Thank you Netgalley and the author for an ARC copy in exchange for my review.

Think British Baking show with a little murder, lol
Six amateur bakers are living their dream when they are chosen to be contestants on Bake Week, a well-known competition show.
Y'all, everyone showed up to this thing with some kind of baggage.
There was so much going on, sabotage, lies, affairs oh, and murder.
I felt like this one had 2 different plots going on at once.
Two of the characters had a brutal past together and that shared history definitely affects the entire plot.
But, there was also the scheming and drama happening among the rest of them.
I liked it, wasn't in love and honestly guessed a lot of what would happen.

Enjoyed this, but not quite as much as I hoped. I was expecting more literary mystery, and this was firmly in the cozy genre, atmospheric but predictable without much in the way I’d twists and turns. Still a fun cozy! It was a nice enjoyable read, if not terribly notable.

This book was so much fun! Imagine The Great British Bake Off, but then add in a little bit of a murder mystery element and you have this debut book by Jesse Maxwell!

The story follows along six home bakers as they arrive at Grafton Manor, the home of America’s Grandmother, Betsy Martin, and the location of the show, Bake Week. Over the course of the next week, the contestants will be pitted against each other in a series of bakes with one person being eliminated each day until one is left and wins the coveted Golden Spoon. But off the bat, things start to wrong and a sinister undertone begins to take shape…

This book is told in seven POVs— the six bakers and then Betsy herself! Though it took a tiny bit of adjusting to catch onto the narrative shifts, I did like who each character had their own distinct personality and background that it made it easier to remember each AND figure out who your favorite characters were.

Throughout the course of the competition, I genuinely felt like I was watching a baking show, but in book form and I loved it! Plus it made me crave so many baked items so prepare yourself! Aside from the “on screen” aspect, I also enjoyed the behind the scenes where you start to learn that something is going on at Grafton Manor. Certain contestants are seemingly being messed with during their bakes and you don’t know why are who. But the conspiracies behind it are endless.

Ultimately, everything comes crashing down at the end and secrets come out for the first time in decades. Admittedly, my biggest critique of this book was with the ending because it felt very rushed when I didn’t think it needed to be. (The book is only 270 pages so could’ve been drawn out a bit more.) Plus I thought the reveal into the whole baking mess was so quick and underwhelming that it left some to be desired.

I still very much enjoyed this and found it to be a fun mystery! It did also cover some other topics like workplace assault/ abuse, depression, and more + had a sweet found family aspect to it in the end.

This is a really fun read, a wild ride, and a completely unexpected mash of ideas and themes. A hugely fun read.

The Great British Bake Off meets And Then There Were None. I liked the different characters - because although there were more than one character, the different characters stood out from one another. The characters each were unlikeable, but still likable - with the exception of Lottie and Paul. I just wished there were more suspense/mystery aspect.

This book is getting so much attention! I love cozy mysteries, baking, and baking shows, so I was excited about this one. It has a fantastic premise and some well-imagined characters. The setting added a lot to the story. I did feel pacing was off, editing needed to be better, and some of the characters and plot points were very under-developed. I have seen that this is being turned into a mini series… I actually think this would make a wonderful series, and I will likely end up enjoying it more than the book. 5star premise but good/fine execution.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my complimentary copy.

loved this so so so much!
i read this in one sitting, i loved all the twists and turns and how the ending and epilogue played out.and the whole competition i would like to see this adapted

Jessa Maxwell's The Golden Spoon is the perfect mix of curiosity, mystery and scandal with a dash of reality tv mixed in. When six amateur bakers arrive at the regal Grafton Manor to film a baking competition, things start to go sideways quickly. As the contestants are focusing on baking various sweets and continuing on the to next round, the host of the show, and owner of Grafton Manor, Betsy Martin is trying to save her family's legacy and maintain respect within the show business world. Then a body is found...

This locked room, murder mystery is an enjoyable read, perfect for a low key weekend, or a great distraction while your own cakes and pies are cooling in the kitchen. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for a copy of this novel.

I really enjoyed this book, but found that the narration style was a little incongruous with the story and it pulled me out of it a bit. But I still recommended to friends for sure!

Like a delicious mixture of Chopped and an Agatha Christie novel, The Golden Spoon was a simply delectable read.

OK, I promise those are the last of my food puns. But seriously, this book has the appeal of a book about a cutthroat, yet in a way charming, food reality competition that takes place at the mysterious yet seemingly charming Betsy Martin's home, combines with the creepy atmosphere of a suspense novel that comes to fruition when things start to go wrong and culminates when a body is found and everyone realizes that there's a killer amongst them.

Honestly, this was one of those book I couldn't put down. It is told from the viewpoints of each of the contestants, which you have to get used to at first, but once you get to know the contestants, it's not a problem. Their voices are all unique and they all had really interesting stories, IMO.

The solution was pretty intense! I loved it and I thought it was pretty clever. Thought some things were not incredibly surprising I thought it was all done really well, including the final chapter, which I won't give away. I'll just say, read until the very end. Dun dun dun!!!

Anyway, make sure to pick this one up. It's a super sweet suspenseful ride (OK, so I lied :) )

The Golden Spoon had a lot of potential with those comps - murder mysteries! bake-off! It really hit the tone of the bake-off moments, but I don't think it was what I wanted from a mystery. The story didn't feel totally cohesive, and the ending didn't have the emotional impact I wanted. I loved Pradyumna's POV but I didn't find many of the others especially compelling. I'll keep an eye on this author, though!

I would read a whole series of books like this! As a fan of all cooking shows “battles” I could even see this as a tv series. TGBBO meets Clue in a fascinating who done it, and let me tell you sabotage is definitely afoot in the tent.

I loved this book so much! I really didn’t know what it was about when I started reading it, but I quickly was obsessed! The characters are well developed, and I couldn’t help but love them all!

What happens when there's a murder on a TV reality baking show? This was a fun read. Told from each character's point of view, you get the inside look at what goes on behind the scenes of a "British Baking Show". Each character is up to something and a few of them have a motive for murder. While there were no super twists or turns, it was still a great who-done it. Recommended.

A murder mystery inspired by The Great British Bake Off? Sign me up. Or at least that's what I thought when I heard about The Golden Spoon. Sadly, the idea sounded better in my head than it turned out on paper. While the concept was awesome, there was just something missing from this one.

This book is told in alternating chapters between the different POV characters, which I don't mind. My problem is that I couldn't muster enough energy to really care about any of them. None of them really felt like real people to me and instead felt more like a caricature of a person. Maybe that was intentional as reality tv often boils people down to stereotypes, but in the book it caused a disconnect from the characters.

The plot was fine, but a bit predictable. It moved at a reasonable pace and didn't drag which at least kept me moving through it. I will say for a book that revolves around a baking show, I wish there was more food description.

Also, I don't know why this was a problem, but because I associate this concept with The Great British Bake Off, it felt weird trying to imagine this instead set in the USA. Every time it mentioned the location, something in my brain was like "that isn't right".

All in all, this story could've been amazing, but was just so-so for me. It wasn't horrible, but it doesn't break the mold either. If you want an easy to read mystery, then this may be worth a try.

*I received an egalley on this ebook from Netgalley. This in no way impacts my review.

The Golden Spoon is a delicious romp into a high stakes baking show meets Agatha Christie. Even without the mystery aspect, there is so much going on that this still would have been a fascinating read. The “icing on the cake” was the multi-character point of view. This allowed us to really understand and connect with each character. without giving away the mystery. Overall, I thought this was an entertaining adventure into one of my favorite worlds-with a twist at the end!

An enjoyable romp with good character detail for the contestants on a tent baking show. Very familiar to followers of the Great British Baking Show, only this takes place in Vermont and the judges aren't so likeable.

I reviewed this book on our Library's monthly podcast Fairfield What Are You Reading? linked below

Murder mystery in a baking show... Bake Week is starting filming for its 10th season at Grafton Manor, a Vermont Mansion owned by renowned baking star Betsy Martin. Six contestants have come to the manor to compete in bakes during the week - but this season, they've introduced a co-host, Archie Morris. But nothing really goes according to plan... Bakes are being sabotaged, there's tension between the hosts some other shady things happening.

I went into this book completely blind. I had no idea what it was about. While, I love a good mystery/thriller... this was not that. It was just okay. It felt very "murder mystery dinner" like.

I felt like the plot was fairly predictable. I called a lot of the twists way before they happened. The characters were just kind of "meh". I wasn't intrigued by them. I just felt there was a lot left to be desired.

4.5/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, and Jessa Maxwell for allowing me to read and review this book.

This is a fast paced well written mystery. You follow multiple POVs from all the contestants of this bake show and the shows original host. You quickly get to know each character, their flaws and quirks. Getting to know each characters inner thoughts and how they see what is going on makes for a very interesting read.

You sort of feel like you’re experiencing a reality show behind the scenes look at a popular baking show. You get to see what goes through the contestants minds behind the camera and when the cameras are off. You also get to see the pasts of each character come into view and how it effected who they are during the filming.

There are a few smaller mysteries you will get to follow while the main mystery plays out, which is who will die and who will be the killer. (This is not a spoiler it is revealed someone dies in the prologue.)

This book will keep you entertained and interested throughout. And watching it all unfold is something you will not want to take a break during. I had a hard time putting this book down.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes multiple POVs, a good mystery, and trying to figure out how everything will play out in the end.

If you're looking to fill the void between seasons of The Great British Bake Off, this standard cozy mystery will hit the spot.

Told from multiple perspectives, we're introduced to the competition's contestants as they attempt to bake their way to the top spot amid baking catastrophies, intrigue, and danger.

The book started out a bit slow as we're introduced to the characters one-by-one, but once you get past the first few chapters it's easier to settle in while the story unfolds with each character lending a distinct perspective and personality to the mystery of "unfortunate" circumstances that occur in each stage of the competition.

It was a really immersive read once I got going, but it wasn't a nail biter (especially if you read/watch a love of whodunnits), It’s a light and quick read, so it's great for when you want some easy entertainment with a mystery element.

My thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy of this book.