I love watching cooking and baking shows. From classics like Masterchef, or more fun shows like Netflix’s Nailed It or Dropout’s Gastronauts, or YouTube content like Tasting History with Max Miller, there’s a plethora of options to choose from with different themes and vibes. But one show takes the cake, and that would be The Great British Bake Off. My friends and I will often have watch parties as the newest season airs, choosing bakers to root for as the season goes on. So when I visited my local library and saw The Crime Brûlée Bake Off by Rebecca Connolly with their new mystery arrivals, I was instantly interested and as soon as I had a chance to sit down and read it I found myself charmed by the parody it creates.
The novel follows Claire Walker, a teacher with a love for history who just learned that she will be one of the bakers on the newest season of Britan’s Battle of the Bakers. This season is set to take place on the estate of Blackfirth Park, where our secondary character and future love interest Viscount of Colburn Jonathan Ainsley lives. Claire’s peppy and quirky energy is juxtaposed with Jonathan’s more serious (and somewhat annoyed) tone every other chapter, swapping perspectives as the show goes on.
At first it seems like a simple re-imagining of the classic Bake Off show, with a few changes such as a cash prize. But after the first round of baking one of the bakers is found dead in the estate’s mill, the body found in the exact same way as the 10th Viscountess who had died mysteriously many years ago. The novel becomes a very fun murder mystery where the suspense grows alongside the budding romance between Claire and Johnathan, who are helping the lead detective look into the death and the various suspects. Some say it was the ghost of the Viscountess herself, the local government and showrunners are more than happy to say it was an accident, but they’re convinced it was a murder. But they need to prove it before the show ends, and hopefully before Claire gets sent home for a bad bake.
If you love The Great British Bake Off and enjoy a good romance mystery novel, The Crime Brûlée Bake Off makes for a fun and lighthearted read. Claire’s silly exclamations such as “crepes alive!” had me giggling, and the mystery of the murder kept me guessing. Plus, once you’re finished with the story there are six recipes in the back, each a story-relevant bake from the book. I certainly can’t wait to give one of them a try!
Connolly, Rebecca. The Crime Brûlée Bake Off. Shadow Mountain. 2025.
