Book Review and Giveaway - Thanks for Muffin: A Merry Muffin Mystery by Victoria Hamilton

My Review

Merry Wynter is opening her inherited castle as a performing arts center.  After the lavish opening celebration, one of the guests is discovered dead.  There have been previous problems with murders there, so she is determined to help solve this mystery and save the castle’s reputation.

I wanted to read Thanks for Muffin because I love cozy mysteries.  The castle setting was intriguing, and I was interested in the baking aspect of the story.

This is my first read in the series.  I greatly appreciated the cast of characters list and referred to it several times.  The mystery was different than I anticipated, but not in a bad way.  I thought it would be a cozy with a good deal of baking, given the book title.  There was less baking than I expected, and this was more a classic mystery - with a cast of characters that would make Agatha Christie proud.

There were many characters in this book - performers, their hangers-on, and towns people.  As a result there were a number of viable suspects, which made this a challenging mystery for Merry, and a very interesting reading.

I recommend Thanks for Muffin for fans of cozy mysteries that harken back to old fashioned classic mysteries.  It was a fun read!  

Book Synopsis

When Merry Wynter’s festive gala takes a fatal turn, she’ll have to grill her guests to catch a killer . . .

After years of planning and hard work, Merry Wynter was finally ready to host the grand opening gala of the Wynter Woods Center for the Performing Arts. With musicians, entertainers, members of the media and even influencers on the guest list, the event went off without a hitch—until a particularly nasty journalist posted a criticism of the gala and everything Merry was trying to accomplish. Still reeling from the review days later, Merry wasn’t sure what to feel when she discovered the reporter’s dead body on the grounds of Wynter Castle.

With many of her guests staying on at the castle for the weekend, Merry realizes they’ve got a murderer in their midst. Going from celebrating to sleuthing, she discreetly questions each of them, trying to weed out the culprit. She quickly learns that the victim had heated arguments with several of the people at the gala, and it turns out those people were all connected by a tragedy in the past. Certain the killer is among them, Merry will have to unearth the final clue that nails the killer—before the killer decides she’s getting too close.

Author Bio

Victoria Hamilton is the pseudonym of nationally bestselling romance author Donna Lea Simpson. Victoria is the bestselling author of three mystery series: the Lady Anne Addison Mysteries, the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries, and the Merry Muffin Mysteries. She also wrote a Regency-set historical mystery series, starting with A Gentlewoman’s Guide to Murder.

Visit her website at victoriahamiltonmysteries.com and sign up for Victoria’s newsletter.

Social Media Links:

Website: http://www.VictoriaHamiltonMysteries.com (Sign up for her newsletter for all the latest!)

On  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VictoriaHamiltonMysteryAuthor

On BlueSky: @mysteryvictoria.bsky.social Check out my ‘Cozy Mystery Authors’ Starter Pack on BlueSky!

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mysteryauthorvictoriahamilton/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/598635.Victoria_Hamilton

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Victoria-Hamilton/e/B007T7LGAU

 Purchase Links: 
Amazon.com – Amazon.ca – Barnes & Noble – Kobo – Smashwords

Giveaway