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Golden Girls and cozy mystery = match made in heaven! Murder by Cheesecake is nostalgic fun for any Golden Girls fan and might even draw some new fans in with the atmospheric 80s Miami vibes. The story is over-the-top silliness at many turns, but it's all part of the fun and I hope the series will continue with more mysteries for the ladies to solve!

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Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Murder by Cheesecake
by Rachel Ekstrom Courage
Cozy Mystery
Fan Fiction
The second I saw this I ran to NetGalley, I absolutely love the Golden Girls. Cozy Mystery and my favorite golden ladies?!
I loved this story, the characters were spot on, and I could visualize this as an episode. I love it even more hearing it is a series and I am 100% here for it!

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I always found the Emmy Award winning TV comedy series “The Golden Girls“ entertaining, with quirky midwesterner Rose, sarcastic divorcee Dorothy, Southern belle Blanche, and straight-talking Sophia from Sicily. Thus, I was interested in reading this book. However, as much as I enjoyed this wacky action-packed mystery set in Miami, its target audience seems to be fans of the TV show.

If you have never watched “Golden Girls,” I suggest that you try a couple of episodes first. Then you can determine whether “Murder by Cheesecake” is a good choice for you.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this very funny story, whose characters were alive in my head — as though the original actors were performing on my screen.

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A cozy mystery with wonderful characters! Loved the mystery, the friendships, and the story. Definitely a fun book that I would get for friends and fans of the Golden Girls!

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When I saw this book on a “Coming Soon” screen a couple of months back, I was hyped. I am a big-time Golden Girls fan. I’m sure I saw a few episodes before I met and married my wife, but in the quarter-century of our marriage, I estimate that I’ve seen each episode at least twice and some perhaps a handful of times. I have had moments in my life where I could relate to each of the characters in some way or another and now, over 30 years after they ended the series, the show has achieved cult status with many people.

I don’t know if there is a set “canon” for Dorothy, Rose, Blanche, and Sophia. They didn’t really worry about a ton of TV show continuity back in the late 80’s -- but the show ended with Dorothy getting married and leaving her friends and mother (Spoilers for a show that ended before Bill Clinton became President). Murder by Cheesecake definitely takes place sometime before that. There’s nothing to pinpoint exactly when the book takes place, but Push It by Salt-N-Pepa is mentioned, so…between 1986 and 1992?

Anyway, this book is tons of fun, especially if you’re a fan of the show. The four main protagonists were so clearly defined as characters throughout the seven seasons of the sitcom that reading through Rachel Ekstrom Courage’s book felt like an episode of the show in many ways and I could hear the characters in my head as I read their lines.

But that is also what dings this book a little for me. By the end of the seventh season, the characters were so concrete that they were almost becoming caricatures and the book sometimes leans into that. The title dessert is referenced so many times it gets a little distracting (I know it was a late night favorite of the girls, but it wasn’t the only thing they ate). And since the book feels like an episode, it gets a little long when the mystery central to the plot drags a bit. In 80’s terms, it’s like if there was a very special crossover episode of The Golden Girls and Murder She Wrote.

But if you love our elderly Miami residents, pick it up -- you’re bound to have fun. One thing I missed -- there’s no appearances by Dorothy’s ex-husband (“Hi, it’s me, Stan”) so that’s one thing I would love to see in the next book in the series based on this beloved TV show.

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As a Golden Girls lover since I was in middle school, I was so excited to see this book. The storyline centers around Rose and Dorothy, with Blanche and Sofia providing supporting roles. I enjoyed the storyline, and felt like everything wrapped up nicely, just like an episode of my favorite show. The only thing that drove me a little nutty, was it seemed like the author tried to put something from every episode of the show into the book; either a character was mentioned, a storyline referenced, or a place were constantly being referenced. It just wasn’t necessary, and sometimes felt clunky. The murder mystery part of the plot was decent, and had potential to be developed more. I think the author has an opportunity to continue to write murder mysteries with a side of cheesecake.

Side note: not sure if it was due to the file going to kindle, but there seemed to be a lot of items running together, whole sentences with no spacing between words. I also think the editor needs another pass at this because there were grammatical errors, and words out of place.

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Thank you very much to Net Galley for an ARC of Murder by Cheesecake.

This is a case of a great novella hiding inside a book that is about 100 to 150 pages too long.

The author does a lovely job of staying true to the characters and the dialogue often has the same clever wry humor from the show. Unfortunately the murder mystery plot is not twisty enough to sustain its 300+ page runtime. Much of it feels like unrelated or unimportant filler that drags down the pace.

There's a fine line in cozy fiction between slow and comfortable. I do understand wanting a relaxed pace, but a more concise focus would not automatically turn this into thriller. There is space for a lovely story you can curl up to read with tea which doesn't need to feel like a huge investment.

This is going to be a strange comparison, but this made me think of those old Mary Kate and Ashley detective books I loved as a kid. Those were obviously very short, fun, and easily digestible. Comfort food, essentially. I had stacks of the things. A similar approach of short and sweet but geared towards adults would've worked better in my opinion.

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Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of Murder by Cheesecake for my open and honest review. I really wanted to like this book, but to be honest, I couldn’t finish this. The sass and wittiness was there with the characters we all know and love, but the author missed the mark on this being a mystery. I was just lacking and slow in that department.

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Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of Murder by Cheesecake. I had really high hopes for this book. I grew up watching The Golden Girls and I was so excited for the nostalgia of being back with Dorothy, Blanche, Sophia and Rose. Honestly, the characters came off pretty well for the most part and there was a similar vibe to the show and a decent amount of sass and snark, but the book really fell off for me when it seemed to be too heavily involved with wedding details and not enough mystery. If there are further books, I will probably give the next one a chance but I really hope for a more solid mystery story and less filler.

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This book is a delightful homage to the beloved TV series. The story captures the essence of the original ladies, delivering a nostalgic experience, but that is where it ends. The book prolongs the St. Olaf wedding traditions which overshadowed the actual mystery and solving of the murder. I would recommend the book to anyone looking for a taste of the Golden Girls and not so much the suspense of a mystery.
Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to review this book!

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Thanks to Murder by Cheesecake, the Golden Girls are back. Rose is working hard at planning the perfect St. Olaf-style wedding for her niece and groom-to-be and someone ends up dead at the hotel the guests are staying at. I really enjoyed the set up of this story and couldn't help but hear the girl's voices in my head while reading. That really made this book a great experience for me. It was definitely a cute story that made me smile and laugh along the way.

Unfortunately, it had its pitfalls too. Some of the actions of the girls, especially Dorothy, seemed a bit out of character for me. It's a new situation for all of them so that is excusable. Also, there were a few things that were introduced but then weirdly brought up much later than I expected or never resolved at all. Finally, the wrap up regarding Dorothy's story fell a bit flat and didn’t feel satisfying. I feel like I wouldn't have rated this as high or liked it as much if it didn't involve the Golden Girls because I haven’t been into mystery much lately.

But it does! So overall, I would certainly continue reading this series.

Thanks so much to Net Galley and Hyperion Avenue for providing me with an advanced copy of this book! :)

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I watch my Girls nightly, so I really wish I could give this a better rating, but I’m having to DNF at 40%. The characters just feel very one dimensional, and the St. Olaf experience is quite literally beaten to death in this cozy mystery. I’m so bummed out about this.

Thank you for an advance copy, Hyperion!

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This book gave all the nostalgia feels. It was like watching an episode of Golden Girls but with a murder mystery to solve. I had a fun time with this book.

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Quick Synopsis
The Golden Girls are preparing for Roses cousin to come to Miami and get married. However things go wrong when they discover a dead body in the freezer of the hotel where the wedding is taking place. The four must solve the mystery to clear Dorothy’s name and make the perfect St. Olaf wedding.

Review
I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. As a Golden Girls fan, I really enjoyed this book. The writing was well done. The plot actually felt like it could have been an episode of The Golden Girls. Dialogue between the characters was also so similar to how the girls spoke. Personally this book was not a five star read. However, this book was still very good and I would recommend to those who are fans of The Golden Girls and mystery novels.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

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Rose wants her niece's wedding to be a perfect, traditional St. Olaf wedding. Which is why, when she finds a dead body in the freezer, face down in her cheesecake, she agrees to keep it a secret. That is until the police show up and start asking questions. Now Rose and the gang need to get to the bottom of this murder, to clear their names and save the wedding.

I thought by “Golden Girls Cozy Mystery” that meant the Golden Girls would go on a wild adventure to solve the mystery, not be at the center of the suspect list. The main goal of the plot is to complete the wedding nuptials, not solve the murder. Also, I get that Rose is very proud to be from St. Olaf, but gee-whiz is it overkill in this book. Considering this series is supposed to be all “mystery” novels, I was actually expecting the characters themselves to take up amateur sleuthing. They don’t actually start to try and solve the mystery until 50% into the book, and even then the "adventure" is kind of boring. A good mystery keeps you turning the page to find out what happens next, and I just didn't feel that in this book.

However, this was still very nostalgic, and like watching a Golden Girls episode in my head. The author stayed true to the characters and to the formatting of the sit-com’s plot. Fans of Golden Girls will love this!

Thank you NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the opportunity to read this in advanced, in exchange for my honest review.

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If you're a fan of The Golden Girls then you'll love this new first book in the cozy mystery series; the author stays true to the characters and writes as though this was a plot on an episode of the show. It's a fast-paced, laugh-out-loud kind of mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end while cheering on our favorite feminist heroes.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read the free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Murder by Cheesecake is a cozy mystery set in the always-silly but heart-warming Golden Girls TV universe. Though I’ve only seen episodes here and there, I was still fully able to enjoy and understand this novel and recommend it for anyone in need of an easy blast from the past, 1980’s Miami style! I appreciated that the main characters were very recognizable. Adorable cover as well!

Readers should know that a large majority of this book involves around the motif of Rose’s goofy, traditional hometown of St. Olaf (new to me, but present in the TV series) and the plot is primarily about the planning of a wedding.

The mystery aspect takes a bit of a back burner to St. Olaf and the wedding in my opinion, but I didn’t mind. It was still present, just slightly low-stakes and always in the context of the wedding madness. I stayed curious as to what was going on without being anything being too action-packed or dark, which does good on the “cozy mystery” genre.

Thank you to Netgalley (for being a friend) for this Advanced Reader Copy!

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I honestly didn’t super enjoy the story. I didn't care too much about the wedding and it felt like there was a lot detail about the wedding and St. Olaf traditions but almost nothing about the murder. There was a main focus on two of the GG’s while the other two seem to be there as background characters?? i liked the idea but the execution wasn’t my fave :(

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Very cute, light read. If you're a fan of Golden Girls you'll love hearing the characters voices in your head as you read. Seriously what is better than a lighthearted mystery with your favorite GG!

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This was such a hoot! If you love the timeless Golden Girls sitcom, you will absolutely enjoy this book. From the first page, I could hear their voices as if they were reading to me!

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