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Book Review
Reviewed: 29 November 2023

Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder

by: Valerie Burns

A Baker Street Mystery - Book 1

  • Rating: full starfull starfull starhalf starstar outline (3.5/5)

Large Lake Michigan home, a thriving bakery, a big lovable dog, and fast friends - what could go wrong?

Maddy, a spoiled military brat, daddy’s girl who lives her life on social media goes to a small town to collect her inheritance. You know right there that something will happen. You expect the bumbling in the business at the start and the awkward adjustment from Big City to Small Town. What you may not expect is a murder within the first few hours of her arrival.

I was happy to see that the easy way out was not taken on the suspects because it gave us time to get to know the Baker Street Irregulars (did you get the reference?). I would have loved to get to know Aunt Octavia. The way the author incorporated her was very good and different. 

There was a nice blend of “old-school” with “new-school” with the VCR (Maddy didn’t know what to do with it) and the #IShareEverythingOnSocialMedia Maddie.

While I suspected the culprit from the beginning, I didn’t know the reason. 

The ending was a bit rushed to me. I listened to it twice but still felt that way. There was a missed opportunity (imho) to more cleanly wrap up the case. 

I really liked the characters and I am looking forward to the next book. 

Happy Reading!

Release Date: 30-August-2022
On top half, a black woman taking a selfie with the bakery item with a cake that has a knife sticking out of it behind her. On the bottom half the book title on the left with an English Mastiff on the right.
Cozy Mystery, Audiobook, Food Mystery, Female Sleuth

Plot Summary

In a brand-new culinary cozy series with a fresh edge and a delightful small-town setting, the acclaimed author introduces Maddy Montgomery, a social media expert who’s #StartingOver in small town Michigan after inheriting her great-aunt’s bakery…and a 200-pound English Mastiff named Baby.

When Maddy Montgomery’s groom is a no-show to their livestream wedding, it’s a disaster that no amount of filtering can fix. But a surprise inheritance offers a chance to regroup and rebrand—as long as Maddy is willing to live in her late, great Aunt Octavia’s house in New Bison, Michigan, for a year, running her bakery and caring for a 200-pound English Mastiff named Baby.

Maddy doesn’t bake, and her Louboutins aren’t made for walking giant dogs around Lake Michigan, but the locals are friendly and the scenery is beautiful. With help from her aunt’s loyal friends, aka The Baker Street Irregulars, Maddy feels ready to tackle any challenge, including Octavia’s award-winning cake recipes. That is, until New Bison’s mayor is fatally stabbed, and Maddy’s fingerprints are found on the knife . . .

Something strange is going on in New Bison. It seems Aunt Octavia had her suspicions too. But Maddy’s going to need a whole lot more than a trending hashtag to save her reputation—and her life.