Ellie Alexander

This latest addition to the Bakeshop Mystery series features the return of familiar characters. Juliet and crew continue to produce exquisite goodies in the bakeshop as the New Year's Eve celebrations are in the offing. Juliet and Carlos welcome a visit from the family of Ramiro, who is the son of Carlos and currently lives with Carlos and Juliet. The town of Ashland, Oregon enjoys winter sports and the annual "dummy ski run," which sadly results in an accidental death that might not be an accident. Juliet and friends get involved in gathering intel to help find out what might be going on behind the scenes at the ski lodge and ski runs. The mystery takes some twists and turns as it heads to the final surprising ending.

For readers new to this series, enough background information is provided to allow this novel to be read as a stand-alone. For fans of this series, the author does a good job of keeping things moving along, as the characters mature and relationships change. Characters from the past novels will seem like old friends, although the novel ends with room for future changes as the series continues.

I received this novel from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.… (plus d'informations)

bookscoffeebrews Book Review: A Smoking Bun. A
bake Shoppe Mystery #18
Stars: 4 X 5
Author: Ellie Alexander @ellie_alexander
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperback. @stmartinspress
Thank you @netgalley for this ARC

This is book 18 of our trip to Ashland Oregan and The
Torte Bakeshop.
Jule's in-laws are visiting from Spain. Juliet plans a trip
for them, a guided snow shoe excursion at a loca ski
area. Hero is there guide and all is going well until the
get interrupted by another very rude guide. The other
guide and his patrons end up getting into "trouble" off
trail. Juliet's group ends up helping them and calling
911. Juliet has a second activity planned for the next
day. This is a yearly activity of a down hill race where
"dummies" are sent to see who has the best wipeout.
Fitz, who was the rude guide, is dead as he was
impaled by one of the dummies. The police determine
this was just and accident but the owner of the resort
does not. The owner then ask Juliet an "amateur"
investigator to find out who the killer is. Will Jule's
find the murder all while entertaining her in-laws?

Once again Ellie Alexander does a fantastic job with
this lovely cozy mystery series.
I am love this series and I hope everyone else does… (plus d'informations)

It’s wasn't that this book was really, really bad, it's just that it wasn't any good. Dull is the word I would use. It was so painfully dull that within reading the first 20 pages I would have happily murdered every single person in Leavenworth; considered it compassionate euthanasia to put all of us out of our misery.

The only way this could have been a good story, based on the way it was written, was for the main character and narrator to have been the murderer; a serial killer hiding in plain sight while others are hauled off to jail all the while proclaiming their innocence.

The only somewhat interesting part of the book was Sloan Krause's past, or the mystery of. While virtually the whole of the book, at least 70% is about food and another 29% about the good, wholesome, tightknit, loving Faux Bavarian village and it's awesome people, the absolute kitschiness of the place, non-stop tourism and / or tourists (THE HORROR!), and craft beer. It was a total dud.

There seems to be no reason for Sloan to be looking into the murder of this city councilman. Just because Sloan is the town busybody and everyone supposedly confides in her doesn't seem to be reason enough. What, the murderer is going to confess, and then go... oh, shit, why did I tell Sloan, now going to get the needle! Seriously? And Sloan is forever saying she shouldn't get involved, yet still does. Annoying. Add to the fact that she is light years behind the cops / investigators when it comes to solving the case, but that doesn't seem to faze her. All around odd.

And Sloan's method of detecting consist of solely finding a suspect based on whatever cockamamie motive she can think of, and that persons jumps to the top of her most wanted list... until she finds another suspect based on her newest cockamamie theory that usurps them. The whole thing is silly.

This wasn't my kind of book.… (plus d'informations)