Valerie Burns: Baker Street Mysteries

Maddy Montgomery is anything but the typical Cozy Mystery sleuth. She’s the main character and narrator of Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder, the first book in the Baker Street Mystery series by Valerie Burns. While most cozy sleuth’s nowadays have been dreaming all their lives that they will be able to return to the small town of their idyllic youths to open the bake shop of their dreams, Maddy knows nothing of baking or cooking, and she spent her youth moving with her Navy dad from Navy base to Navy base as he climbed the ladder all the way to the rank of Admiral.

Instead, Maddy’s plan was always to marry a Doctor. How much farther her plan went than that we don’t learn, since her Doctor fiancé jilted Maddy at the altar. Luckily for young Maddy [she is just out of University with her art degree — yes, art degree (remember, her plan was to marry a Doctor)] Maddy’s great aunt has recently died and left her with a large sum of money, a great house, a bakery, and an English Mastiff named Baby. So Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder, begins with Maddy flying (in a small plane which Maddy is surprised to learn does not have a first class section) in a blizzard to the town of New Bison, a quaint town on the Michigan shoreline.

Maddy soon learns that her bequest comes with a catch. Maddy must live in her great aunt’s house and run the bakery (while taking care of the English Mastiff, Baby) for a year or she will forfeit the money, the house, the bakery, and the dog. And, she learns that her great aunt died in mysterious circumstances while investigating a possible conspiracy between some of the most powerful politicians and business people in the town. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that other murders begin to happen almost immediately upon Maddy’s arrival in town.

A quaint bakery, a social media loving young sleuth, several handsome men who seemingly are smitten upon sight of Maddy, a small town with friendly characters, a loving English Mastiff named Baby, and several murders upon a couple of days of Maddy’s arrival in town — what’s not to like for a cozy mystery lover?

Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder is a page turner and just about has it all. This first book in the Baker Street Mystery Series is this month’s entry in my series of posts about the Most Popular and Recommended Cozy Mystery Series.

If you’d like to see other entries about some of the most recommended Cozy Mystery authors, be sure to check out the Most Popular and Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my site.

P.S. Valerie Burns also writes the Mystery Bookshop Mystery Series, the Dog Club Mystery Series, and the RJ Franklyn Mystery Series as V.M. Burns.

P.P.S. For recipe fans, this book does include several recipes.