Book Review: Killing Me Soufflé

Killing Me Soufflé by Ellie Alexander
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It’s almost as if Ellie Alexander decided to write a book just for me. After all, I love a good mystery. I’m from the Pacific Northwest. I’m a foodie. The beach is my happy place. I love watching building restorations. In other words, there’s just no way I wasn’t going to read Killing Me Soufflé.

The premise is fun: Two young chefs, Sterling and Stephanie, having received a stellar training at Torte, a bakery owned by chef Juliet, are spreading their wings and flying off to the Oregon coast to revive a flagging restaurant at a seaside resort. Juliet and her family go along to help out and cheer their friends on in this new venture.

There’s plenty of challenges. The fledgling chefs have the jitters. The resort receptionist keeps vanishing. The local seafood supplier isn’t thrilled with the state of things either, and the resort manager? An overbearing nightmare! Guests and some quirky locals who live year-round at the resort add to the mayhem. Oh, and as if she doesn’t have enough challenges, Juliet is pregnant. With twins.

On the flip side of all that mayhem, there’s the setting. Author Ellie Alexander does a wonderful job of describing this breathtaking location on the cliffs above the Oregon coast. It was nice to feel as if I were there once again.

Solving the inevitable murder is fun. The clues are there for sharp eyes to find, and the solution plays out with good pacing. It held my interest to the very end. Oh, and I was amused by the parallel of a death by falling (not going to say who, why, where, you need to read the book!), while chef Stephanie struggles with the fear of a falling… soufflé.

This is the 20th book in the Bakeshop Mystery series, but the first that I’ve read. It was easy to drop into Juliet’s ongoing life and find my footing in the Bakeshop world, though Juliet’s pregnancy meant little to me and wasn’t an important part of the storyline. But, I’m sure readers who have been following her adventures through 19 previous books have a deeper connection to the personal aspects of her life.

I’d happily read more of the Bakeshop Mystery series, and I recommend you do, too. If you choose to start with Killing Me Soufflé, you’ll be just fine. If you’re a completionist, why not join me in bouncing back to the first book? I’ll be picking up Meet Your Baker quite soon.

My thanks to Ellie Alexander, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital advance review copy of this book. This review is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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