The Golden Spoon

Starred review from December 1, 2022

DEBUT A delectable tour de force of baking and mayhem, Maxwell's debut mystery is one to savor. Change is in the air for the popular TV show Bake Week, starring "America's Grandmother," Betsy Martin. For the first time in the show's history, Betsy will be joined by a cohost, fellow award-winning baker Archie Morris, whose bulldog personality contrasts with her approachable image. Betsy is livid about the change, but the show funds her sprawling estate, Grafton Manor, where the series is also filmed, so she agrees. Tensions are already high when the six contestants arrive, all ready to wow their idol with their tasty pies and perfectly formed breads. Things quickly go awry as ingredients are mislabeled and temperatures are fiddled with in the flawlessly manicured kitchens. Through unfolding narratives by each of the bakers and Betsy herself, readers come to realize that not everyone at Grafton Manor is there to compete. Past traumas and the manor itself come into play, culminating in a horror-filled evening. VERDICT With meticulous plotting and the grand backdrop of a country home, this is a thoroughly entertaining, well-crafted read. Highly recommended for all mystery collections and for those who appreciate an ensemble cast in their whodunits.--Amy Nolan

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Starred review from February 13, 2023
Byzantine chicanery seasoned with a dash of revenge greets six contestants gathered for Bake Week on the property of a crumbling Vermont manse, in Maxwell’s outstanding debut. Tantalizing backstage backstories include those of an ex-journalist from Brooklyn, a pie prodigy from Minnesota, a Bronx math teacher, a wealthy former CEO tech from Boston, a retired Rhode Island registered nurse, and a restorer of old buildings from New Hampshire. Hosting the competition’s 10th season is the heir to the manor, Betsy Martin, joined for the first time by an award-winning baker, Archie Morris, along with regular lead coordinator, Melanie Blair. Sabotage starts slow but early. A refrigerator door is left open; salt is replaced with sugar; a burner is turned up to high; gasoline replaces orange essence in a pie. By day three, it’s clear someone isn’t playing by the rules laid out in a “behemoth spiralbound packet.” Everything escalates to an extremely dark and stormy night (including a blackout), leading to startling revelations and a jaw-dropping confession. Sweet and savory turns deadly sour in this fast-paced, entertaining romp scheduled for a Hulu miniseries. Maxwell is off to a great start. Agent: Alexandra Machinist, ICM Partners.

Starred review from January 1, 2023
Six contestants. A big white tent on the grounds of an aging estate. It's a bake-off...in Vermont? And the winner might just be the one who survives. Hannah. Gerald. Pradyumna. Lottie. Peter. Stella. These six bakers are selected to compete in the 10th season of Bake Week, a TV show filmed in the mountains of Vermont at Grafton Manor, the family estate of cookbook legend Betsy Martin. Betsy has been successfully hosting the show and judging the baked goods of amateur American bakers for 10 years; this year, however, a few things are different. First of all, the producers have insisted on appointing a co-host designed to appeal to a younger audience, a male chef known for his hard-as-nails critiques on another cooking show as well as his million-dollar smile. Second of all, at least one of the contestants is not who they say they are. Once a body is found, dripping blood into a cake--don't worry, no one eats it--it's clear that someone has taken the competition a little too far. There's a delightful balance of baking details and intrigue as the bakers compete through different challenges and we become privy to their secret motives and how far each is willing to go to win. The contestants hit all the character types: the beautiful ing�nue, the neurotic scientist, the fluffy old woman, the bored millionaire, the anxious newbie, and the rustic craftsman. We are treated to their backstories and to some of their internal dialogue, but this is a novel that also rests comfortably, nostalgically, in its sense of formula. Despite the American setting, it's not hard to imagine these characters creeping around the halls and grounds of a moldering British manor in the tradition of the best locked-room mysteries. A delicious concoction: two shakes Agatha Christie and a cup of Great British Bake Off.

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