Murder, Baking and Witches

Poppy Wilkinson has landed a spot on the hugely popular British Baking Show. But, her real reason for wanting to be on the show isn't to win the best baker prize. Instead, she is on a quest to find out about her birth mother. Broomewold Hall, the site of the show, seems to hold the key to learning something about her past.

While she is participating in the show, she stumbles (literally) upon a dead body and soon Poppy is drawn into a murder mystery. On top of the stress of the show, the murder, and her quest for answers, she also finds out that she is a witch! All of these factors rolled together make for a highly entertaining book. Fans of TV baking shows will love it as the reader is pulled into the backstage workings of this type of show. Cozy mystery fans will enjoy Poppy's urge to find the murderer. The magical element to the book just makes it that much more fun!

The narrator does a great job and the different voices she uses for the characters make this a very enjoyable listen. If you are looking for a fun, quick and entertaining book to listen to as you go about your daily life, I highly recommend this one. I was given the chance to listen to the audiobook version of this book by the author and chose to review it.

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Ready, Set, Bake!

I came to this series as a fan of the "Great British Baking Show" and fantasy stories. These books do not disappoint. They combine everything: Magic, Witches, Lost Family, Murder, Ghosts, Mischief, Mayhem, and reality tv!

Poppy, our contestant is cast as the "girl next door" in the Great British Bake Show. She was found as a baby on a doorstep wrapped in a special blanket. Although adopted and well cared for, has always wanted to know about her first family. As she grew older, Poppy also discovered she had an interesting talent. She could see and speak with ghosts. While flipping through channels, Poppy comes across a history of the estate where the Great British BakingShow is filmed and her eye catches on a shawl that has the same pattern as her baby blanket. Poppy comes to believe that the answers to her lost family must be connected to the estate.

Although Poppy enjoys baking and has a certain talent for it, her participation in the show is merely a ruse to investigate the estate where the show is filmed in order to find clues to her long lost family. If that weren't enough, during her first episode one of the contestants unexpectedly is murdered...and begins to haunt the tent (and pub) where the contestants are staying. Polly also discovers that she is a witch, and her ability to communicate with spirits is one of her powers.

Soon, Polly also learns that the two hosts of the show are also witches, as well as several of the locals. Using her intuition and skills of observation, Polly finds herself elbow-deep in batter, murder, magic, and mayhem. Will she sort it out and remain on the show so she can find her family, too, or will everything go up in smoke?

The Great Witches Baking Show is the first of (now 5) installments of this series. Mixing a potent recipe of murder, magic, and mystery, Nancy Warren's new cozy mystery series is sure to delight even the toughest of critics. A light read, the book will keep you going until the final timer and presentation. Who will be crowned "star baker" and who won't make the final cut?

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GREAT NEW SERIES

I ENJOYED MEETING THE CHARACTERS IN THIS NEW SERIES AND LOOK FORWARD TO GETTING TO KNOW THEM BETTER IN THE NEXT BOOK.

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1 person found this helpful

great start to new series

It is a bit quirky but fun. An interesting way to investigate a mystery surrounding poppy's birth and her parents.. Getting to know the characters is fun and quite a mix of bakers. I have to admit it was an eye opener about what all the bakers have to deal with doing that show. It has murder, a ghost, a familiar and newbie witch. looking forward to next book in this series

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Fun story! Ok narration

I really liked this story and I generally like Hollis McCarthy as a narrator. I've heard her narrate other stories and have really enjoyed them. This time however, her accents were throwing me off and brining me out of the story. They weren't great 😕 As I said, I really like her as a narrator and will continue to listen to her work.

The story was pretty good and had some.neat twists. I look forward to trying the next in the series.

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good story, bad British accents

As a fan of both GBBO and Nancy Warren, I decided to try this cozy paranormal mystery. I found the characters fun and the plot included just enough baking antics without overtaking the mystery. I'm interested in learning more about Poppy and her familial history but I doubt I'll be listening. I have enjoyed Hollis McCarthy's work in Kristen Painter's Jayne Frost series and her Poppy is fine but her British accents were atrocious. I'm not British but I listen to many books by British authors to not notice how off and awful the accents were. Since everyone except for Poppy are Brits, it kept yanking me out of the story. Bummer because this would be a fun series to listen to.

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Wonderful

wonderful story and well written. and I can not wait to see what happens in the next book. This is the first time I have actually enjoyed Hollis Mccarthy as a narrator.

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A Lovely British Murder Mystery

A Baking competition and a murder most foul and a young witch discovering her power and searching for the mother she never knew. A very enjoyable first book in the a series I’m going to continue listening too.

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New genre for me

I listened to an audiobook copy of this book. I am a fan of Nancy Warren’s books, but this is the first time I have ever tried a cozy mystery.

I was surprised that this story kept my interest. I enjoyed listening to it and the narrator was very talented with all of the different accents that she used between the range of characters. I even caught myself thinking that I was thankful to have someone else pronounce the names of the characters because I never would’ve figured them out.

It wasn’t a very long story and it is book one of a pretty popular series. Poppy will have other mysteries to solve in future books, but in this one, she stumbles upon a fellow baking contestant that has been murdered and eventually realizes that she is a witch. Two major revelations that can only mean bigger adventures and twisting plots in the next few books.

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great witches baking show

love the story. The reader did a great job. Learning you are a witch and not just weird is a great thing.

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