Christmas in July Reads, Cozy Mystery-Murder at the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off by Darci Hannah (Beacon Bakeshop #2)

352 pages October 5,2021 publish date Kensington publisher

About The Book

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 Thoughts

Beacon Harbor, Michigan, idyllic because of its new bakeshop cafe inside the lighthouse with the most delicious variety of Christmas cookies around. Bakeshop owner Lindsey Bakewell is doing everything right and has an outstanding customer base but is she also hiding something when her cookie is the one found in the hand of the murder victim?
With business booming a few days before Christmas and supplies in the display cases running out daily, she simply can’t keep up even though she is known as the best baker around.
When she gets word of a Christmas cookie bake off competition, she knows she must join in. After all what cook/baker doesn’t want to prove they’re the best at their craft?
Boy was the competition judge a slimeball! He flirted and more with the ladies in the competition and they thought they’d win because of it. This competition really pits the competitors against one another, and they take it very seriously.

Now when the judge is found dead under the mistletoe with a note on him and Lindsey’s competition cookie in his hand it seems pretty obvious who his killer is. There are a lot of suspects and Lindsey is out to super sleuth her way out of this one, she can’t have her reputation going down the drain. This kept me guessing as there were so many who would have had a reason to do this to the judge I found out as I was reading.

While this was a cozy mystery that I really enjoyed, I also enjoyed reading about all the Christmas baking as well. The many, many varieties of sugary delicious treats kept me reading and imagining myself making some of these for holiday treats. I enjoyed this book a lot and will read the next in the series soon.

Pub Date 05 Oct 2021
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

About The Author

Cozy mystery author, Darci Hannah, is a native of the Midwest and currently lives in a small town in Michigan. Darci is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. When Darci isn’t baking for family and friends, hiking with her furry pals, Ripley and Finn, or concocting her next cozy mystery, she can be found wandering around picturesque lakeside villages with her hubby, sampling baked goods, and breaking for coffee more often than she should.

Darci’s books include:

MURDER AT THE BEACON BAKESHOP 1st in the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series (Kensington 2021), CHERRY SCONES & BROKEN BONES (Midnight Ink 2019), CHERRY PIES & DEADLY LIES (Midnight Ink 2018), THE ANGEL OF BLYTHE HALL (Ballantine Books 2011, 2nd edition by Piffle & Bombast 2016), THE EXILE OF SARA STEVENSON (Ballantine Books 2010)

You can learn more about Darci and her books at http://www.darcihannah.com

Connect with Darci on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDarciHannah

Are you reading any Christmas in July books this year?

Have a super day and thanks for stopping in.