3.5 rounded to a 4 for nostalgia. I really enjoyed reading about the girls being back in action but every time we have to shift over to talk about the wedding the story felt like it just stopped. Also St. Olaf is suppose to be just light humor sprinkled on here or there but this book was drowning in it. And we went over the trust 100 times and in the end I am still left wondering why the town leaders were making things so difficult. I will read the next book for sure but I am hoping for more cozy and less extra characters muddying the waters.

If you like cozy mysteries—and especially if you’re a fan of The Golden Girls—this book is a dream come true for you! The author brought the personalities of Dorothy, Sophia, Blanche, and Rose to life and I could hear their voices in my head like it was an episode of the show. I’ve only seen all of the episodes once but I caught a lot of references to things in the tv show, so I’m sure a fan would catch a lot more and enjoy it.
The story was fun to follow and was fully what I’d expect a cozy mystery to be. It reminded me of the Finlay Donovan books. I liked that the author brought quirky St. Olaf traditions and words into the story, as well as Rose’s crazy stories. Dorothy’s dry sense of humor, Blanche’s flirty southern charm, and Sophia’s “picture it, Sicily 1922” and hilariously rude comments were woven in also. Overall it was a great read and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and having fresh material featuring characters I already know and love. Fans of the show should absolutely give this a chance.

That being said, I did have a lot of issues with the Kindle file (weird paragraph breaks, whole sentences strung together without spaces), and there were several instances when it seemed like the editing wasn’t quite polished (wrong character name used, sentences with missing/extra words that didn’t exactly make sense). This story is very heavy on the wedding planning storyline and St. Olaf traditions, with less emphasis on the actual mystery, and then the reveal happens right at the very end out of nowhere. Is it perfect? No. Will I read another one of these as soon as it comes out? Yep! It’s fun and nostalgic, and I think this has potential as a series. Thank you for the ARC!

If one is a fan of the Golden girls TV show, this is as bit of nostalgia in that it is like reading a script. However, I didn't enjoy the storyline as it was somewhat predictable and cluttered with far too many adjectives.

This is a must-read for Golden Girls fans. It reads like a classic episode, with some modern sensibilities! I never knew how badly I needed Rose, Blanche, Dorothy, and Sophia in written form!

This mystery brought back all the feels and nostalgia of Golden Girls!! I absolutely loved it. It was like being in an extended episode of the Golden Girls!! I think anyone who enjoys a cozy mystery and Golden Girls will absolutely love this book!! Cannot wait for the next one in this new series!!

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

For all fans of Golden Girls and the shenanigans, I highly recommend checking out this book.

I loved it so much. It was like reading a Golden Girls movie script. The only reason I’m giving 4 stars is it really needs a good editing done. Other than that I thoroughly enjoyed and hope to see more. Golden Girls has always been one of my comfort shows! Thank you for writing such a good story.

I received an advance copy via NetGalley.

<i>Murder by Cheesecake</i> is the first entry in a brand new and official Golden Girls cozy mystery series. Let me tell you, these four ladies and their goofy antics are perfect for this genre. The set-up is fantastic: Rose's young relation can't get married in St. Olaf because the town venue burned down, so the whole affair moves to Miami, meaning Rose needs to pull out all of the required St. Olaf traditions (including a donkey, clown, and fish galore) to make it right. But when Dorothy's recent disastrous date is found dead in the fridge of the groom's family hotel, Dorothy becomes suspect number 1 and the whole wedding is on even shakier ground. It's up to the ladies to find the real murderer and pull off the best-ever Norwegian-by-Minnesota-in-Miami wedding.

This truly reads like a sweeps-month arc in book form. There are several call-outs to things from the show, too, like Sophia in a doggie door. The humor is very much on point, too, very 1980s style, and that may not be for everyone. It can be ageist at times (a good way to show who the bad guys are, really). I liked how Rose and the other St. Olaf residents were handled, though--they weren't treated like idiots to be mocked, but really, more like innocents. Rose is shown as chafing under the perceptions that some hold about her, and it works. There is a really cute bit where they end up in a gay club and Rose worries that the St. Olafians will take offense, but her concerns are brushed off because of course, St. Olaf already has such a club and all is well.

Expect lots of witty banter and sitcom-style antics. Truly, expect to giggle at times, even if you're extremely stressed in a hospital waiting room, as I was for the first half of the book. This really was the right book at the right time for me.

Murder by Cheesecake was everything I hoped it would be. A quick read in the cozy mystery category with a cast of familiar characters. This book is basically comfort food for fans of The Golden Girls. The characters speak like their sitcom counterparts, with the same cadence and charm. The mystery takes a backseat to the atmosphere but that's ok because it is simply a vehicle to bring these characters back to the fans. I would read another one of these if there is a sequel. (My rating is really 3.5 stars but I could only use full stars on the site.)

If you loved the sitcom Golden Girls, you will love this book. It follows the Golden Girls in their pursuit of putting together a wedding for Rose's niece Many funny moment occur throughout the book. Reading this book seems like watching another season of this popular show.

I am obsessed with the Golden Girls so as soon as I heard about this book, I knew I had to read it!
This book was so nostalgic and so much fun to read! I loved all of the references and the whole vibe.
It is a cozy little mystery that any Golden Girls fan would love!
Looking forward to reading more!

When I tell you I crossed my fingers waiting for approval for this advanced readers copy!!!! Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this free advance readers copy in exchange for my honest feedback. This book was perfection. The Golden Girls!!!!!!! The author had each of their personalities to a tee!!!. Rose. Dorthy. Blanche. Sophia. Rose will always be my favourite. Loved the characters obviously and loved the cozy mystery storyline that went alone with it. Hopefully this will become a series??

A mostly enjoyable cozy mystery featuring some beloved characters from my childhood. I have to say, the characters DO sound like the versions I grew up watching on television. For the most part, they never pinged as out of massively out of character. Their voices ring true, which is a huge accomplishment. Rose was her ditsy but smart wholesome self. Blanche was still has man driven but empowering self. Dorothy was her dry sardonic self. Sophia I think was the one who got the short end of the stick, she's still herself kind of but honestly not a huge focus in the story. All in all though, great job capturing their voices. The mystery I didn't really care about, I wish it had been more personal. It was connected, but still felt removed from them. The St. Olaf of it all got a bit much as well. There's quirky and then there's just obnoxious. For me, it edge too close to the obnoxious side too often. However, the twist was fun. Very 80s soap opera which I love. Really enjoyed this book, it felt like a warm hug from a childhood comfort.

This was so much fun. The mystery itself was fairly predictable, but the humor and the nostalgia I felt reading about the beloved Golden Girls more than made up for that.

**WARNING - SPOILERS**
Was SUPER excited to read this book, given I grew up watching Golden Girls on TV-- and for the most part, the author captures a lot of the characteristic traits of the Golden Girls in the book, but the book was bogged down early by too many overly described details that were unnecessary. If someone watched Golden Girls in its heyday, they would automatically picture the settings and the dress styles, but no amount of over description could make someone that didn't live or know the era KNOW what they should be picturing. The scenes in the book where it focuses on the whodunnit aspect of the story were FANTASTIC and yet overshadowed by the boring details of the second plot, Rose's attempt to pull off the ultimate St. Olaf wedding. At times, the story really dragged where it was only Rose's internal dialogue about St. Olaf customs, her life in St. Olaf, and so on. I wanted MORE development of the mystery of who killed Dorothy's paramour and it was just painful to wade through it to get morsels here and there until almost the end of the book. I feel the author also left a hole in the plot at never fleshing out or concluding the real reason her St. Olaf residents wanted the wedding to fail (was it as Rose suspected that they wanted to keep the money from the trust to continue to develop St. Olaf? We will never know!) after spending so much time making us reading through those details.

The saving grace for me with this book was the last quarter of the book, sliding into the end-- when we see the REAL Golden Girls coming out in the story. Once they came together to save one of their own after being accused of murder, it was the irreverence, the circus show, the absolute hilarity we always loved in these characters. Dorothy was going to be sensible, Blanche was going to be a flirt, Rose was going to be adorably and accidentally resourceful, and Sophia was going to Sophia. I thoroughly enjoyed the book more once we moved into these scenes that were primarily focused on the caper and the wedding fell to a supporting role. Once I hit the Bachelorette Party scene, I was hooked and couldn't put the book down. I hope if there are any future books coming in this series that the author develops this type of story details over the monotonous and mundane details that lent nothing to the book.

As a lover of the Show Golden Girls this book was like watching an episode! It was a fantastic read and the created the characters just like the show! The mystery was perfect and I can't wait to read more by this author and continue this series!

When I first saw this book and read the description I lowkey freaked out. Golden Girls and a murder? TBH that’s the only thing it was ever missing. I enjoyed the continuity with the show, and mentioning things that had happened before. It really made the book feel canon. I also think it was written well, and it was nice to be with the squad again. I’ll read all of these tbh.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC! This will be out in April. If you were a fan of the Golden Girls I highly recommend it!

The Golden Girls and cheesecake rolled into a cozy mystery- what's not to love?? As a huge fan of the show (and cheesecake), I was excited to read this book. It starts off with Rose planning a traditional St. Olaf wedding for a young family member, but a murder quickly gets in the way. Although the wedding and the murder are both plots of the story, it seemed like the wedding overshadowed the murder. I would have liked to see more details of the murder investigation and more focus on that storyline to make it feel more realistic. The wedding is an important part of the story, and the reason the family was gathering, but the descriptions of everything from the people to the food to the St. Olaf traditions was a bit overdone and took away from the story for me.

With that said, it was an enjoyable read, and I will most likely read more in this series. I thank Netgalley for the ARC.

This was not for me. The dialogue was meant to be the sarcastic tone and humor of golden girls, but the dialogue just comes off as cringy to me. The flow was not there and I could not move past it.