I didn’t want this book to end! Such a fun read. I normally never read a book after watching a movie/tv show prior but this was my exception to the rule. I’m so happy to be able to continue to laughs with my favorite golden girls in this story.
It was a great quick mystery but so enjoyable. This story was terrific.

The GG’s are so special to me. I’ve seen every episode 100 times over I could probably be a character myself. It’s my comfort show! Reading this literally felt like a long lost memory. A hug I didn’t know I needed.

I read every single character as they were portrayed on the show. The author did a good job at painting each one of their personalities so spot on.

The girls find themselves in a bit of a pickle trying to plan a wedding and solve a murder while clearing one of their names. It’s a lot going on!

I wouldn’t say this is the most grand mystery I’ve ever been a part of solving but it was a fun popcorn read. Very entertaining!

It’s cheesy. It’s funny. It’s silly. The Golden Girls would be proud!

Love this book! Putting the golden girls cozy feeling into a reading experience is exactly what you’d expect.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review

This was AWFUL---agonizingly, tediously, disappointingly AWFUL. I REALLY wanted to Love this, as much as I love The Golden Girls. For pure nostalgia, it's great. But as a cozy mystery, not much of a plot here. Lotsa GG quips and memories in place of actual plot development.
But at least it was quick.
I received an ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I tried so hard to like this book. I’m a HUGE GG fan but I could not get into it at all.
1.) The wedding feels like the only priority which is fine but there is also a mystery and very little mention of that. Not to mention all the insane amount of traditions that Rose cares about more than the wishes of her niece.
2.) The characters feel like over exaggerated versions of themselves. Rose is easily the most likable character in the show but she comes across as whiny and selfish.
3.) The mystery… the only mystery in this book is why it’s there in the first place. It’s a character we meet for only a moment and not an interesting one. There’s very little desire to find out whodunit.
I DNF’d at page 226. I couldn’t find it in me to care what happened. It really broke my heart. I was so excited for this book and it flopped.

Loved the premise of the story and getting to know the girls more from inside of their heads versus on the screen. Did find it hard when there was a lot of detail from Rose or storytelling to stay with the plot. Did take me a few chapters to get into the story, a little slow at first. I did think the mystery was well done and I even questioned who the murdered was! Overall, I enjoyed the read!

I love anything and everything Golden Girls, so when I saw there was a book I had to read it.
In true Golden Girls fashion, you have our awesome 4-some battling life in the best way they
know how. With an intriguing twist, a murder, these ladies seek out the suspect in their own
unique way. If you love finding those golden re-runs, you will love this book. It's a twist of
Angela Lansbury and the Golden Girls Klan working to solve a murder.

When a catastrophe befalls the venue for Rose's young cousin's wedding in St. Olaf, she offers to host it in Miami to keep the lovebirds from eloping. The groom's parents own a posh hotel nearby and offer to host the festivities, including housing the guests from St. Olaf. As Rose scrambles to put together all the St. Olaf-required wedding traditions for Nettie to receive her inheritance, Dorothy finds herself accused of murder when a man is found dead in the hotel's freezer. Cozy fun for Golden Girls fans who love bonkers St. Olaf traditions and the excitement of a breezy mystery.

Overall, Murder by Cheesecake is a fun read for fans of The Golden Girls and cozy mysteries. While the wedding details were a bit dense and the ending lacked surprise, the book still captures the essence of what makes this series so entertaining. If you love lighthearted mysteries with a nostalgic twist, it’s worth picking up!

3.75 stars

Like most folks who will consider this read, I'm a mega fan of _The Golden Girls_. In fact, that's what initially delayed my reading of this one. I'm pleased to say, upon finishing the book, that there is a lot to like, even for discriminating fans.

All of the girls are present for this one, and they sound and behave exactly as we'd want. Rose is busy talking about her hometown and peculiar traditions, Sophia is making spitting noises and casting judgement, Blache is Blanching, and Dorothy is having man trouble (this gets me every time. What were folks thinking...?). The setup of an impending wedding, Rose's commitment to it, and Dorothy's romantic challenges converge when a body appears in - as the title suggests - cheesecake! Of course, drama and antics ensue, and while it is all hokey, in this case, that's exactly what we'd want.

There are so many different ways this can all evolve, so I'm excited to see how that exact thing happens in future installments. This is a wild idea for a series, but I am officially here for it.

Picture it, Sicily...
Actually no, picture it... a St Olaf wedding in Miami with murder! This is what the first Golden Girls mystery dishes up and I was hanging onto every page in delight!!

Rose's niece is getting married, and rather than elope Rose promises to arrange the wedding plans... in Miami! It's going to be a very traditional St Olaf wedding in Miami, with donkeys and ostriches and everything! That is until interfering in-laws get in the way and a murder victim, that is none other than Dorothy's date!!! What follows is mystery and mayhem and the kind that only the Golden Girls can solve!

Ever since I discovered cozy mysteries I feel like I've been dreaming about this book! I grew up watching Golden Girls episodes on re-runs. Now in my 40's I absolutely love curling up with a blanket and a tub of ice-cream and re-watching episodes. There is something about these women that is absolutely timeless and also perfect for cozy mystery mayhem!

The mystery was splendid. The reader gets caught up with all the antics that happen during a wedding [because it can never run smoothly], especially with Rose Nylund as wedding planner!! Add in a murder, with multiple suspects, including Dorothy, and I couldn't put it down for a second!!

If you love cozies you need to pick this one up. Grab a cheesecake or ice-cream and settle in for a walk down memory lane with the Golden Girls. You will feel like you're back in the 80's with this timeless read!

As a HUGE Golden Girls fan (it's my comfort show that I've rewatched countless times), I was so excited when I first saw this book pop up! I want to get a hard copy to put on display with my other Golden Girls memorabilia because the cover is GORGEOUS too. Jumping into reading this it was impossible not to read every character in their voices from the show. I think the author did a great job keeping true to their personalities, and it made the reading experience so nostalgic! I really hope that there are more books planned, because I think they will only continue to get better. Now I will admit it is very hard for me to tell if someone who has never seen the show would enjoy this book, because there are so many easter eggs and if-you-know-you-know moments throughout, from mentions to details from famous episodes to Rose's many St. Olaf traditions. However, for fans, I felt like this was getting a bonus episode never aired.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Ave. Publishing for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a fun cozy read! I highly recommend if you are looking for an easy fun book to kick back with!

I genuinely love what this book and series could become! It’s something that while this first one felt a bit repetitive and slow for my liking, the characterisation of the Golden Girls was great. Really looking forward to the next books!!

I liked it. I think it was a fun light read. I really appreciated the humor. The author did so good with staying true to the characters we’ve grown to love. I do think that there was so much focus on the wedding that it took away from the main storyline of the murder mystery. I feel like the author should’ve picked one or the either to focus on. Is it a romcom or it is it a mystery? I think books like this work when done right. For example Dial A For Auntie‘s - it was a rom-com with a bit of mystery. Since this is marketed as a mystery than the romance should have been a side plot with not as much focus on it.

I scrambled to toss my ring in the hat for this one when I saw it pop up on Netgalley and was lucky enough to get an arc. I couldn't imagine how the author was going to successfully marry GG and Murder, She Wrote, basically. The answer was, not entirely successful. This was a 3.5 read rounded up.

Let me deal with the characterization first. I think Sophia and Blanche were pretty spot on (though Blanche is relatively easy) and none of this was nearly as funny as I would have wanted it to be. Dorothy was much more of a sad sack than I'm used to, about being alone and wanting a date for the wedding of one of Rose's 'nieces.' Rose was actually more intelligent/had more agency than we often see her as she arranges this wedding last minute. However, there are so many St. Olaf traditions that was worked into this that they aren't funny; they're annoying and Rose is too trying to enforce them on her young niece.

Now for the wedding and the murder. The hotel in St Olaf suddenly couldn't be used so Rose had everything shifted down to Miami vs oh I dunno going there to the next town over with a hotel which is silly enough (and not in the fun way) but now expects to pull off all the St Olaf traditions like the welcome tuna tea ceremony, riding a donkey, riding an ostrich etc etc etc because she firmly believes this is the only way for the wedding to be happy. (the bride and groom wanted to elope especially since his family runs a chain of hotels in Miami and are the type to take over everything in a miserable way). This was not funny or enjoyable. Honestly I think it would have been nicer to see her niece want a beach wedding with the St Olaf traditions because it was still all that work to do.

Part of this is making a ton of cheesecakes and stuffing them in the family hotel freezer. Hold that thought.

And then there's Dorothy trying to go on a video date which ends badly. Two guesses who the dead guy in the cheesecake is.

I think the balance of this needed to work better. It's way too heavy on the St Olaf wedding traditions and not enough about setting up the red herrings and clues. Dorothy was a bit depressing. Rose was a bit annoying. Sophia was the most amusing. Blanche was just sort of there. The police are not looking much further than Dorothy.

Don't get me wrong it wasn't horrible but I'm not sure it was entirely successful either.

I had to dnf which breaks my heart as such a big Golden Girls fan but honestly the writing is so repetitive and empty it was hard to stay invested.

I really enjoyed reading this book! For the most part, the author stayed true to the characters' personalities. The murder part does get a little overwhelmed by the wedding. I did enjoy all of the idiosyncrasies of the St Olaf wedding traditions! The ending wrapped everything up nicely. One of the best parts is the recipe for cheesecake at the end!

I was provided a complimentary copy of the book from Hyperion Avenue via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was cute, however it dragged a lot. I wanted to solve the murder and details of this crazy, unorthodox wedding kept getting in the way. 🤪

2.5 stars

First off, thanks to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Sigh. I was pretty excited for this one for the nostalgia alone. Did I expect a masterpiece? No. But I expected a cozy mystery and that was barely there as well. This focused so much on the wedding that the actual murder in that title felt like an afterthought. Also, I’m not sure if this ARC was before more editing, but some parts were almost unreadable with all the grammatical errors. I actually feel like this kept removing me from the story, so my opinions may be moot. Was it fun seeing the ladies I used to watch on TV? Yes. Was this book something I needed? No. This is part of a series, so if you loved Golden Girls and just want to read it for them regardless of the writing and the plot? This may be for you. Sadly, this just wasn’t it for me.