This is a modern riff on an Agatha Christie type country mystery with a picturesque English
village, eccentric neighbors, and a lead character who bakes for a living, but anyone who’s
read it knows it’s far edgier than it appears on the surface, and the writing is exemplary. Murray
takes those cozy genre tropes and subverts them handily. Most importantly, the main character is a loner
with significant life challenges. Warm and fuzzy she is not. And the mystery revolves around
what turns out to be a series of murders that reveal dark secrets about the town.

Arya Winterslives in a cottage in a small English village and bakes for a living she specializes in macabre desserts. She has nosy neighbors who she avoids due to her social anxiety. She has taken interest in all things sexy, especially Branwell Beam the writer next door. When her neighbor Tobias Yards turns up dead after eating poisoned tiramisu no one connects it to Arya’s Auntie Meera’s recent death. Instead they blame Tobia’s nephew and so she takes matters into her own hands to uncover the truth. Arya doesn’t realize that the murder is dangerous preying on lonely people who haven’t experienced trauma and she might have to do all she can not to become the next victim. A very enjoyable story great characters.

Not your typical cosy mystery. The heroine, Arya Winters, is a curvy professional baker of macabre themed desserts. Having Tourette’s, she’s more comfortable scaring people away than opening herself up and risk hurt and rejection. We meet up with Arya as she settles into the house she’s inherited from her murdered aunt. Despite her caustic nature she can’t get rid of people wanting to be friends or lovers or both. When there’s another murder in the village Arya forces herself to begin interacting with her neighbours to find the murderer. There are so many secrets in a small village! Warning! Arya’s passionate nature, lots of bed hopping neighbours, naked corpses and one steamy encounter might push the boundaries of your definition of a cosy mystery. I can’t wait to see what Arya get up to next. Highly recommend.

Great book! Story was enticing and draw the reader in. Arya winters in a great character who brought the story together! Look forward to next book.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book was probably one of the most entertaining books I have read in a long time. A very well written cozy mystery with grit, spice, and a ton of humor. The "heroine" has severe social anxiety, and what I believe to be is tourettes (?) To say I loved Arya Winters would be an understatement. I am pretty sure she is my "social anxiety spirit animal" 😂 Honestly, her thoughts and some of the stuff that comes out of her mouth had me laughing out loud. On top of that, we have a plethora of hilarious and quirky side characters, a delightful small English Village setting, and a plot that kept me guessing right until the end. I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book in this series. At least I hope it will be a series because they leave us on a bit of a cliffy and I desperately need more Arya in my life! 😂

**ARC Via NetGalley**

I really enjoyed the plot and was always on my toes with Arya wondering who had done it, but the ending was not what I wanted.

Arya Winters moves to Trucklewood and into the home of her late Auntie Meera, who had been murdered in her own home. Arya is not very social, but starts making friends and acquaintances in order to figure out what happened to her aunt.

When they revealed who had done it, it made sense. I did not ever think it was the person. It was a surprise to me, which I love about mysteries. I just wish the ending was happier. However, the book was still an easy read.

Thanks to Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Some of my favorite cozy mystery series involve a slightly anti-social, crotchety, and curious senior citizen who asks blunt questions in the village while trying to solve a murder or two. Baked goods are often involved and some interesting townsfolk who could be the sleuth's friends or could be the prime suspect.

Arya Winters is that main character you expect in a cozy. Only she's 30 and her delicious baked goods lean toward the macabre. She's trying to connect the murder of her beloved Auntie Meera with another murder in the village. This forces her out of her comfort zone and out into the public. Her inner dialogues and the way she often breaks the fourth wall to address the reader are fantastic.

I do wish there was a recipe for the black widow / spider granola that is mentioned several times in the book.I'm so curious as to what makes it spidery.

I would definitely read another installment in this series.

*I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher and I am required to disclose that in my review in compliance with federal law.

What an amazing start to a very promising series! I loved the main character and fell in love with her life and the town itself. I can’t wait to read more in this series.

This is not a traditional cozy mystery nor a thriller. It features elements from those genre and an interesting anti-heroine.
It's a bit dark and Arya is a blunt and original characters.
I liked it and it kept me reading even if it wasn't hard to guess the culprit.
I can understand why cozy mystery lover could not love it but I thoroughly enjoyed it as it's well written and compelling.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This is definitely not your typical cozy mystery. Aria Winters is a macabre baker in a small English town who is quiet the unique character. Although it's never stated officially, Aria does seem to have Tourettes syndrome and that makes for interesting interactions with the people around her. She gets involved with solving the murder of one of her only friends in town and stumbles across an even more sinister situation. There is a romantic element in this book as well, although it's very sexual on Aria's side. In fact the book has a lot of sexual themes that would not normally be found in cozy mysteries, as well as swearing - more of a cozy/thriller hybrid.
Overall I liked the book, but I didn't love it and I feel like Arya has a charm, but she needs more books to grow on you.

I really wanted to like this more. I thought the premise was interesting and Arya is cool with her dark, gothic baking, but to me something got lost along the way. I didn’t quite “get”
Arya. I guess I just didn’t understand what her deal was most of the time and why she acted out like a child most of the time. Also the mystery moved so slowly and the resolution felt weird to me and like it came out of the blue.

This was such a fun who dunit with some bizarre twists. Arya was a character I can get behind coz I feel that
a flawed personality seems more realistic. Arya sets out to investigate a murder of a neighbor she considers a friend. She is quite anti social and therefore surprises everyone in the village by seeking them out. She finds a host of entertaining neighbors. She also encounters her handsome neighour who she crushes on. He has things to hide as well.

I hope to see the next installment of the book assuming this is a series. Crossing my fingers.

Really interesting story with great characters. Very much appreciate a neurodivergent lead who is unapologetically different and doesn't really change or become magically "fixed" in the end.
The killer is unfortunately obvious from the moment they are introduced and I don't think that was intentional on the author's part.

A main character who bakes for a living and a murder in a small English village. Sounds like your typical cozy but this ok definitely isn’t. Arya Winters, the main character, can be abrasive which makes her hard to warm up to. She has no issues telling it like it is, even if it hurts everyone around her.

A mystery with surprises, it also is a a lot more graphic than many cozies and the talking of sex and language was a surprise to me in a cozy mystery. If you want someone more out of your cozy that gives you some questionable behavior and quirkiness this is probably the book for you.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

"Arya Winters and the Tiramisu of Death" is a fun novel, not as cozy as you'd think the sub-genre's staples tend to be but "not cozy" enough to fit into another sub-genre.

Arya is a baker extraordinaire, happiest to be left alone, living in a very interestingly-named town called Trucklewood, where she has moved soon after her aunt (and closest relation) has passed away. In her brief stay, Arya has made herself as unavailable to her fellow citizens as she can, working tirelessly to keep up with the constant stream of orders that come her way.

When her ex's uncle is found murdered almost ritualistically, Arya plunges into getting to the bottom of the mystery, even though it forces her to make contact with other people, the sort of thing she prefers not to do.

Amita Murray should first be congratulated for coming up with Arya: rare are the instances where we get women with as much agency as Arya, and as much self-awareness. She knows exactly what she wants, how she feels, what she's doing. She wears all the bullet points about herself very lightly - notably her Tourette's, something she never overtly explains to anyone in the novel.

There is a great deftness with which Murray gets down to deconstructing her plot, and though there are multiple occasions where one tires of Arya, it's a mark of just how well the writing works. We aren't meant to love her at all. Just like her enough as a person to go along on this journey.

The novel probes some very interesting spaces that seem almost totally detached from the mystery, so much so that it almost feels like a stream-of-consciousness piece than a murder mystery.

I particularly enjoyed the little details Murray adds, and the fact that a reader has an almost equal chance of guessing the murderer before the denouement.

Would definitely return to Murray's work for seconds.

A small English village, a character who bakes for a living and of course a murder. Sounds like your typical cozy but it isn’t quite. Arya Winters, the main character, does not believe in the little white lies that grease the wheel of social interactions. In fact, she can be abrasive which makes her hard to warm up to. She has issues which makes her interesting and some one I can identify with. She is also a millennial with the taste of the macabre (she specializes in macabre desserts).

A solid mystery with surprises, it also is a little more graphic than many cozies and the talking of sex will surprise some people. But if you want something more than just a fluffy cozy, something that has more substance and a bit more realistic (along with some quirky, questionable behavior and humor) this might be right up your alley. I would be interested in reading the next in the series.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

enjoyed this book and it was a quick read for me. Easy recommendation to family and friends and our local library.

Loved it! Arya, who has struggled with Tourettes (know that this is never specified as her diagnosis) since she was a child is living in the home of her aunt Meera's who was murdered several months ago. Her aunt took her in when her parents, well, her parents didn't want her but they became estranged short before Meera's death. Craig broke up with Arya (no great loss) but she stalks him a bit, which is how she knows he wasn't the one who murdered his uncle Tobias. But who poisoned the tiramisu Arya made and left on his doorstep. She makes friends (and wants more) with Bran, an author who is also new to the village. Then there's another murder. This is a delightful sorta cozy- it's got all the elements: an intrepid heroine, a love interest, murder, a village, baking. It's distinguished however by a different sort of attitude from Arya, the detectives, all of it. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This won't be for everyone but it's a fun read that I very much enjoyed. Can't wait to see more from Murray.

Meet Arya Winters…
Meet Arya Winters, living in an idyllic English village with an aversion to ‘other people’. Arya becomes involved in all things murderous in this quirky tale which somewhat turns the cosy mystery genre upside down and inside out. An involved plot and a colourful cast of characters makes for a fun read.

A fairly typical (if slightly sexier) entry into the cozy mystery sub-genre for much of the book, I mostly enjoyed this read. There aren’t many books that have lead characters with Tourette's, especially not women, so that was a nice change of pace, even if it times it felt like Arya’s behavior was just marking off a checklist of symptoms. Ayra is frustrating at times and too over-the-top “not like other people”, but I still found myself liking her. The mystery was compelling enough, and I loved the descriptions we got of Ayra’s horror baked good creations. There’s the typical village full of (often overly) quirky characters who don’t have much depth, but are still fun. My main problem was the end. I come to cozy mysteries for the cozy aspect, and the end was a real downer., like a romance novel without a HEA, it should come with some sort of warning. I like books that play around with and even stretch genre conventions, but in this case it felt rather mean. I assume that this is the first in the series, but you don’t need to have an unhappy ending to set up further adventures of Arya.