3.5 stars

This is the only book in this series that I've read. The author did a fairly good job at making it a stand-alone, but there were some details (mainly backstory of Merry and other recurring characters) from the previous books that I feel like I was missing. However, the story/mystery itself was not a continuation of anything from a previous book. I liked the building up of the mystery and the descriptions and the characters all themselves. There were many times where it was unrealistic to me for Merry to be poking her nose into situations or thinking that in real life someone would not be asking leading questions in such a way and would have the manners to back off; however, they played into the story line and it does seem to be a characteristic of a lot of characters in cozy mysteries. The opera world was new to me, so it was interesting to learn a little bit about that, although some things were explained and others weren't, so for someone like me who doesn't follow opera, I wasn't familiar with those things. The setting sounded fun, an inherited castle somewhere in New York State (I'm assuming a made-up town). I was disappointed that the front matter listed the back would have the recipes, but when I got to the end of the book there were no recipes, only a link to sign up for the author's newsletter on her website. To me, if it's going to be billed as a culinary cozy mystery with recipes included, then the recipes should be included in the book. I did follow the included link but couldn't find a very visible link to the newsletter and/or recipes. The food mentioned throughout the book sounded yummy, so I was looking forward to the included recipes, but I'm not sure what those would even be! Overall, a fun, clean cozy mystery. There were a few mild references to sex but nothing at all explicit, just in passing.

With Double or Muffin, I’m jumping in to the middle of the Merry Muffin Mystery series, but with that title, how could I resist? I liked Merry Wynter right from the beginning, charmed by her smartly written first person narrative and the fact that she owns her own ancestral castle in the United States. Because, hello, who doesn’t want to know someone with a castle?!? Her husband Virgil, bestie (and business partner) Pish, her cat Becket, and her copious friends and acquaintances – all of them add further layers to the story on their own, even as they are advancing the plot in various ways.

Along with liking Merry right away, I also almost instantly felt so stressed for her haha. She has her plans for the next few days, and suddenly Pish springs a major inconvenience on her – a reality ‘American Idol-ish’ competition for opera singers will be filming at the castle, starting that very day, and the contestants and producers will all be staying in the castle. Cue throwing out the first to-do list and coming up with a whole new one, and boy that gives me anxiety to think about lol. I don’t like my own plans changing that dramatically at a moment’s notice, so Merry had all my sympathy even as she herself rolled expertly with the punches. And oh boy, did the reality show cast, crew, judges, and mentors add a large dose of drama and chaos to the equation, not to mention a heaping helping of secrets. I got so caught up in figuring out everything they were all hiding that I completely failed at figuring out who the attacker was – or why. Very well-constructed plot and nicely placed clues, even if I missed them lol.

Double or Muffin definitely can be read as a standalone, though I think I would have absorbed the character dynamics a bit more quickly if I’d been reading the series from book one. There are a lot of supporting characters in this particular book, and it seems several of them have popped up in other books so I think it would have been easier for me to keep up with everyone if I wasn’t meeting all of them for the first time.

Bottom Line: This was my first read in the Merry Muffin series, and my first book by Victoria Hamilton, to my recollection, but it won’t be my last. I immediately connected with the author’s writing style, with her witty & smart first person narrative. The characters are nicely developed, even the supporting characters, and while I thought it got a bit bogged down in details at times, it remained engaging from start to finish. The castle, the eccentric characters, the last-minute reality show elements – all of these helped this cozy mystery stay fresh and unpredictable, and I also appreciated that it dealt with some serious issues without getting overly heavy in tone. I can’t wait to catch up on the series backlist & future books with Merry and crew!

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book

Double or Muffin is the 7th book in the Merry Muffin Mystery series by Victoria Hamilton. In this book I was pleased to meet former fashion stylist and baker Merry Grace Wynter, who inherited a castle - Wynter Castle - years ago in New York and is married to Virgil, a former Sheriff. Her best male friend, Pish Lincoln now runs her castle as a venue for events, a hotel for small groups of people or as a catering service and he has invited the cast and crew of an opera competition to film and live onsite for the duration of the filming. When one of them ends up left for dead, head and torso saturated with blood and found in the woods by Merry, the mystery begins.

Although book 7 in the series, this can be enjoyed as a stand-alone and I didn't feel disadvantaged not having read the previous instalments. With a compelling plot, drama aplenty, a great bunch of characters, and oodles of mayhem added to the mix, this was a fantastic read that kept me on my toes. Victoria Hamilton's clever writing style kept me fully engaged in the story even with the introduction of such a large number of characters. The author conveyed all the drama of the entertainment world so well, complete with the shy ones and the divas. With no shortage of suspects, there was plenty of clues and possibilities to satisfy even the most enthusiastic and diligent of armchair detectives. Trying to unravel the mystery alongside Merry was lots of fun and I welcomed the racy pace. I loved the savviness of Merry in sussing out the clues as well as her inner strength and independence. I would like to read the books I've missed in this series as I thoroughly enjoyed Double or Muffin and I’m game to see what shenanigans Merry gets into next. Very highly recommended.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Beyond the Page Publishing via NetGalley at my request and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

This was a bit different in the cozy series as the crime was a bit different. I felt that it was a bit slow at times and took awhile. It was a pleasant read but not one that kept me on the edge of my seat.

Merry Wynter has her hands full and her castle full as well. A reality show has arrived and it isn't long before drama takes over. Opera singers are earning the "diva" title and Merry is trying to keep them in line so she can keep to her schedule of various events. She has also agreed to do the catering for the cast and crew. She and her business partner Pish hadn't anticipated how complicated things were going to get and they never could have imagined how violent things would become.
As the 7th in the series this does work as a stand alone. Once you get through the first chapter and the large number of characters introduced in it, everything falls into place and the mystery is a winner. I guessed wrong several times due to some well placed red herrings and that made this series entry a very satisfying read.
My thanks to the publisher Beyond the Page and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a different setting for a mystery. Merry owns a castle in New York. Unbeknownst to her, her partner Pish has agreed to let a reality show for Opera hopefuls finish taping at the castle. Merry has her doubts. She is busy with window washers, baking, and now taking care of this group of divas.
Along with the crew and the contestants, a brassy journalist is thrown into the mix. When the journalist is found in the woods, after being attacked, Merry knows she has to figure out what is going on. Who would want to kill her? Merry has a plethora of suspects. Each opera contestant has a secret and then there is the producer and crew.

This was fun. Trying to decide who was hiding what and if there were dangerous kept me guessing. Lots of red herrings and quirky characters.

*I received a free copy of this book which I voluntarily chose to write an honest review for.

Newly married Merry is enjoying life. She goes to checkout on the castle one morning only to find it crawling with a television crew that she knew nothing about. Pish made a last minute decision to help them put with a location when they were kicked out of their old one. Merry grudgingly agrees though gives them a tight schedule due to upcoming events that have been planned for quite some time. This group is reality t.v. show focused on opera singers. She calls the group crazy and they definitely live up to that with all their strange behaviors. Makes for an interesting read as it all plays out that only changes slightly when one of them goes missing only to be found later close to death. This makes Merry start investigating before they all have to leave. Creates a varied mix of clues that will keep you guessing until it all plays out with some surprising results. I especially love her kitty who is quite the character in his own right. A really fun read that is sure to delight fans of cozy mysteries. I really liked it so I give it 4/5 stars.

"Double or Muffin" is the 7th book in the Merry Muffin Mystery series, but only the 2nd one I've read. Though there are references to past events from the previous installments, these books do not need to be read in order. In this story, Merry Wynter is hosting the production of a singing competition (think "The Voice" but all opera) in her castle. The contestants, judges, and crew are all a bit odd to say the least.

When a reporter covering the competition is attacked, Merry wants to ensure the investigation is wrapped up quickly so she gets involved. It turns out the reporter was looking into more than just the competition - she wanted to reveal secrets and scandals to make a name for herself. That means her attacker could be virtually anyone. More than one contestant was hiding a secret, and some contestants may not have been above sabotaging others for a chance to win.

Merry Wynter is a likable character, and her castle inheritance is a wonderful setting for a series. The competition didn't resonate with me much, but it may have if it was a genre that I enjoy and have some knowledge about. I wish the story had more about the business Merry runs and the baking/cooking, but there were a lot of characters involved and the focus did need to be on them.

Loved this book and author. If you haven't read her books. I highly doubt it. She has several different series

There is nothing I didn't love about the latest in Victoria Hamilton's A Merry Muffin Mystery series. In 'Double or Muffin' Merry is back with the usual cast of characters and the addition of a group of divas competing in an Opera competition reality show. There were so many twists and turns, with plenty of suspects that I was mostly surprised by the ending. The environs of Merry's Castle and all of it's quirky inhabitants keep me totally engaged with the series. I especially appreciate the relationship between Merry and her husband Virgil. It is all delightful to me. I highly encourage the entire series to those who enjoy excellent cozy mysteries.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

DOUBLE OR MUFFIN by Victoria Hamilton
The Merry Muffin Mystery

After being kicked out of their hotel in Rochester, NY, judges, contestants, and the crew of Opera DivaNation descend on Wynter Castle. The reality TV show brings more drama than a Wagnerian opera with a questionable uncle, an obnoxious stage mother, an associate producer intent on showing contestants in the worst light, and an entertainment reporter who would rather be reporting true crime. Although Merry Wynter feels something is wrong with her guests, she can't pinpoint the actual problem. When the reporter is found near death, Merry makes it her mission to find out what happened and why. As secrets are slowly uncovered Merry has to wonder, who would kill to keep their secret hidden?

As an opera fan I was thrilled to see opera brought into this, the seventh, Merry Muffin Mystery. The little operatic details brought interest to the story without impeding the mystery. There were lots of questionable characters and a generalized sense of unease from the start, but the true mystery didn't occur until halfway through the book. I was soaking up the ambiance and enjoying learning about the characters through their interactions, which helped solve the mystery in the long run, although I periodically wondered when a dead body would turn up and whose it would be.

While I like Merry and Virgil, I adore Becket, the true hero of this book. I also really liked Kamile, the mysterious and very talented soprano. Although a lot of her backstory was uncovered, I wanted to learn even more. I loved that the young opera contestant sang "O mio babbino caro", one of the first pieces I learned as a young, albeit older than her, singer. I also admit visualizing Mr. Bean's mimed rendition.

DOUBLE OR MUFFIN takes the drama of opera and mixes it with the salacious gossip of a tabloid with nods to current social issues to create a perplexing and eminently enjoyable mystery.

Just when you thought reality shows couldn’t get any cattier than RuPaul’s Drag Race, enter the world of Opera Divanation! In Double or Muffin, Merry and her business partner Pish host a competition show for aspiring opera singers in her castle in upstate NY.

If you, like me, know next to nothing about opera, no worries. Opera Divanation is more about the divas in the opera-based reality show than the operas themselves. There are a mass of characters. However, their fully realized personalities make it easy to keep them straight.

The mystery is a real challenge. The plot within the reality show itself was fun. Virtually everyone has secrets to hide that eventually come to the surface. Overall, Double or Muffin is a fun look behind-the-scenes at a reality TV show. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars!

Thanks to Beyond the Page Publishing, Great Escapes Book Tours, and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

family-dynamics, friendship, television, law-enforcement, private-investigators, series*****

If you like reality TV shows, you’ll love this story. Merry Grace Winter owns a castle that she turned into a B&B and is expanding to include a performing arts center. all the while making very fine muffins for the local senior citizens. The attempted murder of an intrusive journalist brings both her PI husband and his friends from his old Sheriff's Department into the picture. The publisher's blurb is a good hook. The characters are interesting and very clearly depicted as is the imagery of the locality. An engaging read.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Beyond the Page Publishing via NetGalley.

4.5 stars

This is the seventh book in the Merry Muffin series by Victoria Hamilton.

Drama returns to Wynter Castle when Merry Wynter’s partner decides to help judges and contestants in a reality tv show Opera singing contest and allow them to stay at the castled on short notice after being kicked out of their last accommodations. You knew from the beginning all this was going to be a problem.

I enjoyed the mystery and following the characters around but I wasn’t a big fan of the reality tv show part. Drama like that never appeals to me. But it was well-written and just a personal preference on my part. The story is more than stellar. The cast was fully crafted and detailed. Each and every person had quite a bit of backstory which usually isn’t the case for minor characters. Loved so much about it. Definitely check out this series, I know I want to go back and read quite a few books I have missed. I see a marathon in my future.

If you like cozy mysteries, definitely check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

If you like reality TV shows, you’ll love this story. It’s all about a reality TV show that is being filmed at the Wynter Castle. There’s a rather large cast of characters – which was part of the problem for me. This is the seventh in the series so I was a little lost with background on the main characters, although the author does a really good job of relating them to each other. But I believe you’d be better served if you started with the first book rather than the seventh as I did. I’ve never read this author before, but I will be reading more of her work. Once I got into the story, I really enjoyed it. There were a lot of suspects and it was, at times, difficult to keep them all straight. They all had secrets in their pasts that they wanted kept…secret. The story is full of all the stuff we expect from reality TV – favors in exchange for getting ahead, bribery, blackmail, egos, talent vs. no-talent, and more. This time, there’s no dead body—they found the victim in time—but being in a coma means not telling the cops who the villain was. Convenient, but it works.

I enjoyed the characters of Pish, Merry, Virgil, Lynn, Gordie, and the others attached to the storyline. I’m looking forward to reading more about them. And learning more about this castle and how it came to be for Merry. Which means I am definitely reading more in this series—from the beginning.

Recommendation: Although this is a stand-alone with a satisfying ending, I suggest you start at the beginning of the series so you know who’s who and what’s what. I believe your enjoyment will be enhanced by this. But overall, it’s a good cozy mystery that has a good ending.

Double or Muffin by Victoria Hamilton is maybe a nightmare bout a reality T.V. show descending on Merry and Wynter Castle: Opera Diva Nation. It is full of all the elements that one has always know were part of reality T.V.: progressing in exchange for sexual favors, bribery, blackmail, and pure hatefulness. There were six hopefuls: three male and three female. The females ended to be younger than the males, in fact tow were nearly children. All was controllably miserable and chaotic until there was a murder. That made it all worse.

The core characters in this series and very likable and real, although the two owners of Wynter Castle are opposite in every way. Merry is young, newly married, sensible, hard working, and compassionate. Her partner, Pish Lincoln, is and older man, gay, knowledgeable about the world and acquainted with a plethora of people in it, always having a resource to call upon. They were best friends. Odd. Merry keeps things going in a practical way. Pish is more esoteric. The mystery was a good one. The setting was ideal and interesting. Just enough odd terrain to provide for the mystery. All-in-all, this is a book worth reading if you enjoy cozy mysteries at all. Well done and page-turning. I recommend it.

I was invited to read a free ARC of Double or Muffin by Netgalley. All opinions expressed herein are solely my own. #netgalley #doubleormuffin

Merry Muffin Mystery series has Double or Muffin as book seven. Merry is hosting a reality TV opera contest at Wynter Castle. Of course there is drama when a reporter is found left for dead. Merry is determined to get to the bottom of the crime. This was a fun and fast paced mystery.
#DoubleorMuffin #NetGalley

Light cosy detective with, this time, a reality TV show being hosted in our sleuth's castle extraordinaire. The characters are about as unpleasant as they can be to each other - ambitious mothers, protective uncles, sniping diva not to mention the dirt-digging reporter. All of this on top of an inordinate amount of baking. Story was interesting, characters well described and ending satisfactory. Certainly furthers my conviction that, not having a TV, I'm missing little! Thanks to NetGalley and Beyond the Page Publishing for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is the seventh book in the Merry Muffin Mystery series, you can read this story without knowing what happened in the first six. I did. In this story, Merry Wynter has allowed a reality TV show to finish filming their show in Wynter Castle after a debacle has forced them out of a Rochester hotel. While filming, a reporter who’s been covering the competition is attacked and left for dead. Merry has to wend her way though the suspects to figure out who would’ve attacked the reporter, a woman not many there actually like. She’s dug up dirt on just about every contestant and is relentless in pursuing her stories.
Merry doesn’t solve this alone, she has the help of her cat Becket, her business partner Pish, friends, and her husband Virgil.
This was the first time I’d read a cozy mystery from this author, and it won’t be my last. Full of twists and turns, the story kept me on my toes. Good writing, wonderful characters, and just enough clues to keep you guessing.
*I received an ARC of this story from the publisher and this is my honest and voluntary review.

Yet another fun instalment in the Merry Muffin cozy mystery series. This time Merry is voluntold by her BFF Pish to host a reality TV opera contest at Wynter Castle. For those who haven’t been following the series, Merry is a former fashion stylist now turned castle owner and muffin baker.

The TV show was forced out of their original location due to drama on set. Now Merry needs to get to the bottom of all the drama to discover which contestant on the show is a would-be murderer.

All of our favourite characters have returned as well as some spicy newcomers. There are a lot of suspects but the author does a good job of keeping everybody straight so it’s not confusing. The reality TV setting was fun and fresh! Anne, the beleaguered show producer, was very entertaining.

This book also didn’t shy away from some serious topics like sexual harassment. It was nice to see a cosy take on this topic in a forward thinking way.

I recommend this book to cosy fans!