MURDER IS A PIECE OF CAKE is the second book in the Baker Street Mystery series by Valerie Burns. Take a newbie baker trying to run Baby Cakes, an inherited bakery, a 250-pound English Mastiff named Baby—also inherited—combined with a competitor murdered with the bakery’s knife, and you get a page turning, laugh-out-loud cozy mystery. The author sets the pace from the very first page with her breezy writing style. It perfectly captures the voice and attitude of the protagonist, Maddy Montgomery. Maddy, after inheriting her great-aunt’s bakery and massive dog, is settling into small-town life, trying to learn to bake. Oh, the mishaps she has! They add to the humor of the story yet never detracts from the plot. I also enjoy the supporting characters like the Baker Street Irregulars (her great-aunt’s close friends who are keeping a close watch on Maddy). And her veterinarian boyfriend, Michael, is just as sweet as can be. The repartee of the core characters adds appeal and charisma to the story.

But back to that murder… Ms. Burns writes a tightly plotted mystery and there are plenty of suspects who might have wanted the despicable man dead. Woven in from the first story, is a mysterious subplot that just might have something to do with the untimely death of Maddy’s great-aunt. And while the main murder mystery is solved (making this book easily read as a standalone), the subplot is left open, tantalizing my curiosity. I love how Maddy’s close friends all pull together to help clear her name and come up with solutions to keep her bakery viable. It makes the story all the sweeter besides all the tempting goodies offered by Baby Cakes.

Being a beginning baker, Maddy started out with easy recipes along with trying to master her aunt’s more advance recipes thanks to the guidance of the bakery’s head baker, Leroy. He introduced her to his Easy Peanut Butter Cookies and Ms. Burns has included the recipe, along with others, at the back of the book. Using only four ingredients and NO flour (making these naturally gluten-free) I was a bit skeptical on how these would actually turn out. Well, let me tell you, these were FANTASTIC! Without flour to mute the flavor, the peanut butter has a starring role. They baked up crispy on the edges, but chewy on the inside, just the way my family likes their cookies. I shared with a friend who recently had to cut wheat from her diet and she told me she’d be happy to be the recipient any time I decided to make these again… which I will be, often!

 

 

Amazon Synopsis

With small town New Bison’s Spring Festival just around the corner, the pressure is on Maddy to continue her late great-aunt Octavia’s legacy. That means scoring the top prize and transforming Baby Cakes into Southwest Michigan’s must-visit bakery, even though her inexperience in the kitchen brings nightmares of humiliating tagged photos and scathing reviews.

There’s another reason for lost beauty sleep. A second bakery is opening in town under the ownership of CJ Davenport, a shrewd investor with a reputation for sabotaging anyone who gets in his way. And savvy, flashy Maddy tops his list. It’s a sticky spot to be in—more so when Davenport turns up dead with a Baby Cakes’s knife stuck in his back.

Maddy’s whole life just went from #thriving to barely surviving. Now, supported by the crafty Baker Street Irregulars and her new boyfriend, she must find the courage to face off against a killer who could very well get her name trending for the first and last time . . .

 

 

 

 

A special thanks to Valerie Burns for providing a print copy of MURDER IS A PIECE OF CAKE! Contest ends July 2, 2023 at 11:59 pm PST and is limited to U.S. residents only. Please use the Rafflecopter box located below to enter. The winner will be announced on this page and on Cinnamon & Sugar’s Facebook page, as well as notified by email (so check your spam folder!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


 

 

 

 

 

Pin to Pinterest:

 

 

 

 

I was provided with an advance copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.