book reviews, mystery

[review] A Cup of Holiday Fear by Ellie Alexander

A Cup of Holiday Fear by Ellie Alexander

A Cup of Holiday Fear is Book 10 in the Bakeshop Mystery series by Ellie Alexander – one of my FAVOURITE cozy mystery series.

I love Christmas. I love the holiday season and the baking and buying gifts… I even host a Holiday Cookie Recipe Advent Calendar over on my food blog. But I do NOT love winter, blizzards, snow shovelling or ice storms. And I’m definitely not one of those people that starts putting up Christmas decorations as soon as September first hits (I’m looking at you Costco). I start planning for Christmas on November 12 – right after Remembrance Day.
And that goes for books too. I don’t reach for holiday books until November. Until now. Because… it’s Ellie Alexander and her Bakeshop Mystery series. I LOVE this series. So when I managed to get an early copy of A Cup of Holiday Fear via NetGalley, I didn’t hesitate to jump right in. I couldn’t wait to return to Ashland, Oregon and seeing what Jules Capshaw and the staff at Torte were up to.

Title: A Cup of Holiday Fear
Author: Ellie Alexander
Series: A Bakeshop Mystery #10
First Published: September 24, 2019
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Categories: Mystery 
Acquired: from the publisher via NetGalley

*** Thank you to St Martin’s Paperbacks for providing me with a e-copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. ***

Ashland looks as pretty as a postcard this holiday season. The halls are decked, stockings hung, and eyes are all aglow—mostly thanks to the buttered rum. Jules and her staff at Torte are busier than ever with Christmas goodies and holiday-themed coffees and teas. To celebrate the holidays, Jules invites everyone to the Winchester Inn’s Dickens Feast, a six-course extravaganza with Yorkshire Pudding, Christmas goose, and all the trimmings. But things get complicated (as they always do) when one of the guests ends up as dead before the meal is over.

The holidays have come to Ashland in A Cup of Holiday Fear

A Cup of Holiday Fear by Ellie Alexander

As always, Alexander makes the town and people of Ashland come alive in this latest instalment of The Bakeshop Mystery series. All the staff at Torte are back and working like a well-oiled machine in the newly-renovated Torte.

The descriptions of the food, baked treats and drinks on Torte’s menu always makes me *drool*. The baker in me loves the descriptions of Jules and her team preparing their goodies. Like Jules, I also find the process of baking relaxing so Alexander’s food passages are always among my favourite (not to mention the recipes at the back). 

The victim is a newcomer to Ashland and not someone that was particularly liked. In fact, she was in town to buy the Winchester Inn and had planned on firing the entire staff. She fought with more than a couple of the townspeople and so there are several suspects for Jules to wade through. The mystery is well-integrated into the story and hums along at a quick pace. I did manage to work out who the killer was pretty early on but it was fun to watch Jules (and her trusty side-kick Lance) work things out on their own.

Lance is a hoot, as usual

Speaking of Lance, he continues to be one of my favourite characters in this series. He can always be counted on to provide some dry, witty humour and he’s always up for a little adventure (even when Jules is not!). We learn a bit more about Lance’s background, including the reason he’s not a big fan of the holidays. In fact, he generally stays away from Ashland altogether during the Christmas season but is stuck in town this year. As his best friend, Jules is determined to make him enjoy the holidays.

I think that’s one of the reasons this series works so well for me. Now that it’s on its tenth book, I’m so familiar with the characters that it’s wonderful to visit them again and see how they’re all doing. It’s like catching up with old friends. Alexander has done a wonderful job developing all the characters throughout the series.

I’m so glad I broke my “No Christmas stuff until November rule” to read this book (seriously, only a few authors could make me do this). If you love cozy mysteries, tasty baked goods or Christmas stories, then you definitely need to add this to your To-Be-Read list!

Read A Cup of Holiday Fear for yourself

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More books by Ellie Alexander that I’ve reviewed

The Pint of No Return by Ellie Alexander

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Cup of Holiday Fear by Ellie Alexander

3 Comments

  1. WS_BOOKCLUB says:

    This looks so sweet! I never know where to start with a series of mysteries. Can I start on this one?

    1. Stephanie says:

      Most of these books do enough basic background so that you won’t feel lost. But there’s a lot of inside info that you might not get without reading the older books. You won’t feel lost though – each book still has its own plotline and ending. I hope you get a chance to try them!

  2. Hallo, Hallo Stephanie,

    Guess what!? I found a barely read copy of this book secondhand this Autumn and the best bit is I had planned to read it during the #12DaysOfCozies this year, but sadly as that event on Twitter was meant to morph into my #cloakanddaggerchristmas goals – I had to pull back my #ChristmasReads as I struggled to connect inside the books this year even before my Mum’s hours went haywire last week and this week. Oyyy. However I still intend to read it – just not sure if I’m going to add this to the queue of Cosies I’m reading in January in homage of #12DaysOfCozies or if I’ll keep it for next December. I am reading the featured book for them this year which was the Mrs Claus and the Santaland Slayings as I just picked it up from my regional library!! #sohappy

    I’ll keep you updated – then I’ll loop back round and read your review in full! I know this is a series in-progress but sometimes I cheat with Cosies with one of the holiday releases (did this with Cleo Coyle’s for “Holiday Grind”) over a decade ago now as it helps me sort out if I like the author’s style, etc. So we shall see! Brilliant accompanying #bookphoto, though!! I aim to do more myself this New Year, 2021!

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