When the Deadly Desserts bake-off lives up to its name, Val and Granddad turn up the heat on a killer . . .

The Maryland Mystery Fan Fest sounds like exactly the fun getaway cafe manager Val Deniston and her grandfather could use. Granddad will even compete in a dessert competition in which contestants assume the roles of cooks to famous fictional sleuths. Playing Nero Wolfe’s gourmet cook Fritz is an exciting challenge for Granddad. A restaurant manager is playing Lord Peter Wimsey’s valet and cook Bunter. But Granddad is steamed to learn who will be playing Sherlock Holmes’s landlady, Mrs. Hudson–his nemesis Cynthia Sweet, who he believes ripped off his five-ingredient theme from his column “Codger Cook” to use in her own recipe column.

Apparently, he isn’t the only one who has beef with his not-so-sweet competitor. When she’s found dead in her room with the teakettle whistling, it’s up to Val and her grandfather to sort through the festival goers to find out who was most definitely not a fan of Cynthia Sweet . . .

What a fun, creative and unique, cozy mystery. 

The Five Ingredient Mystery series is offering up Baked Offed for our reading pleasure. Café manager, Val, Denison and her grandpa are attending the Maryland mystery fan fest. Both of them are lucky enough to be taking part in events that are happening within the conference. Val will be taking part in the mystery trivia contest, and grandpa will be taking part in a dessert cooking contest based on recipes from old books. Which should be a fun event turns into a big mystery that some people aren’t even sure is actually a real event. Sometimes that’s what you get at a mystery conference.  Val and Grampa put their skills to the test to figure out why a woman ended up murdered.

This was a different type of cozy mystery at that I thoroughly enjoyed. Val and her grandpa are great characters. I love how thorough they were trying to get to the bottom of the mystery that turned into a couple mysteries.  I love the homage to the classic mysteries that we have all come to love. I love that what could be an insignificant clue became something that actually made a major part of the puzzle come together. There was lots of personality and charisma in the pages of Baked Offed. Also, I should mention I love it when a book is based in my home state. This was my first read in the unique series and it definitely won’t be my last.

As someone who goes to book conventions, Baked Offed give the reader all the fun of going to the book conference, minus the murder. It is a very fun experience to be able to get to spend time with the authors that you enjoy reading and partake in different fun activities with them. I really love how this book showed that experience.