The Golden Spoon is a captivating character-driven story that will make your mouth water and your heart shudder. Jessa Maxwell has perfectly combined a dash of reality cooking show, a pinch of murder mystery and a smidgen of eccentric personalities to deliver a scrumptious tale sure to please every palate.
Six new contestants arrive at Grafton Manor, ancestral home of celebrity chef Betsy Martin, to start filming the latest season of the hit show Bake Week. The beloved competition is known as fun, uplifting and entertaining, but everything is not as it seems on TV. Betsy is chagrined to share hosting duties for the first time with another television chef with whom she doesn’t get along. The contestants make suspicious mistakes with their bakes, bringing sabotage into question. The grounds of this venerable estate hold dark secrets from the past that can’t stay hidden forever. And to top it off, a dead body is discovered before the competition can conclude. With everyone a suspect and hidden agendas coming to light, this season of Bake Week will serve up more than delectable pies and cakes…it’ll dish up a delicious murder mystery.
While The Golden Spoon can hold its own just based on the twists and turns of the murder mystery and the competitive nature of the baking contest, it’s the characters that really make the book sizzle. Each member of the diverse cast brings something unique to the table and, as you would expect from people entering a television reality show, they have an agenda they wish to pursue that goes beyond just being named the best baker. Whether they are trying to find themselves, seeking closure from events long ago, want to become a celebrity, need to satisfy their OCD or are attempting to gain/retain power, each person’s actions will put them either in conflict with or in alignment with others. Which leads to intriguing storylines that keep you guessing throughout. And as an added bonus, it demonstrates that people of different backgrounds and dispositions, who might not normally get along, can find common ground in the right setting.
It’s not often that a murder mystery can be described as delightful, but it’s an apt description of The Golden Spoon. It has more than its fair share of dark and anxiety-inducing moments, but in the end there’s something uplifting and satisfying about the journey these characters go through and the destination at which they arrive. In fact, it’s a bit like a beautiful and tasty cake. The process may be messy, frustrating and require hard work, but it’s totally worth it when finished and you savor the lusciousness on your tastebuds.
Kudos to Jess Maxwell for crafting a thriller that is entertaining to read while making you salivate for baked goods. I recommend at least a muffin, donut or tart be within arms reach when you pick up this book. It would make for a pleasant paring.
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Purchase The Golden Spoon
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