Saturday, December 25, 2021

Week 51 Reviews: Murder at the Beacon Bakeshop, Murder at the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off


From Goodreads:
In the first of a new series, after Lindsey Bakeswell catches her celebrity chef fiancé sizzling in the arms of another woman, Lindsey leaves big city Wall Street for small town Beacon Harbor, Michigan to pursue her own passion as a pastry baker--and gets mixed up in someone's sweet taste of revenge...

More interested in kneading dough than adding it up, Lindsey's breakup inspired her to set up the shop she always wanted in a place that always made her happy. She'd spent many childhood summers near this beach community and converting the old run-down lighthouse into a bakery café and home offers a perfect fresh start for Lindsey and her devoted Newfoundland dog, Wellington.

But not everyone in town has a sweet tooth. The preservation society won't have the lighthouse's history sugar coated by lattes and cakes--and a protest group crashes Lindsey's Memorial Day opening. Then her ex-fiancé Jeffrey Plank and his girlfriend Mia Wong arrive to trash the place. In the ensuing chaos Mia chokes on a donut and dies.

An autopsy reveals cyanide in Mia's bloodstream and Lindsey is the police's prime suspect. To clear her name, she's going to need to combine ingredients found in the town's checkered past to uncover the identity of a desperate killer...

Tucked away inside an old lighthouse in Beacon Harbor, Michigan, bakeshop café owner Lindsey Bakewell is ready to make her first Christmas in town shine bright. But her merry plans crumble fast when murder appears under the mistletoe...

With the spirit of the holidays wafting through the Beacon Bakeshop, Lindsey thinks she has the recipe for the sweetest Christmas ever--winning the town-wide cookie bake-off. Unfortunately, striving for a picture-perfect December in Beacon Harbor is a lot like biting into stale shortbread. Low on staff and bombarded by visits from family, Lindsey can barely meet demands at work, let alone summon the confidence to face fierce competition...

Self-appointed Christmas know-it-all Felicity Stewart is determined to take the top spot in the bake-off, and she's not afraid to dump a little coal in everyone's stocking to do it. Just as the competition heats up, everything falls apart when the judge is found dead--and covered in crumbs from Lindsey's signature cookie!

Solving a murder was never on Lindsey's wish list. But with her reputation on the line during the happiest time of the year, she'll need to bring her best talents to the table in order to sift out the true Christmas Cookie culprit.

My Review
:
Oh, these were really fun, enjoyable mystery mysteries! And adding in the fact that she's recently started a bakeshop, the cozy vibes were just over the roof! These were just so easy to read! I had a blast with them!

I don't know why murder mysteries where a random person ends up getting sucked into these chases, multiple times, are so enjoyable, but they are. And the particulars of this series with the bakeshop was a really cute direction! 

Lindsey is having a mid-life crisis, basically. Her fiancé cheated, so she's broken up with him, quit her job, and bought a bakeshop in a small town. It sucks that her new life keeps getting marred by murders, but they were really entertaining to read! 

While the murder were series, most of the tone of these books was pretty light, I could tell just from the humour in the synopsis'. Watching her investigate was a lot of fun, because she's the suspect in both of them, and she does have a valid reason for wanting the victims dead. So that was fun to read! 

I enjoyed reading these books, and I can't wait for book 3! 

Author: Darci Hannah
Series: Beacon Bakeshop #1, 2
Read: December 23rd, 23rd, 2021
Source: Ebook.bike 
Reason Why: Sounded really good, and they're Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2021 Books!
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Published: February 23rd 2021, October 5th 2021

Murder at the Beacon Bakeshop: 
5/5 Hearts
4/5 Books
4/5 Stars








Murder at the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off:
5/5 Hearts
4/5 Books
4/5 Stars

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