A Batter Of Life and Death by Ellie Alexander

I have spent the last few days reading A Batter of Life and Death by Ellie Alexander. Such a great story and mystery this was. My friend Lisa K got me into Ellie's series and I am so glad she did. Reading this cozy about about a mother daughter bakery in a small Shakespearean themed town in the heart of Oregon, really took a bit of the sting of the events of the last few days away. A great cozy can transport you to a time and place of the imaginary town, wrap you up in it's own drama and make you forget with the turn of each page the reality in which you live. A Batter of Life and Death was for me a great escape and delicious mystery. Set in the fall, main character Jules is enjoying being home after working on a cruise ship for 10 years, the crisp fall weather inspires her mood as much as her welcome smells and tastes October brings, pumpkins, apples, caramels and spices all things you associate with fall you feel in this book, crave in this book and enjoy in this book. It is not all rosy though for Jules and her mother. A pastry reality show rolls into town and disrupts the normal cozy and quiet off season in Ashland. Jules finds herself caught up in the show and quickly in another murder. This mystery speaks to the old saying about too many cooks in the kitchen!

I really enjoyed this book and was so glad that the story was not predicable, it felt genuine and more based in real reality instead of tv reality. 

It's autumn in Ashland, Oregon-'tis the season for a spiced hot apple cider with a serving (or two) of Torte's famous peach cobbler. It's also the perfect time for Jules Capshaw to promote her family's beloved bake shop by competing in The Pastry Channel's reality show, Take the Cake. The prize is $25,000. But as Jules quickly learns, some people would kill for that kind of dough. Literally.

Then, just as Jules dusts off her Bavarian Chocolate Cake recipe and cinches up her apron, the corpse of a fellow contestant is discovered-death by buttercream. What began as a fun, tasteful televised adventure has morphed into something of a true-crime detective show for Jules and everybody else on set. Who could have killed Chef Marco, and why? Can Jules sift out the killer before someone else gets burned?

Learn more about Ellie Alexander and her Bakeshop Mystery by clicking here.
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