This review is written with thanks to the publisher for my copy of A Cornish Recipe For Murder via Netgalley.

Blurb:

Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker is back!

When popular TV baking contest and national institution ‘The Best of British Baking Roadshow’ rolls into town and sets up camp in the grounds of Boskern House, a historic stately home near Penstowan, former police officer Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker finds herself competing to represent Cornwall in the grand final.

But with a fellow contestant who will stop at nothing to win and a drag queen host with secrets of their own, Jodie discovers that the roadshow doesn’t just have the ingredients for the perfect showstopper cake, but also for the perfect murder…

And when a body is found in the grounds of the house, Jodie is drawn into another high-stakes case along with local DCI Nathan Withers.

Can Jodie expose the culprit? Or will the murderer become the real showstopper?

Review:

It’s been an embarrassingly long time since I spent time with Jodie Parker but Fiona Leitch does a wonderful job of making sure the reader can throw themselves right back into Jodie’s life. She’s a brilliant character and her first person narration means that we can hear her internal monologue and really understand what she is thinking and feeling throughout the story. I love her humour, and this also extends into the banter she has with her boyfriend and family, which makes the story a joy to read.

The majority of the story takes place on the set of a television baking competition. As a huge fan of the show on which this is clearly based, I really loved this concept for a murder mystery. There are plenty of larger than life characters and interesting situations that arise in this environment, giving us a lot of suspects and scenarios to think about. The tension of the competition is also mirrored by the police investigation and this kept me intrigued throughout the whole novel. I did not guess who the perpetrator was until the reveal towards the end.
The ending of A Cornish Recipe For Murder sets up a new direction for Jodie in the next instalment and I’m really excited to see what happens next!

A Cornish Recipe For Murder is available from Amazon.