The Golden Spoon

As a fan of The Great British Bake Off and some cosy crime, I was drawn to the synopsis of this being a murder mystery tied into a television baking show.

Six keen contestants gather at the remote Vermont home of Betsy Martin for the recording of Bake Week. Betsy is known affectionately as “America’s Grandmother” for her many best-selling cookbooks. What few people know is that she needs the regular proceeds of the program to survive and fund repairs for Grafton, her crumbling ancestral mansion.

The format of the popular show is going through change, however, with the introduction of a new male co-host, Archie Morris, and Betsy feels her position is threatened. The story is told through the points of view of the six contestants as well as Betsy and it is clear not all is going as it should before someone loses their life.

This was an easy enough read, but the use of so many points of view and not having the principal murder occur until the last quarter of the book makes it a slow burn. With perhaps the exception of the older contestant Lottie, who has a justified ulterior motive in being at Grafton, these are all unpleasant, self-centred characters with few redeeming features or warmth and when a certain individual gets their comeuppance there is no surprise. Again, there is the usual problem with many books of this genre having a rushed and somewhat confusing ending.

The publicity comparison with the skilled work of author Anthony Horowitz borders on impertinence. The descriptions of the recipes, baking processes and dialogue are all a blatant rip-off from scripts of the GBBO. Betsy’s character is a reflection of ageing cooks such as Martha Stewart or Mary Berry, while Archie Morris seems to be a combination of those other real food celebrities, Paul Hollywood and Gordon Ramsay.

A pity the story didn’t have more originality and a stronger focus on the narrative, with maybe just one or two points of view to carry us along rather than the overly fruity mixture that it is.

The best I can say about this cake is that it: “Fails to rise and has a soggy bottom.”

(Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC.)

Two stars


amazon.com

amazon.co.uk




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