Murder by Cheesecake: A Golden Girls Cozy Mystery by Rachel Ekstrom Courage
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars rounded up**
My initial thoughts upon first hearing the concept for this book were as follows:
I cannot even believe this is a thing. It’s like all my dreams have come true. No one is a bigger GG-fan than me!! To have the Girls all together to solve a Cozy Mystery?!
What the heck could be better!?
I put off reading it for as long as I could, wanting to read it just prior to the publication date, April 15, 2025. In my eyes, it couldn’t come soon enough.
And I’ll tell you what, I did really enjoy it. Was it perfect? No, but it didn’t need to be. I feel like a lot of Cozy Mystery series get better as they go, as they find their rhythm and as Readers become more attached to the characters.
While I don’t think it’s possible for me to be more attached to Sophia, Blanche, Dorothy and Rose than I already am, I do think if the series continues, I will grow to love the format and mystery of the novels more and more.
In this story, we have two things happening. Rose is preparing to host a wedding for her cousin, Nettie, and her beau, Jason, wherein an inheritance clause makes it necessary for the wedding to contain many St. Olafian traditions, so that is a focus of a lot of the action.
Additionally, we have a dead body found on the premises where the wedding is to take place, and due to circumstances I won’t get into, Dorothy is considered a lead suspect.
Because of all of this, the Girls are trying to clear Dorothy’s name, while also giving Nettie the wedding of her dreams. It’s a lot for a weekend!
By the end of the 1st-chapter, I was already impressed by the way the author captured each of the Girls’ personalities and mannerisms; minus Sophia using a cane, which I am still scratching my head about.
It was so easy for me to read, picturing all of their intonations and comedic deliveries. It was just incredibly enjoyable for me as a super fan.
Overall, I found it to be a super cute, very fun, and nostalgic read for me. I felt like all four women, Dorothy, Rose, Sophia and Blanche, were executed with grace, and in a way that would make any fan of the show happy.
At times I would have preferred the mystery to be a bit more front-and-center, in comparison to the drama circling Nettie’s wedding. Nevertheless, it was still a great read!
I’m actually not sure if this is slated to be a series, or not, but I’m really hoping for more. There’s so many more opportunities for mysteries. Miami is a busy place and these Girls are always getting into some sort of sticky situation.
I would recommend this to any Golden Girls fan. I don’t think it would hit the same for people who haven’t watched the show, but I could be wrong. As a Cozy Mystery, it was still solid, regardless of who the characters are.
Thank you so much for the ARC, Hyperion Avenue. This was a hugely-anticipated release for me, and I’m honored to have received a copy early.
Thank you, thank you!