The Golden Spoon - Jessa Maxwell

The Golden Spoon is Jessa Maxwell's brilliantly fun debut novel.

Okay, hands up if you binge watch baking competitions. Keep them up if you love murder mysteries, especially the 'locked room' kind. Yes? Then this is the book you need to listen to next.

Six lucky contestants are at beloved celebrity judge Betsy Martin's grand home. Also on the grounds is the tent where the contest will take place. As readers we're privy to the 'behind the scenes' machinations of making the show and what people are like when the cameras stop rolling. I'll stop there as you can just guess what happens right?

I think because I am one of those binge baking watchers, I conjured up very vivid mental images of  both the set and the participants. Fellow watchers will see that Maxwell has created contestants that mirror real show participants. But what I hadn't imagined was the direction that Maxwell would take with her mystery. Each and every character has something they really don't want to bring to light. Each one of them  have point of view in The Golden Spoon, giving the reader lots of opportunity and information to make a guess as to the 'whodunit'. There's more than one mystery woven into the book - and one in particular had me tearing up.

I chose to listen to The Golden Spoon. I was so happy to find a full cast of readers. For me, this always makes for a better listening experience. Each reader has created a voice that matches the character they're presenting. Each narrator captured the story with the emotions and actions of the story with their voices. All were easy to understand the pace was perfect. 

I was whisked away and bowled over by this debut novel. Absolute cozy fun to listen to, with an Only Bodies in the Building vibe. Hear for yourself - listen to an audio excerpt of The Golden Spoon.