Storyton Hall is hosting a cooking competition and things are heating up right out of the gate. From a fire before filming starts, to a murder of one of the competitors, to a propane tank exploding during the competition, things are out of Jane’s control.

With a commitment to keep all of her guests safe, Jane and the Fins work to find out who is behind all of the chaos. Will this be the end of the story, or just another chapter in Storyton Hall’s history? Only time will tell.

A great series for literary and cozy lovers alike, with references sprinkled throughout each book to other authors and great works. Each time I start a new book in this series, I can’t wait to see which books with be referenced throughout the story.

Murder in the Cookbook Nook by Ellery Adams is a wonderful tale that I would highly recommend. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. Jane Steward and her two boys are riding their bikes home. Jane is manager of Storyton Hall - a resort for bibliophiles. Jane's boyfriend gave her a valentine, a literary tour of London. A cooking show is being set up in Storyton, WV. Someone overloaded the wiring and set fire. Storyton Hall was moved from England due to sabotage. After the cooking competition is over a wedding will be held. Jane and her team try to figure our what is going on. One of the chefs is found dead in the Cookbook Nook. He was a vile person, but that is no reason to kill him. What a fantastic read. It kept me interested and reading till I was done. Ellery Adams is a great writer.

Another great edition to the Book Retreat Mysteries
Ellery Adams really knows how to put together a story with intricate story lines and keeping the reader satisfied.
Every time I read an Ellery Adams book I find myself pulled right in and I don't want to stop reading.
I'm looking forward to reading the next Book Retreat Mysteries

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for allowing me to read an advanced digital copy

I received this ARC via Netgalley and Kensington Books, in return for an honest review. While the seventh book in this series, it is easily read as a standalone. This is well-crafted and enjoyable cozy mystery that I recommend. Jane Steward’s family has owned Storyton Hall for generations. It’s now a luxury hotel focused on the world of books, with a section are still occupied by her elderly aunt and uncle and Jane as the current manager. She’s also a single mom to twin sons and has a boyfriend who is a food critic, owns a restaurant in town, and has a long-term commitment as a Knight Templar to do cloak and dagger.
In this outing, she’s got an unexpected large influx of guests who are in a celebrity cooking competition, hosted by a major young social media influencer. But the competition starts with a bang, due to an outside explosion, and things goes from bad to worse when one of the celebrity chefs turns up dead. Who is sabotaging the competition and why? Everyone is suspect as the motives and intrigues pile higher than the decadent foods and treats. Jane’s determined to solve the crime before Storyton Hotel is only known for murder, not books.

Murder in the Cookbook Nook by Ellery Adams was the first book I had read in the Book Retreat Mysteries series. I love the characters and the bookish hotel. This is such a fun cozy mystery series, I bought the first six books to learn the beginning of Jane’s journey.

***** I received an ARC from NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my honest review. *****

Jane Steward and her group are back in another murder taking place at Storyton Hall. This time a cooking show is filming on the property and one of the chefs are murdered. The cause is from one of the shows employees past life. There are more than one crime being committed by the shows staff, but are the reasons the same or different. The relationships that Jane has with her family and friends are believable and add to the stories.
Goodreads

This is such a fun series, and I had a great time with this cozy mystery. I loved the plot, the twists and turns, and the characters!

Storyton Hall is hosting A Bookish Cook-Off at Jane Steward’s resort. I can’t get enough of this Virginia town. Jane is busy as ever working so the event goes off without a hitch. All goes well until murder brings everything to a halt. Jane must work hard to solve the mystery and try to salvage the event.
#MurderintheCookbookNook #NetGalley

Jane Steward is the manager of Storyton Hall and a single mom to her twin boys Fitzgerald and Hemingway.

Her boyfriend Edwin Alcott runs a restaurant called the Daily Bread in Storyton and is a food writer.

Jane’s hotel has been scheduled to host a cooking competition; six chefs checked in the previous night and the judges had checked in that morning. A taste guru and social media influencer Mia Mallet is scheduled to arrive later in the day.

Then a fire starts near the competition tent where they’d be filming the cooking show. Investigation reveals it was an electrical fire and that someone may have sabotaged the electrical system.

One of the chefs, Chef Pierce has been getting under everyone’s skin since he arrived and Jane and her staff are doing their best to put up with him.

When Chef Pierce gropes a pastry chef 👩🏻‍🍳 Mia decides to fire Chef Pierce from the show but Chef Pierce is found stabbed to death in one of the rooms in the hotel; the Cookbook Nook.

Soon after Chef Pierce’s death, there’s a gas explosion during the next cooking challenge. Someone is trying to sabotage the competition.

Later, during the berry festival, someone steals an antique from one of the booths and writes something on the costume of the local mascots defaming the company sponsoring the cooking show.

Jane and the Fin family as well as the cops have to find who’s responsible for the crimes before they do more damage.

Thank you to Ellery Adams, NetGalley and Kensington for the ARC of this book.

As I prepared to dive into this book, I had no idea that I was going on a wild roller coaster ride.
As Jane Steward, guardian of the treasures at Storyton Hall, prepares for the filming of a literary themed cook off, she, too, has no idea of the escapades she’s about to encounter.
The cook off seems simple enough, but the the undercurrent of emotions is felt by everyone, and before long, Jane and The Fins are wrapped up in another murder investigation.
For me, the best part of this story was the appearance of an old friend, Olivia Limoges, and her standard poodle, Captain Haviland. Ms. Limoges was the protagonist in another series written by Ellery Adams.
It was so nice to see a friendship begin with Olivia and the ladies of Storyton Hall, I hope to see her again.

Storyton is a literary themed estate hotel owned by the Stewart family for generations. Jane Stewart is getting ready for billionaire Mia Mallett and guest chefs to film a cooking show on her property but a fire breaks out in the tent before everyone can arrive. That’s just the first of many disasters, and it seems someone is seriously trying to sabotage the show.
I’ve only read the last few books in this series but I like each one more and more. Using slave labor by children and adults in the chocolate and fishing food industry is brought to light in this book, something I never knew, and am grateful to be told about so I can do further research.
Ellery Adams also brings one of my very favorite characters from a series that has concluded ( much to my dismay, although I understand why) to Storyton. Heiress Olivia Limoge and her dog Haviland have come to the resort so she can have peace and quiet to write again. In my opinion, one of the most nuanced and interesting characters Adams has ever written, I hope she will continue to visit Storyton, or better yet, have a new series for Olivia.