed, and full of twists and turns. The characters are likable, authentic, and realistic. The dynamics between Jonathan and Claire are memorable and draw the reader into the story. Readers who like mystery, cooking, and cozy romantic mysteries will want to pick this one up. Recommended for most library collections.

Crime Brulee Bake Off is a delightful read, murder and all! Romance, mystery, and yummy baked goods create a great mix. I adore cooking shows like Master Chef and The Great British Baking Show. This book was clearly made for me.

The story unfolds in the UK at Blackfirth Park. Jonathan Ainsley, Viscount of Colburn, is the estate's owner. Britain’s Battle of the Bakers picks Blackfirth to host this year. Claire Walker, a contestant, is thrilled to be on the show. Soon, she and Jonathan find the show turns into a scene of murder and danger.

Here are some things I loved:

-The English estate setting.

-A baking competition with so many yummy baked goods.

-The story of friendship and betrayal.

-The instant attraction turning into something more.

The Crime Brulee Bake Off has great characters and lots of suspense. The long-awaited kiss is amazing. Dive into this romantic suspense quickly, grab your favorite baked good, and start reading.

This book is over a very nice read. I liked the characters, but didn't feel fully drawn into the plot. The premise is great, and it was enjoyable to read.

✨Audiobook Review - The Crime Brulee Bake Off✨

Rebecca Connolly has ventured into a beloved genre with impeccable accuracy, delivering the ultimate balance between all the ingredients for a fulfilling story. The combination of a whodunit cozy murder mystery and a competition baking show, with a sprinkle of romance, set in England gave the perfect vibes for satiating read.

Claire is a likable amateur baker and is sequestered on an estate for this contest. Viscount Jonathan Ainsley wants nothing to do with the show and is very stand-offish, but an unlikely bond begins to form between these two and when one contestant ends up dead, they join forces (with others) to solve the mystery. I enjoyed the natural progression of their relationship, as well as the way an age-old mystery involving the estate along with the current mystery, are revealed.

There are a slew of twists and turns that keep this story interesting and the narrator is phenomenal. It was exciting to see what dishes these chefs came up with and the way the friendships and rivalries developed. I’m anticipating what will come next with this series.

Content: death/peril (not graphic); mild romance

This was an enjoyable story and a nice distraction from heavier books. I would definitely watch this if this was a tv show! The descriptions were great and the writing style/pacing were also great.

I enjoyed this book for what it is. A cozy mystery with no real surprises or twists. But I liked the take on the GBBS.

This was a cute read and cozy mystery/crime! The setting is pretty cool and realistic, and who doesn't love a brooding (at the beginning anyway) British Lord in his estate hahhaha. The writing is straight forward to follow and I find myself rooting for the FL for the comp, she's so lovable. The story does make sense if you overlook tiny tiny things. Overall enjoyable and I do hope there will be a sequel!

A nice cozy mystery with a dash of baking and romance. I enjoyed it and will be looking for the next one!!

The best baked mystery in town! I enjoyed the British bake-off settings with extremely delicious recipes. This was my first cookery blended with mystery book and extremely loved it.
I related to Claire's character and I am inspired to be like here to chase behind my dreams....just like she did.
Jonathan....🥺🥺🥺 Is the perfect grumpy outside but a big softie inside ✨ his character growth was amazing!! And his chemistry with Claire was sooo soooo sweet and heartfelt.
The mystery plot is 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 I honestly never expected the plot twist ! It was 🤯🤯 the sherlock references were cute and the cooking dishes used as swearing is something I am going to implement in my life 😂😂😂 I enjoyed the book throughouly!

A clean, cozy mystery based off <i>The Great British Bake-Off</i>? Yes, please! The murder mystery may have been a little bit of a stretch, but everything else about this book was so much fun! I enjoyed the characters. I enjoyed the setting. I enjoyed the descriptions of the food and the "behind-the-scenes" into how the "reality" baking shows are (most likely) filmed. Even Claire's constant use of baking terms in place of curse words was entertaining. It would have been nice if they weren't the same as some terms of endearment and if the author had picked just a couple to use repeatedly instead of a new one throughout (she did reuse them, just not in a manner that I felt I could follow as clearly). The romance between Claire and Johnny was more the star of this book (well, next to the baking aspects of the plot), with the murder and the mystery needing a stronger emphasis. The book moved pretty quickly into the baking show and the romance, while it took until the end for a kiss, the relationship was building pretty quickly. The historic kitchens on the estate and the premise of using only historically accurate ingredients in the bakes for the contest were all intriguing aspects to the story. This first book in this series reminded me a lot of Josie Kilpack's Sadie Hoffmiller series, which were light, fluffy, fun, and entertaining with the added bonus of all the recipes too! I have never attempted a creme brulee or any of the fancy traditional British tea desserts mentioned in this book, but having those recipes included really makes me want to attempt them! If you need a light read, this is a great one to try!

Content: Clean. The murder/victim descriptions are not too detailed, overly gory.

Thanks for the free copy of this mystery. This was a fun idea, riffing on the idea of the Great British Bakeoff show, although changing that to be the setting of a murder instead of just a delightful competition.
I had a hard time getting into this book though, and overall it was just okay for me. Very fun premise, and I'm sure mystery fans and fans of the author will really enjoy it.

I should have liked this book more than I did. The premise of a bake off at a historic manor with a ghostly legend, a little romance, murder and cut-throat competition should have been a winner. I have scratched my head about why it just missed the mark by a hair. I think it was the two main protagonists just did not quite gel for me. There was definitely a “meet-cute’ and the slow burn romance that is obligatory. It even had the local constabulary not only supporting the amateurs in their sleuthing but actually requesting it. That was a nice little change up.

I am not going to going to say I did not like the book. I did. I found it an easy and entertaining read but it failed to grab me. I will still give it four purrs and one paw up.

This was so good. I really didn’t know what to expect but this book was cleverly written and funny! I loved the mystery combined with the bake off- it made the story so unique and interesting.
I loved the characters and their interactions. Their dialogue was humorous- I especially loved her creative “cuss words”.
Loved the book. Once I started reading it I didn’t want to put it down!

Claire has joined the UK’s premier baking competition show. Her only worries are how good all of her bakes are going to be, until the first body drops. Now, with the help of a local detective and a handsome viscount, she must investigate the culprit before the next competitor falls.

This was so charming! I really loved the backdrop of the Great British Bake Off with the serial numbers filed off! I’ll admit, going into this I definitely expected the first victim to be a judge, but this went in a much different direction! The mystery kept me guessing throughout, and I kept changing who I thought was the killer and their motives.

And I really adored all the characters! Claire was a delight, with her gentle nature and her baking cheese words. All the competitors felt unique enough that I wasn’t mixing them up. And Johnny was just grumpy enough to be endearing without making me irritated with him. Could have done with less time spent on the romance, but that’s definitely a your mileage may vary. I wanted more time spent on the baked and the setting, but the romance was sweet enough, I wasn’t skipping it.

Thank you to both NetGalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for this arc!

Crime Brûlée Bake Off was so much fun! I loved the suspense and mystery, along with the culinary competition. Rebecca weaves a wonderful story that will have readers hooked. It's the Great British Bake Off in book form, with the twist of murder, mayhem and mystery you get from Agatha Christie books.
Claire is a school teacher who is determined to win a baking contest. Jonathan is the Viscount of the property where the competition is held. They have a bit of a grumpy/sunshine relationship. Claire made me laugh with her baking curse words and I love that many authors are putting this slightly silly trend into their books. Claire and Jonathan have a good relationship, a nice little flirty, slow burn. If you are looking for straight romance, this might not be for you. If you are looking for something different, mysterious, fun and has a slower burn, then go pick it up. There are fantastic side characters and it made the story so fun!

This is definitely a cozy mystery and not an intense book, but worth the read!!

the great british bake off is an annual tradition in my household. it runs over christmas and fulfils all of the cozy vibes i seek in my life.

so, naturally, the crime brulee bake off sounded like a perfect read to fill the time until the next season airs. for those who adore cozy vibes, a mystery amongst a baking backdrop and soft romance then this is a recommendation.

unfortunately, for me, this book didn't meet my full expectation. it took a while to reach where the murder mystery starts and between the baking scenes and historical bits, it was a bit of a bore to me. i found it difficult to remain engaged and interested that i started skim reading a vast majority.