Review By Veronica
The Golden Spoon is a delicious murder mystery that will keep you guessing right to the very end.
Favourite Quote:
“A drop of water lands on her face and she jumps. She reaches her hand up to wipe it away. The liquid feels smooth and slippery. Reaching her fingers in the beam of the flashlight, she is shocked to find they are streaked with bright red. It feels like—
She turns her flashlight up. Its spotlight trails into the peaked roof of the tent until it stops on something. Before her eyes even make sense of the horror about her, she starts to scream.”
Goodreads Synopsis:
Every summer for the past ten years, six awe-struck bakers have descended on the grounds of Grafton, the leafy and imposing Vermont estate that is not only the filming site for “Bake Week” but also the childhood home of the show’s famous host, celebrated baker Betsy Martin.
The author of numerous bestselling cookbooks and hailed as “America’s Grandmother,” Betsy Martin isn’t as warm off-screen as on, though no one needs to know that but her. She has always demanded perfection, and gotten it with a smile, but this year something is off. As the baking competition commences, things begin to go awry. At first, it’s merely sabotage—sugar replaced with salt, a burner turned to high—but when a body is discovered, everyone is a suspect.
This book was amazing! The Golden Spoon brought together two of my great loves, a good old fashion murder mystery and delicious food talk. It felt like I was playing a Clue game if that game was taking place on a baking show. This book starts off with a bang – a murder. The prologue has Betsy finding this body outside her mansion, and we don’t know who the victim is. The rest of the book leads up to that murder. I love when authors do this. It makes me feel like a detective, and I spend the book trying to figure out “whodunit” and why. Jessa has created a clever murder mystery with interesting characters and quite a unique plot.
This story is told from Betsy’s and all the contestant’s POVs. I don’t always like it when I am constantly bouncing around to different POVs, I often find it disjointing, but in this case, I didn’t mind it. I think it is because I wanted to see what lurked underneath everyone’s persona. I wanted to know their secrets and if they had other motives for being on the show. All the characters were interesting and felt real. They all have their own problems, and Jessa does a great job of slowly showing us who these characters are. It makes for a great page-turner.
The plot and mystery parts are wonderful and so twisty. It was clever how everything unfolded, and the ending was satisfying. I also really enjoyed all the food talk in this book. I watch a lot of baking shows and loved seeing the behind-the-scenes and what goes into making a baking show. Everything about this book made for a fun and enjoyable reading experience.
The Golden Spoon is a smart murder mystery with a dash of delicious food talk and full of characters that you don’t know if you can trust.
Thank you, Simon and Schuster Canada, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
