#FlashbackFriday featuring Murder at the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off (A Beacon Bakeshop Mystery) by Darci Hannah #Review / #Giveaway @KensingtonBooks @AuthorDarciHannah

On Flashback Fridays I will share with you
the books I was not able to review
when they were first released that have been screaming at me
from my To-Be-Read bookshelf.

Murder at the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off (A Beacon Bakeshop Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in the Series
Setting – Michigan
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Kensington (October 5, 2021)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1496731735
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1496731739
Kindle ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08RX1V293

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.

Includes Delicious Recipes!

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Lindsey Bakewell is excited to bring her “sugarplum visions” to life at her Beacon Bakeshop and Cafe. She has bought a ton of lights to make her lighthouse merry and bright. She has wonderful ideas to fill her shelves with holiday treats but she still needs to hire a new assistant. When she finds out about a town-wide cookie bake-off, and that every shop owner needed to create a signature cookie so shoppers could vote for their favorites, culminating in a live bake-off with a celebrity judge, she swoons at the amount of extra baking it will entail. And that was before orders for cookies from other shop owners started to flow in. 

Felicity Stewart owner of The Tannenbaum Shoppe, where every day is Christmas, is willing to do anything to win The Great Beacon Harbor Christmas Cookie Bake-Off. She has even arranged for Chicago celebrity food critic Chevy Chambers to judge the live bake-off event. Sadly, before the winner can be announced her friend, Chevy, is found under the mistletoe, covered in cookie crumbs from Lindsay’s signature cookie and dead as a doornail.

Lindsey is going to need all the help she can get to catch the Christmas Cookie Judge Killer. It’s a good thing her parents and her BFF Kennedy are in Beacon Harbor for the holidays and her hunky boyfriend/neighbor Rory is home from his ice fishing trip. If the town has any hopes of having Happy Holidays they all have to work together before all the cookies crumble and killer gets away.

I was so happy to get back to Beacon Harbor and the Beacon Bakeshop and Cafe. It being Christmastime was just icing on the cookies. With Ms. Hannah’s descriptive writing style, I was transported right there to witness Lindsey’s tumble into a snowbank. Her giant Newfoundland, Wellington, looking on. The town lit up for the holidays and all the humor, hijinx, and crazy things leading up to the bake-off. Along with all the aftermath as Lindsey tries to find a killer. 

Ms. Hannah has created dynamic characters who feel genuine. Lindsey is a fun protagonist. I loved that she has “sugarplum visions” like me. Lindsey’s best friend Kennedy always has her back, but sometimes goes off with her own ideas. Lindsey has a close relationship with her parents. Even her mom, ex-supermodel, Ellie Montague, came up with a plan and took part as they all worked to catch the killer. Rory too, was all in. I also enjoyed meeting Carol Nichols, Lindsey’s new assistant. She is one special lady.

There are a few mysteries in this story. The question is –  are they connected? I enjoyed that solving them was a team effort. Lindsey, Rory, and Kennedy meet to discuss theories and make plans while Lindsey’s parents get together with their friends to do the same. It isn’t long before they are all working together and Mrs. Nichols joins in too, even though she was on the suspect list for a bit of time. It was so much fun following the cookie crumbs along with them as clues started to fall into place. I was kept guessing right up until the end.

The story’s ending was heartwarming and I highlighted these lines from Mrs. Nichols. “Christmas happens as it will. There is no right way to celebrate. It’s about joy.” She is right. It’s all about JOY! that you feel and share with others.

Murder at the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off is a very entertaining holiday mystery filled with Christmas spirit, cookies, and events to keep those pages turning. I have become invested in these characters including Captain Willy Riggs, the town of Beacon Harbor, and the Beacon Bakeshop and Cafe. I escaped right into this book and I can’t wait to escape into Murder at the Blueberry Festival and spend some summertime with the residents of Beacon Harbor.

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