Great first of series book with memorable settings and enjoyable characters. I enjoyed the writer's writing style and wit.

Murder At The Beacon Bakeshop
Beacon Bakeshop, Book 1
Darci Hannah
5 Stars

Synopsis:

In the first of a new series, after Lindsey Bakeswell catches her celebrity chef fiance sizzling in the arms of another woman, Lindsey leaves big city Wall Street for small town Beacon Harbor, Michigan to pursue her own passion as a pastry baker--and gets mixed up in someone's sweet taste of revenge...

More interested in kneading dough than adding it up, Lindsey's breakup inspired her to set up the shop she always wanted in a place that always made her happy. She'd spent many childhood summers near this beach community and converting the old run-down lighthouse into a bakery cafe and home offers a perfect fresh start for Lindsey and her devoted Newfoundland dog, Wellington.

But not everyone in town has a sweet tooth. The preservation society won't have the lighthouse's history sugar coated by lattes and cakes--and a protest group crashes Lindsey's Memorial Day opening. Then her ex-fiance Jeffrey Plank and his girlfriend Mia Wong arrive to trash the place. In the ensuing chaos Mia chokes on a donut and dies.

An autopsy reveals cyanide in Mia's bloodstream and Lindsey is the police's prime suspect. To clear her name, she's going to need to combine ingredients found in the town's checkered past to uncover the identity of a desperate killer… (Amazon)

Review:

The characters are well developed and well rounded. Lindsey is a smart hardworking woman who has left Wall Street behind and is going to make a go of her lighthouse bakery. Her friend Kennedy is very willing to help her, since she is a social media influencer. Rory, a neighbor, is also willing to help. And Wellington, Lindsey’s dog, was quite cute. When a dead body turns up, they not only have to make a go of the bakeshop, they have to find out who the murderer is before Lindsey gets charges with a murder she did not commit.

The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and these descriptions pulled me into the story from the very beginning. There were enough suspects to consider and clues to sort through with a few red herrings thrown in to complicate things. I had no idea who the culprit was until it was revealed at the end.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. I cannot wait to see what the next adventure is for Lindsey and her friends.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Kensington, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.

Loved it. I am eager for more of Lindsey and Welly's adventures. Big city woman makes a splash in a small town. Clever murder mystery. The clues are there, but still some surprises occur. Delightful friends and family and dogs.

What a wonderful read and a great start to a new series. Murder at the Beacon Bakeshop by Darci Hannah is everything cozy lovers enjoy - murder, humor, and budding love. The characters are well-crafted and the plot is very strong. This book is engaging from the start and the twist revealing the killer will shock you. The end is very sweet and sets up for the series to continue.

Lindsey Bakewell buys a derelict Lighthouse in Michigan and renovates it to become a Bakeshop. The story brings together a village full of busybodies, a ghost, a Navy Seal with secrets, a former model, a social media influencer and a cheating fiancé.
Murder at the Bakeshop is a great read. I was taken by surprise at the person(s) behind the murder. Lindsey is a fun character. Wellington might be a bit over the top as a canine companion. Rory is full of surprises and seems like a great love interest for Lindsey. Kennedy is a good foil for Lindsey.
I look forward to seeing where this series will go.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book prior to publication.

What a fun idea to open a bakeshop in an old lighthouse. Lindsey leaves her old life in New York, including a cheating fiance and a big city Wall Street job for the small town of Beacon Harbor, Michigan. She has fond memories of the place where she visited with her grandparents. Lindsey loves to bake and has decided to leave all the negativity behind her and follow in her grandparents footsteps. She meets some really nice people including a promising hunk and she meets some really nasty people like the woman who wants her business to tank so she can restore the lighthouse to it's original history.

At the opening festivities, her ex-fiance shows up with the woman he cheated with. When the girlfriend dies of cyanide, all fingers point to Lindsey. So to save her dream she has to find out what really happened.

This is a fun cozy and the setting sounds idyllic. Include a goofy Newfoundland puppy name Wellington, Wellie for short and a myriad of characters and twists along the way. This is very entertaining.

I’ve really started to enjoy cozy mysteries lately. In this one, I couldn’t help but like Lindsey’s character early on. She’s smart and sensible with a great sense of humor, but the quality that I found most endearing was her devotion and obvious love for Wellington, her huge, doofy dog, aka Welly.

I was immediately taken in by the quaint, small-town vibe of Beacon Harbor, and I honestly wanted Lindsey to do well even though I knew from the summary that she was going to have trouble on opening day. In between cooking up some of the most delicious sounding food I’ve read about anytime recently, she managed to squeeze in some detective work, a little slow-burn romance, and trying to uncover the truth of a possible haunting. Lindsey is a busy lady!

This book had a little bit of everything (and even included recipes for some of the tastiest of the recipes at the end of the book). I found myself chuckling out loud quite a few times while reading, and enjoyed the story. There were some plot twists I honestly didn’t see coming, but there were some that were a bit predictable. It wound up being a fun, lighthearted, easy read that fit nicely between some heavier and more emotional reads that I’ve been focused on recently.

There was an issue that just didn’t sit right with me, and that was a couple of instances of misappropriation in the book. The first thing I noticed was when the MC stated “I worked my tookus off,” which incorrectly uses the Yiddish word “tuchus,” that would translate to butt. It’s almost like the author just Googled the word and didn’t bother to get it right, and it honestly would have been preferable to have said, “I worked my butt off.” The second and seriously more problematic statement was when a white character showed off a tattoo of a wolf and stated (I’m cringing to even write this) “It’s my spirit animal.” This is a Native American cultural concept with spiritual importance. Having a white character use it in reference to a tattoo just seems insensitive and inappropriate.

Overall, I enjoyed the story aside from those issues. I do plan on reading more of the series when it is released, and I genuinely hope that future books are a little more culturally sensitive, because I do like the characters, the setting, and the story.

Lindsey has left New York City to pursue her dream of owning a bakery. Buying a historic lighthouse sight unseen, she renovates, bakes and makes new friends. Everything falls apart though when a woman dies in her shop on opening day. A great start to a new series

It is refreshing to come across a first in the series that grabbed my attention from the first page and didn’t let go until the end.

After finding her fiancé with another woman, Lindsay Bakewell leaves her Wall Street career to follow her dreams of opening a café and bakeshop in Beacon Harbor. Little did she know that purchasing the lighthouse sight unseen would spark the hatred of a local, Fiona Dickel, who was determined to preserve it as a historical site.

With protesters descending as the opening day of the bakeshop dawns, and Lindsay’s ex Jeffrey and his lover Mia appear, everyone it seems is determined to ruin all that Lindsay has worked for. What no one realized was that there was more undoing afoot and soon Mia was dead and Lindsay is the main suspect.

What you won’t see coming is a mystery ride full of detours, another death, a curious dog, a tantalizing neighbor, hilarious friends, underhanded devious plots, and a reconnecting with family. But what you will see is the beginning of a new series that will have you waiting impatiently for the next Lindsay Bakewell adventure.

When Lindsay Bakeswell catches her fiancé in the arms of one of his employees, she breaks up with him, quits her job, and opens up her dream bakery in a lighthouse not far from where her father grew up. Opening day brings a protest group that wants the lighthouse preserved as a historical site to the shop as well as Lindsay's ex and his girlfriend. In the ruckus caused by the protest and the girlfriend, the girlfriend seemingly chokes to death on a doughnut. Lindsay becomes the prime suspect. I enjoyed the book and I am looking forward to the next. I have a few quibbles about things that I thought someone should have caught earlier in the book, but that would be a spoiler.

I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher and/or author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, Darci Hannah and Kensington Books for the ARC of Murder at the Beacon Bakeshop. This is my personal review.
Murder at the Beacon Bakeshop is the first book in a new series Beacon Bakeshop Mysteries.
Lindsey was a successful and wealthy financier in New York. She had a wonderful fiancé and was happy with her life. That was until she came upon her fiancé and his pastry chef in a very compromising position.
She mixed wine and surfing on her computer and found her new path in life. She bought a lighthouse in Michigan and decided her destiny was to move into it and open a bakery.
This was a start to a very interesting book, and it was one I was hooked on quickly.
The combination of characters and events was excellent. I loved Wellington Lindsey’s dog!
I am looking forward to the next book in the series.
Murder at the beacon Bakeshop will be published February 23rd 2021.

I kept seeing this book pop on Goodreads and decided to read it and am glad that I did. The story includes some great, interesting and likable characters in a fun setting and murder mystery plot. After discovering her celebrity chef and fiancé with his pastry chef, Lindsey Bakewell left her successful Wall Street career behind her to pursue her dream of opening a bakeshop and café in an old lighthouse on the shores of a lake in Beacon Harbor, Michigan. Her grandparents had a bakery in a nearby city years before and she has fond memories of spending time with them. On opening day after lots of work on the building, hiring a staff, and preparing lots of yummy goodies, the day is ruined when her ex and his lover as well as some protesters against her purchase of the lighthouse show up with the patrons causing problems. But the worst is when the pastry chef falls dead, due to cyanide in the latte she grabbed from the realtor who sold the property to Lindsey. Thus ensues a long investigation she, her hunky, former Special Ops neighbor Rory Campbell and her best friend Kennedy Kapoor begin along with the police. Lots of people are suspect, including Lindsey, Rory, and others. This is a fun mystery to unravel and weed through through the clues and has an interesting resolution that kept me turning the pages. I am looking forward to the next story and look for a little romance to add to the mix.
I received a complimentary ARC from Kensington Books through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine only.

What a great start to a series - I loved this book! The setting was imaginative, the characters were strong yet quirky, and the mystery kept me guessing until the end. I also enjoyed the light paranormal aspect.

I love lighthouses. I also love mysteries and series based in small towns. Murder at the Beacon Bakeshop is a wonderful read! It was fun and entertaining and a fantastic start for a new series. Even though I love a mystery, I’m new to cozy mysteries but the more I read them, the more I can’t wait to read another one. This book did not disappoint and I will be looking for more from Darci Hannah! It is a story of second chances. Lindsey had a career in Wall Street but after catching her boyfriend in the arms of another women, she leaves to become a baker in Beacon Harbor, Michigan. Baking pastries was a passion for her and she made that dream come true.

This is a wonderful story of second chances and making your dreams come true despite the odds. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can’t wait to read more by this author!

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.



This was a fun, engaging cozy mystery with lots of future potential for the series. She loses what she thought was to be the love of her life only to find herself in a lighthouse in Michigan baking after a career in Wall Street finance.



The ex and his current come to ruin her, and she finds out just how much was really going on, and so many new surprises about the new community she’s joined. There’s a lot going on, but there’s so much intertwined with the plot and spoilers that it’s best to just read it and let me know what you think about it. I thought this was a wonderful story, and I really enjoyed reading it. I’m already looking forward to the next one!

Drunk internet shopping hits a new high (or low) when you buy a lighthouse in Michigan sight unseen. Yep, that's what Lindsay did but here's the thing-she's always wanted to have a bakery/cafe and now is the perfect time to leave NYC. This is a nice start to a new series with lots of potential. Lindsay wasn't expecting the condition light house is in, that there's a pirate ghost, or that the town would oppose her plans. AND she never expected the ex and his new love Mia to show up on opening day or that some one would slip cyanide to Mia. Luckily, Sgt Murdock likes sweets and gets that Lindsay didn't do it, and is open to her helping out, especially after more bad things happen. She's a nice character, loved her dog Wellington, and I liked that her BFF is an influencer with heart. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I liked this one a lot. Recipes !

No matter how many cozy mystery book I read, I am pleasantly surprised that I find myself wanting to try my hand at the characters' hobby lol. Now after reading "Murder at the Beacon Bakeshop", I want to bake!! Great mystery and kept me entertained throughout the book. Thankful to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this title.

This is a delightful brand-new cozy series set in Beacon Harbor Michigan. Lindsey Bakewell is a wall street wizard who is engaged to a celebrity chef (Jeffrey Plank) and when she goes to his restaurant, she is surprised to find him having an affair with his pastry chef (Mia Long). She dumps him, keys his Jaguar (which she bought for him), and purchases a lighthouse in Michigan to start a bakery. Lindsey is financially independent and realizes the lighthouse needs a lot of work to get it up and ready for a bakery and café but she has several months to get it ready before the summer season on Lake Michigan. Lindsey’s Newfoundland Wellington decides to eat the fish of her neighbor Rory and soon the two become friends or perhaps more. As Memorial day is getting closer Lindsey hires staff and ends up meeting a very irate woman named Fiona who is out to put an end to the bakery as she was in charge of the preservation society. Lindsey assures her that Betty the local realtor sold her the property and all is legitimate but Fiona swears she will cause issues. Lindsey’s best friend from New York Kennedy Kapoor who is a social influencer, has arrived and has been spreading the word about the bakery and café. Opening Day is busy but then a bus of “tourists” from New York show up and Kennedy is out front arguing with them and it turns out it is Jeffrey and Mia. They move inside and cause havoc by knocking over coffees, eating donuts off others plates and throwing them at the bakery counter. Fiona and her cronies join in and next Mia is choking outside and collapses and dies. Lindsey becomes the prime suspect and she feels she has to figure out who killed Mia and clear her name and protect her business. Kennedy and Rory (Sir Hunts A lot.. Kennedy is such a hoot) are there to help as well as her new friends in Beacon Harbor. Lindsey also begins to get communications from the lighthouse ghost who she learned about after she bought it. When Fiona is murdered then this becomes even more puzzling. This was a great story with engaging characters in picturesque town with charming characters. This would be a perfect Hallmark mystery series. Highly recommend. Can’t wait for the next installment.

If you love lighthouse and bakeries this is a must-read.

I loved Lindsey as a character and could see myself frequenting her bakery often. Most of the other characters are also likeable but there are the ones that didn't upset me to see them go. I also enjoyed some of the family dynamics with Lindsey.

The book is flows well with a great mystery that kept me guessing until close to the end. I liked the twists and turns that kept it interesting.

Just as a side note, I found it nice for a change for the main character not to have to worry about money to get her business started.

I can't wait for the next one in the series.

Murder At The Beacon Bakeshop is the first book in the A Beacon Bakeshop Mystery series by Darci Hannah.

Lindsey Bakewell, I love her last name, having caught her fiancee, Jeffery Pank, a renowned chef, in a compromising position with his pastry chef, Mia Long, has decided to leave her high-paying job in the financial district of New York City. Googling real estate properties, Lindsey found a lighthouse and keeper’s house for sale and bought it sight unseen. When she arrives in Beacon Harbor and sees her lighthouse, she wonders if the purchase was a mistake, as the condition is not attractive as the pictures on the internet. Lindsey soon decides it will make an excellent bakery.

As she is getting the renovation underway, she meets her neighbor, Rory, when her Newfoundland dog, Wellington, enters Rory’s yard and eats the fish he had caught that morning. Rory is happy with Lindsey’s repurposing of the lighthouse and enjoys Lindsey’s company.

Renovations are completed, a staff in place, and Lindsey is ready to open her bakery. The day before the grand opening learns that her barista has sustained an injury, and Lindsey recruits Rory to fill in. Shortly after the doors open, the bakery is packed with customers. Lindsey is thrilled until she looks up and sees her ex and his girlfriend, along with an entourage of Mia’s friends. Mia begins to make a scene in the bakery and takes a coffee cup out of another customer’s hand. Mia takes a dring and exclaims how terrible it is, and collapses. Rory immediately begins to perform CPR on her. Shortly after arriving at the hospital, Mia is pronounced dead. An autopsy will show that Mia died from poisoning.

Lindsey will become a person of interest due to her history with Mia and Rory. As will Rory, as he was the one preparing the coffees. Kennedy, Lindsey’s best friend from NYC, has joined Lindsey for the grand opening to help Lindsey and Rory clear their names.

The book is an excellent beginning to this fascinating new series. The book is well-written and plotted. The book has an enjoyable cast of believable characters. I particularly enjoyed the antics of Wellington. There plenty of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the end.

I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.