Murder by Cheesecake was an absolute delight. The characters are exactly like they were in the show The Golden Girls. The puns were so much fun. Hearing about St. Olaf and the stories told brought back a lot of memories watching the show. The author did a fantastic job keeping each character authentic. Rose and Sophia were my favorite but they were all wonderful. This is the first book in the series and I’m excited for book two.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-arc via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

One of the most endearing TV shows to come out of the 80’s was The Golden Girls and with reruns, succeeding generations have come to know those feisty old gals from Miami. I was tickled to discover that a new to me author had taken up the challenge to pair these TV personalities with a cozy mystery. Of course, I was going to read it!

Murder by Cheesecake opens with Rose acting worried and distracted so that Dorothy, Blanche, and Sophia huddle about the breakfast table helping her figure out how to bring off a wedding before the bride and groom elope out of desperation. The woman Rose practically raised was planning a St. Olaf’s wedding until the venue fell through. Rose is desperate for her to have the wedding with all the bizarre small-town St. Olaf traditions so Dorothy and the others help her make it happen.

What with the groom’s snooty Miami hotel family looking down on the bride’s family’s quirky ways, Dorothy’s dating service date doing a face plant in the cheesecake in death, and Blanche making a handsome St. Olaf stud get a sizzling hot Florida welcome, the Golden Girls are on full and fabulous display as they work in wedding and detecting to make it happily ever after for all.

Murder by Cheesecake was not a cozy I picked up for the mystery and good thing. I wanted a reunion with the gals of gold and got it in spades. Rachel Ekstrom Courage did a fab job depicting each personality pitch perfect. Rose and Dorothy took the leads in this one. I confess that I was driven to near insanity by way too much screwball St. Olaf’s traditions, but Dorothy and Sophia’s wisecracks, Blanche’s southern vampishness, and Rose’s ditsy-ness hit the spot. The murder mystery was a side interest and good thing because it was the weak spot of the book. It wasn’t that developed and felt tacked on. The wedding drama and the Golden Girls were stronger elements.

All in all, I had a fabulous time and want to rush to click on Golden Girls shows. This is a series and I’m pretty sure I’ll be picking up the next one. So, for those who take their cozy mysteries seriously, I offer a moderate recommend, but if you want to revisit the Golden Girls in all their sparkling glory, definitely grab this one up.

As a huge fan of GG, I had high hopes for this cozy mystery. It was cute, made me laugh and I felt like I was transported into an unseen episode of GG. I liked the storyline and plot, but ultimately something was missing for me hence the 3 stars. If you’re a GG fan and looking for a nostalgic cozy mystery, I’d recommend.

This book was shelved for so long with me. I would read a chapter here and there. The first half of the book was too slow and lots of fluff. Really pushing Rose’s family traditions. The half way mark it started to pick up and got interesting and then it was like someone popped a balloon and everything deflated. A few chapters later it picked back up again, only for one last time the balloon to rapidly be popped. And then a wedding ceremony and it was over. I thank Hyperion Avenue for the ARC, my apologies for not reviewing it in time before the release date, for me it was a hard one to get through.

Oh, my the nostalgia! This was cute and while I could almost envision it as an episode of the Golden Girls it was unfortunately quite slow. The characters however were spot on and I wanted to love this more than I ultimately did. I'm not going to give up on this series as it has a ton of potential. I'm hoping that as it goes along the pacing gets better.

Overall this was a fun read filled with so much potential that I hope gets realized in the upcoming books.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This was a well-crafted cozy mystery and really hit the Golden Girls spot! It was lovely to be with these ladies again, and the author really nailed that! The mystery was fair and interesting.

This was a cute and enjoyable visit to Miami with our favorite gals. Courage did a great job of capturing the tone of the show and each character. The mystery element dragged a bit, but ultimately wrapped up in a satisfying way.

This book was so much fun!! I so loved the Golden Girls growing up, and this book brought on all the feels on Dorothy, Sophia, Rose And Blanche and the antics of the show!! This was a great mystery, and the characters felt so real, I had a great time with this book! I highly recommend this book!!

I'm over the moon about this Golden Girls mystery series!
Reading this feels 100% like watching an episode of The Golden Girls - enough said, but I'll go on.

Like most sitcoms, The Golden Girls usually follows two storylines. Storyline A features Rose, who is planning a wedding ceremony for her cousin, Nettie, following the traditional St. Olafian traditions - only in Miami. Storyline B takes us on a familiar path, in which Dorothy is looking for a date, this time to the wedding.

This leads to the Girls finding a dead body in a hotel freezer, right next to Rose's cheesecakes!
I cannot express how much I loved this book! The author has done her research in writing this, and I cannot get enough. I am ready to pre-order book two as soon as it's available and am on my way to Amazon to order a physical copy!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for our honest review.

This book was so much fun! As a HUGE Golden Girls fan, I knew I had to read this one. And oh my gosh was it worth it. It was so fun and reminiscent of the show while also adding something fresh and new to the story. The characters remained the ones I've always loved. It was a joy to read. As for the mystery aspect, it was engaging without being too cliche or cheesy. I loved reading this book and will be reading more from this author in the future!

Murder by Cheesecake is a delightful cozy mystery that fans of charming sleuths and witty banter will absolutely adore. With its lovable cast of Golden Girls–inspired characters, a decadent cheesecake-themed murder, and clever twists, the novel is as comforting as a slice of cheesecake itself. Rachel Ekstrom Courage balances humor, mystery, and heart with ease, delivering a fun and engaging read that feels like a warm hug—perfect for curling up with on a cozy evening. Highly recommended for anyone who loves lighthearted mysteries with personality!

I loved it. It was like watching an episode but from within my own head! I could hear each character's voice in my head while reading this.

“𝐈 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬, 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞.”

Murder By Cheesecake is the first in a new cozy mystery series, featuring everyone’s favourite Golden Girls!

Rose is fretting about hosting the wedding of Nettie, her close cousin, trying to balance St. Olaf traditions with the expectations of Miami, while Dorothy uses a VHS dating service to try and find a man to bring to the wedding. But when her date is found in the hotel kitchen freezer, and Dorothy is deemed the main suspect, it is up to the girls to prove her innocence. Will they be able to save the day? Rachel Ekstrom Courage is clearly a big fan of the show and has done her homework; she perfectly captures the personalities and comedic zingers of Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia, making me feel like I was watching an episode of the series. She makes some quite clever references to some classic episodes, including the nudist hotel, which as a fan of the show made me smile. Ekstrom Courage also uses her own creativity to incorporate St. Olaf traditions that feel like they come right out of Rose’s stories - why wouldn’t St. Olaf have a custom of having an actual shower before the bridal shower?! The mystery itself isn’t the strongest, where at times the wedding antics overshadowed it. There was some fun investigating scenes, and the ending had the right amount of surprise and camp, though the culprit had me scrambling to try and remember who they were. I hope that in future books, Ekstrom Courage can tighten up the mystery aspect, as strongly as she captured the essence of what made The Golden Girls so special.

Murder By Cheesecake is am entertaining nostalgic read, made especially for fans of The Golden Girls. Thank you to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for the ARC!

This was actually a lot of fun. Instead of marrying off Dorothy and attempting a failed spin off, the creators of the real Golden Girls should have introduced them to murder. Author Ekstrom-Courage captures their banter well and anyone with even the slightest fondness for the OG's of Miami should enjoy this mystery. I liked how good old St. Olaf is represented by the storyline of a young Nettie (Rose's young cousin) marrying a man of means from Florida. The Minnesota contingent keeps Rose on her toes while making sure she doesn't leave out any of the sometimes-wacky wedding traditions from home. There's a dead guy, a twist or two and just an all-around fun read.

This book felt like it was pulled straight from an episode of Golden Girls. Rose is preparing to host a wedding for her cousin, Nettie, wherein an inheritance clause makes it necessary for the wedding to contain many St. Olaf traditions. Dorothy, feeling a bit lonely and sad at the prospect of no date to the wedding, she decides to try a video dating service. After an awkward date, her new boyfriend is found dead - at the wedding venue no less, Dorothy becomes the primary suspect in the murder and starts to derail all the wedding plans! It was cute, silly and full of so many great moments, Sometimes it felt like the comedy and our favorite 'girls' were taking the spotlight to the mystery, but I will absolutely read on in the series!

Murder by Cheesecake is the first cozy mystery by Rachel Ekstrom Courage featuring the Golden Girls (from the TV series). Released 15th April 2025 by Disney Int'l (they own the license) on their Hyperion Ave. publishing imprint, it's 336 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

The book, the characters, the settings, the ancillary characters, in short everything is quite often almost caricature campy and overdone, nearly (but not quite) breaking the fourth wall. There are a number of super precious details which only seemed placed to tie the characters to their TV personas. The secondary characters are largely over-the-top stereotypes, but again, fair play for the genre (and with the full understanding that it's not meant to be anything other than an escape and homage).

The language is very clean and the violence level is "cozy" (no egregious on page descriptions).

Three and a half stars, with the understanding that it's primarily aimed at readers who are huge golden girls fans already and just want to read an escapist book "episode"

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Too nonsensical even for a light read. Tried hard to actually get into this book and could not do it.

I absolutely loved this book! The up and downs from each character was thought out and expressed. There were a few typos on spelling and punctuation so I would double check that.

this was hilarious and I loved it. a VHS dating service? perfect. way too much wedding plot and not enough murder plot but I am so hoping for more of these. they are an easy fun read.

This was a lighthearted easy read that perfectly describes the Golden Girls characters. The book balanced humor and suspense very well making this a very entertaining read. I honestly felt the book was a tad bit too long, I was easily bored about halfway in, and I also felt there were a few too many characters to keep track of. But I really enjoyed how well the characters matched the show. I look forward to reading more by this author.

Thank you #NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.