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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
This is such a fun series with Val and her grandfather, the Codger Cook. I love the whole premise of the five-ingredient recipes. This one is set at a mystery conference, and grandfather takes a lead role in the investigations. A fun, fast read.
Bake Offed by Maya Corrigan is the eighth A Five-Ingredient Mystery. It can be read as a standalone for those new to the series. Val and her grandfather are fun characters. I find Granddad to be a hoot. He is a lively character. You never know what he will do next (always has something up his sleeve). Val and Granddad are attending the Maryland Mystery Fest where they are hoping to have a fun weekend. Unfortunately, the woman in the hotel room next to Val ends up dead. Don Myer, Val’s grandfather, is hired by the victim’s stepdaughter to investigate the crime. The victim was not well-liked (that is putting it mildly) so there are several suspects. Val and Granddad ask questions and search for clues. They share their intel with Detective Roy Chesterfield. There is a red herring or two as well as a twist. It was a fun mystery to solve. I like how the mysteries mentioned in the book were incorporated into the whodunit. There is humor scattered throughout the story especially regarding a missing recipe box. I enjoyed reading Bake Offed. I am looking forward to Val and Granddad’s next adventure. There are five ingredient recipes at the end of the book. Bake Offed is a sweet treat with an anomalous note, a penetrating noise, a curious crime, mystery mania, a pilfered recipe box, and a caught crook.
This was entertaining, with a decent solution to an intriguing mystery/murder. I may go back to the start of this series. But I, like many book lovers, have an extensive TBR, and I am not in a rush to go back to the start.
mysterious
medium-paced
Val and her Granddad, Don, are accompanying Val's friend Bethany to the Maryland Mystery Fan Fest. Happy for the getaway, Val is planning on a relaxing weekend helping her friend. Don too is looking forward to the fest where he will be competing in the Deadly Desserts Bake-off. But right away, there is something weird going on. Don's fest packet includes a warning about another of the contestants, Cynthia Sweet. When Cynthia's tea kettle starts whistling around the midnight the first night, Val alerts security who enters the room with her. The pair find Cynthia dead in her bed. She is also missing her rare poison ring, which she'd been wearing at the bar before returning to her room, and a rare box of recipes that she had been "keeping" for Don.
Naturally, Val and Don (who also moonlights as a PI) start looking into her death. Was it murder, or a natural death? And if it was natural, where did the ring get to?
This was pretty good. Lots of illusions to famous mystery stories by Christie, Holmes, and Stout. There was a lot going on too - Cynthia's COD; the missing ring; the missing box of recipes; the man entering Cynthia's room; an attempted poisoning; a missing good Samaritan. But despite all the action, there was no issue keeping all the information straight. Overall, an interesting mystery.
Naturally, Val and Don (who also moonlights as a PI) start looking into her death. Was it murder, or a natural death? And if it was natural, where did the ring get to?
This was pretty good. Lots of illusions to famous mystery stories by Christie, Holmes, and Stout. There was a lot going on too - Cynthia's COD; the missing ring; the missing box of recipes; the man entering Cynthia's room; an attempted poisoning; a missing good Samaritan. But despite all the action, there was no issue keeping all the information straight. Overall, an interesting mystery.
“A watertight alibi if I ever heard one.”
The Codger Cook and his granddaughter are at it again, only this time they take their sleuthing on the road. When their killer weekend at a mystery fest comes with an actual dead body they can’t help but investigate. With a new setting Val wasn’t the only one feeling slightly discombobulated. A story fill with twists and turns that left me feeling like that special ingredient usually found in one of the Five Ingredient Mysteries was missing.
⭐⭐⭐ -- This cover is all kinds of yummy looking!
A detail filled book that does a good job of building up the story in a way that keeps you guessing who could have committed the murder. The characters aren't very deep, but the two most developed characters Val and her Grandad were level-headed and good amateur sleuths. I also appreciate it as a book written in 2020 and the author's inspiration was the mystery festivals she loved going to in the past, but were cancelled then because of Covid. I've never been to a mystery festival, but I'm interested now :)
Books in the Five Ingredients series are always entertaining and well plotted. This one confirmed my opinion and I thoroughly enjoyed it and the solid mystery kept me guessing.
I was happy to catch up with the fleshed out characters, had fun and liked it.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine
I was happy to catch up with the fleshed out characters, had fun and liked it.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine