Meet Your Baker by Ellie Alexander

Meet Your Baker by Ellie Alexander was a cozy, quick read that launched me into modern cozy mysteries. It is the first book in the Bakeshop Mystery series.

Juliet Capshaw returns to her hometown in Oregon after suffering heartbreak while working as a chef on a cruise ship.

Hoping for a break from all the stress, she begins working with her mom at the family bakery. Her hopes for a peaceful settling-in are dashed when she discovers a body on the kitchen floor one morning.

This book had me hooked on the characters fairly quickly. There is a close relationship between Juliet and her mom and there are plenty of quirky and sweet characters to grow attached to.

Even though I am not a baker myself, I liked how baking was seamlessly woven into the story. I won’t lie – I did skip over some of the more detailed descriptions of the baking process and how it made her feel because it isn’t really my thing, but for those who absolutely love baking I know those descriptions will be something they will love to read.

Alexander does an amazing job of bringing her characters to life – whether it is in how she describes them or in how she creates a dialogue between them.

This is a book I would recommend to anyone who loves super, super cozy mysteries.

Crime and Poetry by Amanda Flower

Crime and Poetry is the first book in the Magical Bookshop series by Amanda Flower. Violet Waverly rushes back to her hometown to help her ailing grandmother, only to find out her grandmother (Daisy) isn’t so sick after all.

Daisy owns a bookshop that Violet soon finds out is magical because the books pick their readers, which is hard to explain until you read the book.

Before Violet knows it she’s wrapped up in a murder mystery when a man named Benedict Raisin dies clutching a copy of Emily Dickinson that he bought at Daisy’s bookshop. Even worse for Daisy is that Benedict left her in his will.

This is a book that takes you on a wild journey full of magic and craziness. I’m not usually a fan of “magical” books. I prefer my cozy mysteries to have at least a little bit of reality to them but I’ve read Flower’s other magical series – The Magical Garden Series – and really liked it.

I did not enjoy this book as much as the magical garden because it featured more about spells and that’s not really my thing. It may, however, be something other readers enjoy. I also felt that the timeline for solving the mystery was completely ridiculous. But there were magical books involved so of course it would be solved fast. A little bit of suspending belief isn’t a bad thing when reading a cozy mystery though.

I don’t know if I will continue this series because I didn’t connect with Violet as much as characters in other series by Flower but I might since I liked the book overall.

Have you read either of these? What did you think?