The Golden Spoon reads like a wonderful Agatha Christie novel, with well-developed characters, each with secrets, a great plot and a dead body to start Its surprising conclusion adds to a terrifically suspenseful murder mystery!
It all begins with the finding of a body, but we’ll get to that later. The premise of the story is six contestants have won treasured slots on a very famous baking show, called Bake Week, hosted by a lovely woman whom everyone loves, book author and baker, Betsy Martin. They excitedly converge in hopes of winning by baking their hearts out. It is filmed at Betsy’s property called Grafton in Vermont. But, unfortunately for Betsy, the executives to whom she answers to have decided to add another host/judge this year. Archie Morris, who really knows nothing about baking, but seems to know a great deal about women, has been added in hopes of raising the ratings.
The contestants include:
Stella Velasquez, a meek former journalist, turned baker. Anxiety ridden and honestly not the best baker, she can’t believe her luck as she has been obsessed with meeting the kind Betsy Martin for years.
Pradyumna Das is the former CEO of an app which he sold and made him very rich. Very laid back, he just decided to try his luck at baking and was fortunate enough to be given a slot.
Hannah Severson, from Eden Lake, Minnesota, perhaps an homage to another baker from another cozy mystery series? is a true baker. She has worked at a diner since she was fifteen and loves to bake. Hannah would be the one to watch to win the competition if she can only stay focused.
Lottie Byrne, the oldest contestant has been trying for a slot in the contest for years. A retired nurse, she is an avid baker, and she can’t wait to impress the two judges with recipes she used to bake with her mother.
Peter Gellar is a construction worker by trade. Married to Frederick, they have a three-year-old daughter. He loves to bake for his family.
Gerald Baptiste is a math teacher who believes in precision in everything. He can calculate anything and everything, and he takes measurements very seriously, whether he is baking or catching a train. Formulas are his obsession.
The story opens with the murder. But whose? Well, we don’t know! And everybody is a suspect. The story then retraces the contestants, judges and crews’ movements during the days prior to the murder. We learn a few secrets the contestants have been hiding, and it seems perhaps one of them may be sabotaging the other contestants.
As the contestants dwindle down, perhaps because of the pressure, their true colors begin to show. Some will do just about anything to stay in the spotlight. Others will do anything to get what they want. There perhaps may be one with an ulterior motive as to why they entered the contest. And of course, Betsy and Archie, although judges and hosts, are anything but friendly when the cameras turn off.
The final bombshell is who was murdered and why. With everyone as a suspect, who on earth will be able to figure out just what happened. It may take all of them to band together to smell out the killer.
The Golden Spoon is a terrific tribute to all those who enjoy cozy mysteries intertwined with Christie’s amazing ability to leave the clues in the story. Just follow the breadcrumbs!
Thank you #NetGalley #AtriaBooks #JessaMaxwell #TheGoldenSpoon for the advanced copy.
Lisa's Cubby 
This sounds like such an interesting read Lisa! Great review!
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Thank you!
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