Going, Going, Ganache

Cupcake Bakery Mystery #5

by Jenn McKinlay

A new Cupcake Bakery Mystery from New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay is icing on the cupcake!

After a cupcake-flinging fiasco at a photo shoot for a local magazine, Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura agree to make amends by hosting a weeklong corporate boot camp at Fairy Tale Cupcakes.  The idea is the brainchild of billionaire Ian Hannigan, new owner of SWS (Southwest Style), a lifestyle magazine that chronicles the lives of Scottsdale’s rich and famous. He’s assigned his staff to a team-building week of making cupcakes for charity.

It’s clear that the staff would rather be doing just about anything other than frosting baked goods. But when the magazine’s creative director is found murdered outside the bakery, Mel and Angie have a new team-building exercise—find the killer before their business goes AWOL.

INCLUDES SCRUMPTIOUS RECIPES

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy, Fiction, Audiobook, Romance, Mystery Thriller

294 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 2, 2013

About the author

Jenn is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of several mystery and romance series. She is also the winner of the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award for romantic comedy and the Fresh Fiction award for best cozy mystery. A TEDx speaker, she is always happy to talk books, writing, reading, and the creative process to anyone who cares to listen. She lives in sunny Arizona in a house that is overrun with books, pets, and her husband’s guitars.

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going, Going, Ganache is the 5th book in the Cupcake Bakery Mysteries written by Jenn McKinlay. I've read several of the author's other series and now I'm catching up on this one with ~10 more books to go. Set in Arizona and focused on a trio of besties who run a cupcake bakery, there's tons of romance and investigating in the collection. A magazine has included their store in a new spread, but things go awry. To fix some damage, Mel, Tate and Angie agree to a cupcake baking boot camp for the magazine's key team members... then one ends up dead! Laughed a lot. Great characterization. Strong mystery but a surprise with the whodunnit. And lots of side story / romance changes!!!

[Luffy Sempai · Rating 4 out of 5]

This particular book had one or three very, very good ideas, and a bunch of okay ideas to fill the pages with a coherent story. As soon as the murder occurs, there is no upping of the tempo. I reckon I was happy to know more about the trio of best friends who are the main characters.

[❂ Murder by Death · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was dreading this one because of hints of a new love triangle made by my fellow friends. I decided to just pick it up and get it over with lest it sit on Mt. TBR indefinitely. I have mixed feelings, so I'll start with the mystery it self - very well done. Almost a locked room type-ish mystery in that Mel and her partner had to work with each of the suspects in the kitchen for 4 days while the murder is sussed out. Even so, the mystery was well-crafted with no clear or obvious suspect and the author had me discovering the murderer at the same time Mel did.

Now - on to the characters themselves. The introduction of a possible love triangle is, on the surface, disappointing and annoying. Mel and Joe are good together and it feels like the author is really really screwing with the dynamic that has worked so well in this series so far by introducing Detective Martinez. But I can see why Ms. McKinlay might have done it: a romantic relationship that introduced some sexual tension into the mix as well as involving a detective into the group that gets them more information and possibly more involvement in further crimes. Ms. McKinlay is going to have to treat this storyline carefully so as not to alienate the fans she already has. She's a stellar writer, so if anyone can pull it off, she can.

The writing of this book should be an example to many cozy authors out there - no paragraphs and pages of constant internal dialogue and repetitive summaries of the plot. Lots of snappy dialogue and a fast moving pace that kept me totally involved in the story (dinner's gonna be over an hour late tonight because I couldn't put the book down!) I look forward to the next book in the series to see how all this ends up!

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The love triangle sucked and was not necessary! The rest of the story was great though!

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Jenn McKinlay! She rarely steers me wrong with her cozy writing. I really enjoyed the mystery in this book and getting to know all the suspects so closely. I love the writing - how snappy and non "dumbed down" it is. If there is something that drives me batty in cozies it is when an author keeps telling me what is going on - I am reading the book I know what is going on! Jenn doesn't do any of that. I am soooooo not happy about a possible love triangle because I love Mel and Joe together but I have to have every faith that Jenn will pull this all together in the next book and bring me around to her way of thinking because she is so awesome. I know you can do it Jenn! Where is book 6?? I need it now!

[Ali · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cozy mysteries require a certain suspension of belief and there's nothing wrong with that, but when reality rides in the trunk and melodrama steers the vehicle, well . . . I have a problem. Melodrama cannot be tamed by attempts at humor. Melodrama cannot be undone by epiphany. Melodrama is just bad. I'm tired of trumped up personal problems to extend subplots, to create false entanglements, and that are blindingly obvious. I saw what was coming before Mel woke up the next morning. I knew what was coming and where's the fun in that. There's no fun in that and there's never any fun in . . . well, I can't say without spoiling it for other readers, so I'll just quietly roll my eyes, sigh long and hard, and think why. I've enjoyed this series up until now and I will certainly read the next, but its time to put some things to rest and find brand new subplots to explore and extend. I want character growth not reverse evolution. The mystery was a good one, but I hate when the "just there for this mystery" characters are more appealing and interesting than the ones that placed this series on my to buy list. I want grown women who act accordingly and not like some stunted twenty-something on the Bachelorette. I want better. I want what this series was just a book ago. If I were a person that read for plot over character then the mystery would have soothed me, but the characterization and their attached subplots just annoyed me. I'll be waiting for the next entry.

[LORI CASWELL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fairy Tale Cupcakes is going to be featured in Southwest Style Magazine, that is if they can survive the photo shoot and the week long cupcake boot camp for the employees of the magazine. The new owner of SWS, Ian Hannigan, thinks baking cupcakes for charity is the perfect team building exercise for his staff. It quickly becomes clear that the staff is not thrilled with this idea. When a features editor is found murdered outside the bakery Mel and Angie have a team building exercise all their own. The need to catch a killer before anyone else gets frosted.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

I took a great big bite out of this delicious mystery and loved every minute of it.

I love these characters and a couple of them had major developments in their lives in this installment of this wonderful series. Tate makes some huge decisions and Marty starts a blog that leads to something very unexpected. Mel is frustrated with herself, is she over thinking everything?

Then of course there is that darn dead body. The staff of Southwest Style is quite a unique group and they are all on the suspect list. They all seem to be hiding something.

Jenn McKinlay has baked up another delectable mystery filled with humor, romance and of course CUPCAKES!!!!

Do yourself a favor and start by baking up some of the cupcake recipes found in the back of the book and then sit back enjoy them along with this fantastic cozy.

Happy Reading!

[Cait · Rating 2 out of 5]

THIS close to being 1 star.

Seriously, after 4 books of her being super into Joe and wanting to be with him - she suddenly doesn't want to get married? AND THAT STUPID CLIFFHANGER. AND A FUCKING LOVE TRIANGLE

And just... ugh. The mysteries are getting super lame as well.

in summary: no no no no no

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read all of the books in this series and there are things I have loved about it from the beginning. I love the setting in a cupcake bakery run by three best friends and it's even better that the shop is in Scottsdale, AZ. The prior book in the series took the friends outside the bakery and I didn't enjoy it as well. Also, the feud between Mel and rival baker Olivia went to ridiculous extremes in that book. I was glad to see that with the exception of a silly scene at the beginning of the book, the characters seem to be acting more mature, in business matters anyway.

The slapstick scene at the beginning of this book does set up the premise of the book of having Mel run a "baking boot camp" for employees of a local magazine. That part of the book is fun and kept my interest until the very end. Mel's best friend Angie can sometimes be a little over the top in her actions, but I enjoyed her character a lot this time around. She has some great scenes with Tate in this book that I really enjoyed.

There were plenty of suspects in the murder of one of the magazine employees and it was interesting to see Mel help investigate. I was less pleased with developments in Mel's relationship with Joe. It sounds like she needs to have a good talk with her mother or a counselor instead of flirting with another man if she wants to work out her fears about marriage. I also didn't like that Mel acted jealous when good things happened to her friends. This seemed very immature and out of character for her. There is a minor cliff-hanger at the end that involves her love life, but I'm not sure that means she has resolved her doubts one way or the other. Some of this melodrama took away from the book as a whole, but it was still a fun read.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy this cozy mystery series! I listened to this book on audio. It had me guessing who did it until the end.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've really gotten into this series, partly because I like the characters. Mel(anie) and Angie, loyal friends and smart business owners, and their best friend Tate, a voice of reason, all have a natural curiosity and often balance one another out when one of them gets a bit impulsive. The employees of their cupcake shop, Marty and Oz, provide some great comic relief. Uncle Stan, Mel's loving uncle, is great for giving Melanie sound advice. Detective Martinez, Mel's one-time nemesis, shows up quite a bit in this story, and not just in his professional capacity. The story, about the staff of a locally-based magazine being forced to take a team-building, cupcake-baking class at the cupcake shop, moves at a great pace and has no shortage of suspects when someone ends up murdered outside the bakery. The conclusion is very satisfying and action-packed, and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series. The only thing I didn't find that interesting was Mel's wishy-washy attitude toward her boyfriend Joe. It was a fairly big theme in this book, and I'm hoping it's resolved soon, one way or the other.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so excited to wake up and have this book loaded into my Kindle! I read it in one day. Funny because I do have a full-time job.

At any rate, another great entry in the cupcake mysteries by Jenn McKinlay. In this one, Mel and Angie start off in a photo shoot for Southwest Style magazine. A cupcake fight with their rival, Olivia, ensues. To make amends, the girls are told they have to host a cupcake boot camp for the magazine's staff for a team building exercise. A murder soon follows and Mel tries her best to solve it so she can move on with her life.

Mel's love life also has its ups and downs. I really thought after Red Velvet Revenge that Mel would move forward but *spoiler alert* it was not to be. For now. There's also a cliffhanger at the end of the book that I'm dying to know the resolution for! I read the sample chapter of the next book in the series included in the Kindle edition bu McKinlay doesn't give it away... yet.

I love love love this series and I love Jenn McKinlay. Please keep writing about Mel, Angie, Tate, Marty, Oz, Joe, Stan and Joyce!

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun edition to the Cupcake Bakery series. Mel and Angie are hosting a boot camp at the bakery after a photo shoot went terribly awry. Good intentions aside, the attendees are squabbling and the creative director turns up dead. They have to hustle to come up with a new recipe for the boot camp grand finale, find a killer, and find out where and why their partner, Tate, had disappeared. With a few good twists and romance in the air, this was a hit.

As a fan of ganache, the description of the cupcakes was mouth watering. Plus, recipes 🧁

[Jammin Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this cozy mystery set in Arizona at a cupcake bakery. The characters were a lot of fun, and I enjoyed the love triangle between Martinez, Joe and Melanie. I also loved the friendship between Melanie and Angie and how supportive they are of each other. And the book made me hungry for cupcakes!!

[QNPoohBear · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 / 2.75 stars (somewhere between it was OK and I liked it. "I kind of liked it."

Melanie Cooper and Angie deLaura are trying to bring some publicity to Fairy Tale Cupcakes in the form of a photo shoot for Southwest Style magazine. If only the shoot didn't involve high heels, bouffant hair hardened with hairspray and an invasion by Olivia Puckett. Olivia's intrusion unfortunately causes Angie and Mel to get in trouble with the magazine to the tune of thousands of dollars in damage. Luckily, they have Tate to help smooth the way with the owner, Ian Hannigan. The magazine staff will come to Fairy Tale Cupcakes for cupcake boot camp to make cupcakes for a charity gala. Not everyone is cooperative. Brigit MacLeod, scary editor-in-chief only wants to run her magazine and Amy Pierson has a giant uncooperative chip on her shoulder and Features Director Sam isn't too thrilled with the idea of cupcakes. He's more used to writing exposes of the rich and famous. When Sam ends up dead outside the baker, Mel is convinced it's one of her boot camp participants, but which one and why? Meanwhile, Tate is acting strange just as he and Angie are about to finally realize their feelings and Mel's boyfriend Joe wants to get married soon! Mel has to find the killer before she loses her bakery or worse, her life. She'll deal with the rest later.

This was not the best entry in the series. I hate love triangles and relationship drama. In Mel's case her hang ups make sense given her history but I just didn't like it. The romance story ends on a cliffhanger. The Angie/Tate romance had promise but it's getting tired now. That plot has it's ups and downs. The ups were good and the downs not. The mystery plot was better but not much. I didn't really care who killed Sam or why. I never guessed who did it until the moment Mel started to put it together. I was surprised but not surprised. I knew it could not possibly be the obvious candidate but it could have been. I'm not going to spoil it. The thrilling part at the end was very dramatic. The whole thing didn't seem all that realistic. There wasn't enough baking in this novel despite the boot camp. None of the cupcakes they made sound delicious to me.

I am dying (pun intended) to see what happens next and I hope the romance plots don't drag on forever.

[Moondance · Rating 4 out of 5]

"No, I'm not feeling it," Amy Pierson said.

Mel and Angie of Fairy Tale Cupcakes are doing a photo shoot for Southwest Style magazine when arch nemesis Olivia arrives and a major food fight ensues. The aftermath of the incident creates an opportunity for a corporate boot camp. The magazine owner wants his employees to learn to work together by making a thousand cupcakes for an upcoming gala. Needless to say, not everyone is thrilled. The murder of an executive of the magazine in the alley behind the bakery sparks amateur sleuthing.

This is an excellent addition to the series. There is a LOT of interpersonal changes going on between the main characters. I so did not want Mel to end up in a triangle. I agree with her mom and I'm Team Joe all the way. Tate and Angie have growth in their relationship even though Tate has pretty much lost his mind.

The magazine employees were all a piece of work! The back stabbing and infighting put everyone on the suspect list. The twists and turns keep you guessing until the very end.

The ending had me looking to see if I have the next book. I must know where everything progresses from here. This is a book that I started and could not put down until I finished. I love the characters and the deep relationship that Mel, Angie and Tate share. And the cupcake recipes are not bad either.

[Mark Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

When a photo shoot for Southwest Style turns into a disaster, Mel and Angie find themselves hosting a cupcake boot camp as a team building exercise for the fractured magazine staff. The second morning, Mel finds out of the staff members murdered behind her shop. With the prime suspects in her bakery, can Mel figure out who the killer is?

This is a wonderful addition to the series, and it is easy to see why the series has so many fans. The characters, main and new, are all strong. The mystery provides plenty of tension, suspects, and red herrings, and a couple of sub-plots involving the main characters will keep series fans engrossed as well. Add to that delicious cupcake recipes in the back, and you’ve got a winner.

Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still love this series! Can't wait to get started on the next one!

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our sleuths are doing a photo shoot for a magazine, when their rival shows up and...Food Fight! To prevent being sued they agree to help the magazine staff with a useless team building exercise making cupcakes. The editor is of course and Anna Wintour analogue.

There's a murder, one of the paramours goes missing, and the other couple break up, sort of, giving us a nice illusion of progress.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

what's up w/the return of sexy cop b/c Mel already has good chemistry w/the lawyer?
Looks like its what i call a character romantic mid-book crisis. And usually this means trouble in paradise w/changes coming...
I am curious to see what's going to happen with the characters.

[nidah05 (SleepDreamWrite) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow I had just started reading this, thinking I'll read a chapter or two. But no, I just kept on going until I realized oh I'm actually close to finishing this.

The story line for this I kind of like but at the same time, I'm kind nervous as to where I think it might be going. Won't say which characters though. That ending, while unexpected, kind of sweet but at the same time kind of sad. Hoping that story arc will get resolved in the next one and not dragged out. Also concerning two characters, just got to say, finally!

Other than that, this was a little dark near the end but the mystery was interesting. Also that cover, is yummy worthy. Anyway, another pretty good sequel. Onto the next one.

[Melodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is hands down one of my very favorite cozy series. Jenn McKinlay is an excellent writer and she has made the characters in these books come alive. They grow and you learn things about them in every new book. However, I am not thrilled with the possibility of a romantic "triangle" getting thrown into the mix! That whole gimmicky plot point is so trite and definitely beneath a writer of Ms. McKinlay's caliber. As for the mystery itself, I had no idea who the killer was until it was revealed. Great build-up to that. I like a story that catches me off-guard! Looking forward to the next one, and here's hoping the "triangle" potential gets swept under the rug! RECOMMEND!!

[Amanda McGill · Rating 2 out of 5]

My favourite cozy mystery series! However, the 5th novel in the Cupcake Bakery Mystery series was by far my least favourite novel.

I felt that the novel focused too much on the personal drama happening in the lives of Mel, Angie and Tate that it took away from the actual mystery. At the end of the novel, it felt like the solving of the mystery was just a side note and I hated that.

I'm still going to continue on with the series, but my love is slowly fading for the cupcake bakers.

[Lisa Hickman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thought I'd try a cozy mystery on audio. I think I would've enjoyed it more if I read it. The voices the narrator used for the cast of characters got on my nerves. I found myself disliking everyone because I didn't like her voice.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

AUTHOR McKinlay, Jenn
TITLE Going, Going, Ganache
DATE READ 05/12/20
RATING 4.5/B+
FIRST SENTENCE
GENRE/ PUB DATE/PUBLISHER / # OF Cozy Mystery/2013/hoopla-audio/7 hr 24 min
SERIES/STAND-ALONE #5 Cupcake Mystery
CHALLENGE Good Reads 2020 Reading Goal 91/120;
GROUP READ GR Mys/Suspens/Thriller
TIME/PLACE 2012/AZ
CHARACTERS Melanie Coooper and Angie DeLaura -- childhood friends and partners at FairyTale Cupcakes
COMMENTS Delightful series -- winning combination of fun characters, good plotting and then there are the cupcakes. Melanie and Angie are to be featured in the prestigious SW Style magazine … all goes haywire and a cupcake fight ensues. To make good for this disaster -- they offer to host a teambuilding event for the magazine where cupcakes will be made for charity. The creative director is found dead in front of the Cupcake Bakery one morning. Many suspects … who knew magazine staff were such backstabbers and constantly trying to outdo one another. Lots of progression in character relationships. A good series to continue.

[Genres and Journals *Tia* · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favorite in this series so far. I might have an unpopular opinion but I was totally into the love triangle. Martinez? Yes, please. Lol. I���m kind of scared to read the next book because I don’t want her to go right back to Joe although I’m sure she will. Boring. But Martinez is probably too exciting for Mel in the end, huh?
Anyway….the mystery in this one was interesting. I didn’t figure out the culprit until about 80% into the book…right before Mel figured it out.

One more thing…this book had a lot of relationship changes or progression….however you want to say it…I’m concerned that if all of the characters end up in relationships that the series will become boring. Hopefully that isn’t the case. Surely Jenn McKinlay will keep it interesting.

[Connie N. · Rating 4 out of 5]

#5 in the Cupcake Bakery Mystery series

This series continues to be fun, mostly because of the entertaining characters. Mel and Angie are participating in a magazine photo shoot to promote the bakery, but when arch enemy Olivia gets involved, things get messy--literally. To make up for it, Mel agrees to host a cupcake boot camp, sort of a team-building event for the magazine employees. Unfortunately, when a murder occurs just outside the bakery, Mel becomes involved--again. There are some personal updates as well. Tate and Angie are getting closer, but Tate is basically having an identity crisis, so the girls are trying to help him. Also, Mel and Joe are having problems in their romance since Joe is pushing a little harder than Mel is comfortable with. Not to mention the hot new detective (Martinez) working closely with Uncle Stan on the bakery murder who has made his interest in Mel very clear. Plenty of action at the grand finale gala. I look forward to continuing with this series.

[Lisa Malmquist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Melanie and Angie are owners of the Fairy Tale Cupcakes shop. They are getting a photo shoot for a big magazine in the area and are happy for the publicity.
Things go wrong when their nemesis crashes the party.
Angie and Melanie have to make amends by hosting a corporate cupcake making boot camp for the members of the magazine staff. The cupcakes have to be done for the huge Gala coming up.
No one really wants to make cupcakes but it gets worse when one of the staff is murdered outside the shop.
Melanie and Angie have their work cut out for them.
A fun series with lots going on! Never get bored with this series, and the characters are people you can relate to!

[Alison (Lady Coffin) S · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute baking cozy

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun read in the Cupcake Bakery Mystery series!