I thought this book was fantastic. It had everything you remembered from the Golden Girls, Betty's innocence, Dorothy's scorn, Blanche's flirty appetite , Sophia's quick wit. Stories from St. Olaf and Sicily. Romance and murder, all rolled into one. I would recommend to a friend. I can't wait to read the other books in the series. Thank you Nick for encouraging her to write this story. Also a cheesecake recipe? Make the cheesecake, then settle into the book.

#MurderbyCheesecake #NetGalley

Wise Sophia, Goodhearted Rose, Irrepressible Blanche, Introspective Dorothy. The original "Girl Squad" is all here.

For readers who want to revisit the 80s, past GG episodes (a number of mentions of some classic episodes made it to the book) , and looking for a cozy mystery, this book is for you. The author also has images like Sophia's purse and the green palm leaves that were part of Blanche's boudoir at the start of each chapter which added to the GG experience.

So what's the story about? The author melds an upcoming wedding of Rose's St. Olafian niece with a murder that Dorothy gets caught up in.


This ARC was provided by the publisher, Hyperion Avenue, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I grew up watching the Golden Girls, and jumped at the opportunity to read a GG murder mystery. I really wanted to love this, but I ended up speed reading through a lot of the book because it didn't quite land for me. I found the writing and story to be poorly executed, but the heart and the humor are there! This would make a good spring or summer vacation read with a slice of cheesecake.

Murder by Cheesecake is truly a flashback to the 1980's! Rachel Ekstrom Courage nailed the main characters, Rose, Blanche, Sophia, and Dorothy, with the precision of the reigning Olympic Gymnastics Gold Medal Queen. Throughout the entire book I felt as if I was watching an original episode of The Golden Girl as she portrayed the leads as accurately as if she had actually written the screenplays.

Rose, with all of her St. Olaf sayings and customs, leads the story as she helps her niece plan and carry out her wedding. In the midst of the planning and pre-wedding festivities, a dead man is found face down in a cheesecake Rose lovingly prepared. As expected, one of the Golden Girls is the main suspect, and the foursome is determined to solve the murder in spite of the Miami PD. Their antics are true to the sit-com and just when you think it can't get any funnier or more bizarre, it does. Rose's naivete shines through when she frequently needs to be reminded that "anyone can be a murderer" no matter how innocent they act.

As someone who ADORES the Golden Girls, this book just did not hit with me.
I mainly skimmed the book, as I just could not get past the writing, the story is very lacking in my opinion.

I really wanted to love it, but as a true fan of the show, this did not do it justice.

I’m going to preface this by saying I’m not a casual Golden Girls viewer — I’ve watched it daily for the last two decades so naturally, I’m going to see things the casual viewer would not in this.

Because of that, I really wanted to love this. But honestly, I found myself speed reading/skimming the last half. This book could do with some serious edits. The purple prose and exposition were heavy and it made for a bit of a slog. Like other reviewers have mentioned, the wedding was too detailed and the mystery felt like a subplot.

There were times this treaded into the uncomfortable uncanny territory where you know it’s the characters because you’re being told it is, but something feels off. It was weird how there were nods to plot points from the show and minor characters, but then basic details were so wrong (Sophia doesn’t use a cane, she also doesn’t really use pet names like sweetheart and honey especially with strangers, and Blanche hit menopause in the season 2 premiere). And those basic errors really pulled me out of the book. I also recognize that I’m probably an anomaly noticing these things and for the very casual fan, they’re not going to see it.

If you like the idea of the Golden Girls and you’ve seen some episodes, you may really enjoy this. If you’re a big Golden Girls fan and want to really dive into obscure St. Olaf wedding shenanigans, check your expectations at the door and proceed with caution.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the ARC.

Unfortunately this book was not at all what I had hoped it would be. While I applaud the effort the author had made to keep the jokes witty and the banter flowing, it did not read like the beloved golden girls would. I am a huge fan of the show so I’ll admit my expectations were pretty high going in. The idea of the book itself was fantastic, however the writing and story itself was poorly executed,

I was pretty excited when I saw "Golden Girls Mystery" I immediately applied.

There's so much to live up to here. When you say Golden Girls you better bring it. The banter. The laughter. The friendships. The wholesome feeling you get after every episode.

I commend the author for trying. I would have never went there knowing I couldn't deliver what people are going to expect.

I am so upset I don't like it 😬 I thought it was rather boring and slow. I know it's a cozy mystery, but I was left without the Golden Girls feelings. There are a ton of grammatical errors that were very hard to look over, the storyline didn't pull me in at all like I hoped.

Thank you for the opportunity to read.

What a great idea! A cozy murder with THE Golden Girls. I grew up watching and continue to do so to this day. Five stars on nostalgia alone. The characters were kept v true to form and the book had so many details from the series that warmed my heart. It was written in simplistic sitcom style and I’m not mad at it. It says book one so if this is a series SIGN ME UP. Thank you NetGalley for this advance copy in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to the author for this lovely journey with my favorite girl gang.

This book reads took me back in all the right ways! The author did a great job of writing our beloved Golden Girls true to character, all the way down to their clothes and mannerisms. The mystery was enjoyable and the ending was satisfying. I hope to this is the first in a series!

Thanks go to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

So thankful I got the chance to read this cozy Golden Girls mystery. I have always been a big fan of them. The characters were captured perfectly throughout the novel. I could picture it like I was thrown back into the show. I always really enjoyed the mystery surrounding the murder. What kept me from really feeling like I loved this book was the focus being so heavily on the wedding. I felt like details on every part of the wedding were a bit dragged out and I wanted to skip those parts to get back to solving what happened. Thankful I got this ARC and did enjoy the nostalgia!

As a superfan of The Golden Girls, I’ve watched every single episode more times than I can count. Even my husband, after 20+ years of marriage, is well-versed in the lives of Blanche, Dorothy, Sophia, and Rose!

So, imagine my surprise (and excitement!) when I found out that a Golden Girls cozy murder mystery was coming out this year. Of course, I had to get my hands on an early copy!

In Murder by Cheesecake, Rose is planning a wedding for her cousin (surrogate niece) in Miami, complete with all the quirky St. Olaf traditions. But when a dead body turns up in the hotel freezer, Dorothy becomes the prime suspect. Rose, naturally, is distraught—because, well, Dorothy shouldn’t have joined a dating service. With the police struggling to solve the case, the girls take it upon themselves to clear Dorothy’s name—before the wedding is completely derailed.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! It made me laugh out loud several times, and the characters felt so spot-on that I could almost see the scenes play out, just like in the show. However, there were a few things that didn’t quite sit right with me—maybe because I’m such a die-hard Golden Girls fan.

For instance, at one point, Sophia is described as having a cane. A cane?! I don’t ever remember seeing Sophia with a cane in the show, so that felt a bit out of place. There's many episodes of Sophia or Rose cooking or baking—it made sense that there’d be some cooking for the wedding. But where was the store-bought cheesecake? I mean, how did they manage to solve a murder without sitting around the kitchen table with a pre-packaged cheesecake from the grocery store? That’s a Golden Girls staple!

That said, I didn’t take issue with Rose having a favorite tea (Earl Grey—totally acceptable). But it was curious that she baked so many cheesecakes for the wedding when, let’s be real, the girls usually just bought them.

All in all, Murder by Cheesecake was a fun and nostalgic read, especially for Golden Girls fans. While a few details felt off to me, the heart and humor of the show were definitely there. If you love the girls as much as I do, it’s worth picking up—just don’t expect them to be solving mysteries over a store-bought cheesecake!

This was utterly delightful and I paused more than once while reading to listen for the laugh track. Author Rachel Ekstrom Courage clearly has a great deal of love for her source material and she treats these beloved ladies with all the respect they deserve. When Rose is forced to plan a full St. Olaf wedding in Miami for her beloved cousin, Dorothy, Blanche and Sophia jump on board to help. Things get off to a shaky start that gets even shakier when a dead body shows up at the wedding kickoff event, the Welcome Tuna Teatime and Dorothy becomes the prime suspect! Now the girls have to balance wedding festivities and crime solving if they hope to have Dorothy cleared by the wedding! It was a lovely surprise how easily this beloved sitcom lends itself to the cozy mystery genre. Courage does a wonderful job of staying true to the series while also allowing the girls to fall perfectly into detective roles that totally suit their personalities. I sincerely hope this is only the first in a long series.

First and foremost I received an e-arc from NetGalley.

Now, I wanted to love this book. I really did. Especially because it’s the Golden Girls but, it fell short. Not many laughs which left me bored. It’s not what I expected. Maybe you’ll have a better opinion but for me, it’s a no.

The Golden Girls is one of my favorite shows and when I saw this pop up, I knew I had to read it. While I loved the idea of reading a new crazy adventure these ladies were about to get themselves into, I realized early on this was a miss for me. For starters, I just didn't care about the wedding. There was so much detail about the wedding and St. Olaf traditions but very little about the murder. There was a main focus on two of the Golden Girls while the other two are merely there as background. So because of these reasons, I'm giving this 2 stars. Loved the idea but the execution didn't work for me.

Really felt like you could hear the character voices through the story. It took me back to the 90s and reruns on Lifetime.

I’m such a huge fan of The Golden Girls I knew I had to read this when I saw it available to request and I’m so glad I did. This book plays out in front of you as if you’re watching an episode of the show. I loved absolutely every second of it. I hope there are more to come!

I’ll perhaps elaborate more later but for now keeping this uncharacteristically short for me. I believe that if you enjoyed the tv show “Golden Girls”, you’re likely to enjoy this. It’s about as close to sitting in front of our tv and watching the beloved characters as they navigate another episode in their virtual lives, this time facing a, yikes, murder. And Dorothy is the chief suspect! The author does a great job of keeping the characters as we remember them with the dialogue seeming fresh and true to their television characters. Lots of St. Olaf stories, too. Thanks #HyperionAvenue for allowing me this early visit with people who seem like old friends.

I loved this so much! The story was a lot of fun, the dialogue believable as coming from these characters. I could hear the girls talking in my head. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this.

As a hardcore Golden Girls fan I knew I needed to get this book. Was it light fluff without any serious depth? Sure it was but was it fun? Sure it was. Loved all the throwbacks to the original series such as Butter Queen. Who could forget about the churn tampering? I’m looking forward to more from this series that’s helping keep the legacy of the Golden Girls alive.