Wow, what an amazing ride this book took me on. The story had me hooked from the beginning. Absolutely adored the characters in the book! Such a catchy story that I enjoyed throughout the book. I would highly recommend this book!

Well that was quite the ride! A mystery story about an influencer who is starting anew when her great aunt passes away and leaves her a house, a bakery and a mastiff. The book starts out very slow with chapters that felt really long. The mc Maddy starts out so annoying but as the book picks up in plot and pace she becomes endearing and great. Once you get about half way through, the book picks up and is thrilling and full of great characters. The real winner throughout though is Baby the English Mastiff.

multigenerational, murder, murder-investigation, Michigan, small-business, small-town, greed, bakery, arson, inheritance, situational-humor, verbal-humor, cooking-lessons*****

The social media guru wearing Louboutin's shoes was left at the altar in front of all of YouTube. Raised by her father the admiral and never having any kind of limits she was recovering from this when she discovered that she had inherited from a great aunt. In Michigan. In a small town. Where she had to live and run the bakery (and doesn't even know how to turn on a stove) for a year. With a massive English Mastiff (worth big bucks in stud fees) who gives "droolworthy" a whole new meaning. She gets propositioned to sell the bakery by several slimy locals, but she doesn't really meet a lot of new true friends until the mayor gets killed after hours in the bakery and arson is also involved and she is taken to the police station. In a lily-white rural community. But not to worry, the chief and most of the community are totally in favor of her aunt (and by extension, Madison herself). Especially since aunt and select others read Sherlock Holmes and do sleuthing on real life cases. And that accounts for only the first third of the book! Great fun! Fine whodunit! Loved it!
I requested and received a free e-book copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

I wasn't sure what to expect out of this first in a new series by Valerie Burns, but I was not disappointed.
Madison Montgomery is our new protagonist, and at first meet, the impression is that she's a spoiled, privileged military brat. That impression is squashed as soon as we get to know Maddie, who is the sole heiress of her great aunts bakery, home, and dog, Baby.
Right from the beginning I could tell that this book was going to be a page turner, and as the story unfolds and the mystery develops, I grew to love Maddie, Baby, and all her new friends.
This book is filled with a great mystery, wonderfully colorful characters, and baked goods that will stay on your mind long after the story ends.
When I reached the end of the book, all I wanted was a hug from Baby and a piece of Great Aunt Octavia's chocolate soul cake.
I'm excited to recommend this book to others and I can't wait to see what happens next.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of this book.
#TwoPartsSugarOnePartMurder #NetGalley