Special Guest – Victoria Hamilton – Thanks for Muffin: A Merry Muffin Mystery #GuestPost / #Giveaway – Great Escapes Book Tour @VictoriaHamiltonMysteryAuthor

Thanks for Muffin: A Merry Muffin Mystery
by Victoria Hamilton

I am happy to welcome Victoria Hamilton to Escape With Dollycas today!

Cooking in Cozy Mysteries
By: Victoria Hamilton

I’ve been reading cozy mysteries for a long time, long before I even knew what to call them! I was just finding the books I enjoyed and glomming onto more of them, searching in used bookstores for the authors I knew would provide something I’d enjoy.

I started reading real cozy mysteries – after making my way through the obligatory Great Ladies of Mystery from the Golden Era, namely Dame Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Ngaio Marsh – with A Pint of Murder, a Canada-set mystery by ‘Alisa Craig’ (pseudonym of the inimitable Charlotte MacLeod). And it was there, and in her Sarah Kelling Bittersohn mysteries, that I noticed a trend; there was a lot of talk about food in cozy/classic/traditional mysteries!

But for all that food talk, only some included recipes that, I will admit, I never cooked. And yet… and yet! My mother once photocopied a chicken recipe for me from a mystery for chicken in milk, so it became evident to me that someone was making all those foods in cozy novels! It was one of the things I shared with my mother, that love of cooking and mysteries.

Maybe that’s why I’m so nostalgic for older culinary cozies!

When I started writing cozy mysteries, I followed the trend. My Vintage Kitchen Mysteries all have a vintage recipe re-imagined for more modern methods or tastes. But in the Merry Muffin Mysteries, I really went crazy. Every one of them has three recipes at the end! In Thanks for Muffin, besides the obligatory muffin recipe, there is one for scones and a recipe to use up some Thanksgiving leftovers that you are going to love!

But back to the old-school cozy mystery series that includes recipes. Here are my top three culinary mystery series that I have enjoyed over the years, starting with the newest and working back to the oldest:

Joanne Fluke – Hannah Swenson mysteries, starting with 2000’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, are the quintessential culinary/baking mystery novels! I mean, what’s not to love? With every kind of pie, cake, cookie, cheesecake and cobbler recipe you could imagine in this long-running series, and the reassuring fantasy of owning and running a bakeshop, it is the epitome of culinary mysteries.

Diane Mott Davidson’s Goldie Bear mysteries: I started reading these a long time ago. She started with Catering to Nobody in 1990, and pulled me in with her style and settings. I loved the complexity of life that Davidson presented, and her description of her (Colorado) setting was wonderfully evocative. The loving detail when she described new recipes was fabulous.

And the beginning, for me, of culinary mysteries…

Virginia Rich, the Eugenia Potter mysteries – starting in 1982 with The Cooking School Murders, the Eugenia Potter books were all centered on food, with my particular favorite The Baked Bean Supper Murders. Even thinking about these books takes me back to a time when I was a newbie reading them. I didn’t understand the subgenre then. Being fairly poor, I read whatever I could get my hands on in second hand bookstores and the library. But I see now why I chose these; my interest in cooking aligned with these heroines, and I felt a kinship in the language of food and murder. Nancy Pickard, a wonderful author herself, took over these books with The 27-Ingredient Chili Con Carne Murders in 1993, and the series lasted right up to 2001’s The Secret Ingredient Murders.

So, readers… do you especially enjoy culinary cozy mysteries? Have you ever tried any of the recipes in the books? Is there one you tried that became a repeat recipe for you?

If so, I do hope you enjoy both the mystery and the food elements of Thanks for Muffin!

Thank you, Victoria, for visiting today!

Keep reading for more information about Victoria and her new book, Thanks for Muffin!

About Thanks for Muffin

Thanks for Muffin: A Merry Muffin Mystery
Contemporary Cozy Mystery
8th in Series
Setting – Wynter Castle, Western New York State
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Beyond the Page
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 14, 2025
Number of Pages: 211
Paperback
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1966322240
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1966322245
Digital
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1966322238
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0FMY9PQ2D

When Merry Wynter’s festive gala takes a fatal turn, she’ll have to grill her guests to catch a killer . . .

After years of planning and hard work, Merry Wynter was finally ready to host the grand opening gala of the Wynter Woods Center for the Performing Arts. With musicians, entertainers, members of the media and even influencers on the guest list, the event went off without a hitch—until a particularly nasty journalist posted a criticism of the gala and everything Merry was trying to accomplish. Still reeling from the review days later, Merry wasn’t sure what to feel when she discovered the reporter’s dead body on the grounds of Wynter Castle.

With many of her guests staying on at the castle for the weekend, Merry realizes they’ve got a murderer in their midst. Going from celebrating to sleuthing, she discreetly questions each of them, trying to weed out the culprit. She quickly learns that the victim had heated arguments with several of the people at the gala, and it turns out those people were all connected by a tragedy in the past. Certain the killer is among them, Merry will have to unearth the final clue that nails the killer—before the killer decides she’s getting too close .

Great Escapes Praise for
Thanks for Muffin: A Merry Muffin Mystery
by Victoria Hamilton

Rating – 🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈
This was my first time reading a book from this series, and even though it’s book eight, I didn’t feel lost at all. The author did a great job of introducing the characters and setting without making me feel like I missed something important.
~bibliophile_foodie

Thanks for Muffin by Victoria Hamilton is the kind of cozy mystery that makes you want to curl up with coffee and a baked good. Whether you’re a longtime fan or a newcomer to Wynter Castle, this one’s a treat you’ll want to savor.
~Reading is my Superpower

I really enjoyed this great cast of characters in this mystery. I enjoyed the descriptions of the castle and the grounds. I liked all the descriptions of the gala. I liked the speed of this story.
I give this book five out of five stars.
~Bigreadersite

As the pieces of the puzzle fell into place, the heart-stopping reveal kept me glued to the pages as I waited with bated breath to see how it played out… which ended up being quite thrilling! This is a great addition to the series, and I hope more books are planned in the future!
~Cinnamon, Sugar, and a Little Bit of Murder

Thanks for Muffin is a cute cozy with party preparations, celebrity invitees, a rotten reporter, a grandiose grand opening, guests arguing, a murdered man, surprising secrets, and catching a killer.
~The Avid Reader

About Victoria Hamilton

Victoria Hamilton is the pseudonym of nationally bestselling romance author Donna Lea Simpson. Victoria is the bestselling author of three mystery series: the Lady Anne Addison Mysteries, the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries, and the Merry Muffin Mysteries. She also wrote a Regency-set historical mystery series, starting with A Gentlewoman’s Guide to Murder.

Visit her website at victoriahamiltonmysteries.com
and sign up for Victoria’s newsletter.

Social Media Links:

Website  On  Facebook    On Instagram     Goodreads     Amazon

On BlueSky: @mysteryvictoria.bsky.social Check out my ‘Cozy Mystery Authors’ Starter Pack on BlueSky!

 Purchase Links: 

Find All of Victoria’s Books HERE.

TOUR PARTICIPANTS – Please visit all the stops.
October 10 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
October 10 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW No Post Yet
October 10 – Angel’s Book Nook – SPOTLIGHT
October 11 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT
October 11 – @bibliophile_foodie – REVIEW
October 11 – FUONLYKNEW – RECIPE
October 12 – StoreyBook Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST
October 12 – Sarandipity’s – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
October 13 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
October 13 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – RECIPE
October 13 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
October 14 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – CHARACTER GUEST POST
October 14 – Cinnamon, Sugar, and a Little Bit of Murder – REVIEW, RECIPE
October 14 – Bigreadersite – REVIEW  
October 15 – Sneaky the Library Cat’s Blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
October 15 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW, RECIPE
October 15 – Baroness Book Trove – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
October 16 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT
October 16 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – CHARACTER GUEST POST
October 16 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
October 17 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
October 17 – Cozy Up WIth Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
October 18 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
October 18 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR GUEST POST
October 19 – Teatime and Books – SPOTLIGHT
October 19 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews  SPOTLIGHT

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