‘Murder by Cheesecake’ by Rachel Ekstrom Courage
Series: Golden Girls Cozy Mystery #1
Published: April 15, 2025
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Format: e-book
Spice Level: 🚫
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Synopsis
When Dorothy’s obnoxious date is found dead in a hotel freezer, it not only ruins a gorgeous cheesecake but threatens the elaborate St. Olaf–themed wedding Rose is hosting.
Things are heating up, and not just because of Blanche’s hot flashes. Rose’s cousin is eloping to Miami, and Rose is playing host. If she can’t balance the groom’s family’s snobbery against the traditional St. Olaf wedding week guidelines, her hometown may never accept her cousin again!
Dorothy quickly realizes she needs a date with whom she can exchange wedding-related wisecracks. Turning to a newfangled VHS dating service, she believes she’s found the ideal conversationalist. Unfortunately, what looks good on TV can actually be a total jerk in real life. It seems she’ll just have to enjoy the company of Sophia, Blanche, and whomever Blanche has targeted for a hookup.
As the Girls all pitch in, Rose is thrilled that the tea-and-fish-themed kickoff event is perfect, not a herring out of place. That is until Dorothy’s date is found dead—face-planted in an otherwise scrumptious-looking cheesecake. With every guest a suspect (especially Dorothy) and a marriage on the line, the four besties must ID the real killer, get the should-be-happy couple down the aisle, and make sure nobody from St. Olaf gets lost in the wilds of Miami. It’s up to the Golden Girls to sleuth out a way for friendship and love to win the day!
My Thoughts
I’m not going to lie. I was very nervous about starting this book. The Golden Girls is one of my favorite shows and brings a lot of comfort when I need to not think and just relax. So, when I was given the chance to read an ARC copy of the book, I said yes. And let me tell you, the only good thing about Tax Day this year is that Murder by Cheesecake is getting released.
What made Murder by Cheesecake a great read was that there wasn’t a change in how the characters are compared to the show. Right when I started the book, the characters were so much like the show, I could hear and picture them right in my head. It was so much like the show, it was just like reading a script of an episode of the show. It helps that you have the famous sayings of: “Picture it Sicily…” and more to help make it feel like home when reading this book.
Rachel was not only able to get the normal sayings from the show but also made sure to get the pop culture references and more in the book to put you in the right time when the show was on. Now, with most Cozy Mysteries or even Mysteries in general, I can figure out who did it and how it ends, but I have to say with this one, it threw me for a loop. And I have to say that was great to have it be like that to keep me on the edge of my seat.
Murder by Cheesecake is a No Spice Cozy Mystery that Golden Girls fans will enjoy. It’s a four-star read that is just perfect, and I am glad the way it ended. It could be a stand-alone, but if Rachel does do another book, it was left just a little bit open for that next story. Murder by Cheesecake is available wherever you get your books.
I would like to thank NetGalley for the ARC Copy of this book. Getting the ARC Copy did not influence my thoughts on the book as they are all my own.
