Bakeries and Buffoonery
Magical Mystery Book Club
by
Elizabeth Pantley
Paranormal Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Setting - Small Midwestern Town
Independently Published
Publication Date: February 15, 2023
Print length: 310 pages
Digital ASIN: B0BLLCTKCM
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About Bakeries and Buffoonery
It’s a magical book club! When this group chooses a book, magic happens. The mystery comes to life, and they find themselves part of the story. To exit the book and get back home, they need to solve the mystery and reach The End.
This time, the club chooses a book called The Great Cake Rivalry, because, well … cake! They read the back cover and it’s unanimous. So off they go into another grand adventure into a town aptly named Frosting.
Frosting is a rural town in an idyllic setting. The people live quiet lives most of the year. But in the spring, things change. The Annual Cake Competition becomes the focus of every man, woman, and child. They take this competition seriously. The cakes are spectacular. The festival is fabulous. For a week there are contests featuring all kinds of cakes. The people of the community become official tasters and vote for the winning cakes in each category.
The grand finale is a display of finely decorated cakes, made by the town’s bakeries. The winner of the best design receives a prize package that would make any baker dizzy.
Sadly, this event has been tainted. Once a year, each one different, but all somehow related to this event, a person is murdered. The main investigator is stumped, but that could be because he’s an inept buffoon.
Can the book club help the people of this community figure out who is causing this disturbing pattern of deaths, and stop another murder from happening? Can they figure out why some of the citizens dress so oddly, and why they always wear those unique backpacks? All while they fill themselves to the brim with cake, of course.
Review
5 stars!
With its fun storyline and engaging group of recurring
characters, it’s time for book club!
Bakeries and Buffoonery is the fourth book in author
Elizabeth Pantley’s delightful Magical Mystery Book Club series. The
book club characters from the previous story return in this one, and it was like
visiting with old friends. Each outing further develops the growing
relationships among the group while continuing with its ensemble-style story
delivery. It is another fun adventure for the book club members and greatly
adds to our understanding of the club itself.
With Atticus joining the group and delving into the book club’s
past, readers are treated to some of his findings during the day’s first club
meeting. His presentation on his discoveries serves as an excellent explanation
of how the library and club work. Paige also reminisces about her
great-grandmother, GeeGee, finding her “forever book” and leaving the club to
live out her life in another place and time. Her thoughts were bittersweet, and
I knew we were preparing for another club member to do the same.
In this book, the group is looking to prevent a murder
rather than finding a body and investigating. To stop the killer, they must
dive into the town of Frosting’s past and its wildly successful obsession, a
highly competitive annual cake-baking competition. If you’re a fan of cake-baking
television shows, this book is for you! The group researches, develops potential
suspects, and even enlists the cooperation of the local investigator (who isn’t
what he seems) to eventually get their answers.
It was fun to learn that in her life outside of book club, my
favorite character, motorcycle-riding Vee, works in a bakery. If you’ve read
any of the previous books in the series, you’re aware of how big a part food
plays in the club’s activities, making this quite a revelation. So, when our
literary travelers touch down in the small town of Frosting on the eve of their
big cake competition kickoff, she steps up to lead the group’s culinary
efforts. Under these circumstances, Vee really shines. Zell and Frank, although
still their wise-cracking selves, mellow out in this latest adventure, allowing
for a more balanced focus on all the characters.
The Great Cake Rivalry proves to be another paranormal
cozy mystery adventure for the book club but with a fun twist. While this
allows the book’s characters to see and accept Frank as a talking cat, the club
members are surprised that not all of Frosting’s residents can see or hear
Mollie, the young ghost. I won’t reveal the reason behind this twist but
suffice it to say, the book they’ve chosen introduces a cool change to the
range of paranormal beings they’ve encountered thus far.
With its fun storyline and engaging group of recurring characters,
I recommend BAKERIES AND BUFFOONERY to cozy mystery readers who enjoy a touch
of the paranormal in their stories and to fans of the previous books in the
series.
Elizabeth Pantley is the internationally bestselling author of The No-Cry Sleep Solution and twelve other books for parents, published in over twenty languages.
She simultaneously writes the well-loved Destiny Falls Mystery & Magic book series and the new Magical Mystery Book Club series.
Elizabeth lives in the Pacific Northwest, the gorgeous inspiration for the setting in many of her books. Visit her and sign up for her newsletter at
www.nocrysolution.com
February 27 – Elza Reads – REVIEW, AUTHOR GUEST POST
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Thank you for he awesome review of my newest book! I'm so happy you enjoyed your time with the book club. I have a blast sharing their stories. Usually I feel like the characters are telling the tale and I'm just typing it out for them!
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