Baking and Entering

The Raised and Glazed Cozy Mysteries, Book 1

By: Emma Ainsley

Narrated by: Rebecca Gibel

Length: 2 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

One red shoe … can ruin your whole day.

Forty-something Maggie Sharpe is returning to her quaint childhood town of Dogwood Mountain, Missouri, nestled in the beautiful Ozark Mountains, Maggie recently inherited Dogwood Bakery, along with a cute little cottage, from her aunt Marjorie. With a son in the Navy, deployed six months at a time, and an ex in Kansas, Maggie decided that it was time for a change, but she soon learns that life back home is not all sprinkles and jelly-filled donuts.

Maggie throws herself into running the bakery and making a living for herself, but the baking grinds to a halt when a body is discovered in the alley behind her new shop and a whole host of small town secrets surface as a result of the investigation.

One of Aunt Marjorie’s friends, Ruby Cobb, steps in to help Maggie keep Dogwood Donuts running during this most stressful time, and comes up with some ideas that Maggie absolutely loves. The two of them are making great strides until an important clue is found … in the bakery!

Maggie has to solve the crime to save her reputation and her new business. Will an important person from her past be a help, or a hindrance?

Find out in this roundly delicious Culinary Cozy Mystery!

©2021 Summer Prescott Books (P)2023 Blackstone Publishing

Short and Sweet with minimal Chills

Short and sweet murder mystery. amazing cast of character. However, I was t sure how old the FMC was, as she had left her hometown twenty years ago after high school graduation BUT is supposed to be in her forties, which didn't make too much sense as she seemed to be written almost like someone who's in her late twenties/mid thirties due to her constant jumping to conclusions/relying on murder mystery novels. The twist, though, was well written and shocking. The narrator also made the story come alive. Will definitely continue with the series.

The setting of the story

It’s just a cozy mystery that warms the Mind. I thought it was really interesting to see if the murder was the person who I thought it was!

Under developed characters and plot

The story was just ramping up, and then it was over. The foundations of motives were laid but too quickly resolved. I would have loved a few more chapters on the back stories of each character’s relationships with the victim and with each other.

Short but sweet

Enjoyed the story line as well as the reader of the story. Good character development

a cozy murder mystery

not the strongest dialogue writer (an annoying amount of he said, she said, she asks, lead ins and lead outs) but solid story and some good characters. voice actor did a great job bringing the characters to life. overall it delivers what it set out to be, a cozy murder mystery book

Lot of he said she said she said.

narrator did a really good job. would have been better if she just read the story with the voices she created for the characters and kept out the he said, she said , she said. it was very repetitive and got a little annoying.

It needed a better ending

I replayed the last couple chapters because I thought I missed something. The ending was not very good to me.

This was a good quick listen.

I enjoyed this book and finished it in a single day. I love a good murder mystery and this one was worth the listen. The voice acting solid and entertaining.

poorly organized waste of time

no real efforts to develop characters or plot just jumped in without direction and abruptly ends with no resolution