Icing on the Murder by Valerie Burns: Book Review

Icing on the Murder is the fourth book in the Baker Street Mystery Series by Valerie Burns. With an anticipated release date of July 29, 2025, it takes readers back to New Bison, Michigan. Maddy is planning her wedding and feels overwhelmed with the decisions. In true Maddy fashion, she signs up to have a famous wedding planner plan her wedding. What happens when the planner is found dead with a cake skewer from Baby Cakes, Maddy’s bakery?

I want to thank Kensington Cozies and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Icing on the Murder. All opinions presented here are my own.

Synopsis from Goodreads

Aunt Octavia would be so proud! Maddy has turned Baby Cakes Bakery—named for her 250-pound English Mastiff, Baby—into a runaway success, and she’s marrying the love of her life, veterinarian Michael Portman. #DreamWedding! Plus, the timing couldn’t be the country’s biggest bridal expo has come to New Bison, Michigan, and Maddy has secured a spot for Baby Cakes to showcase their cakes. She’s also entered a contest for an all-expenses-paid wedding extravaganza offered by world-renowned wedding planner Serafina.

Unfortunately, supremely nasty Serafina truly takes the cake—she makes the worst bridezilla seem like a shy flower girl. But there’s one thing the wedding planner didn’t plan on—being impaled by one of the skewers Baby Cakes uses on their tiered wedding cakes.

While Maid of Honor Sheriff April Johnson rounds up suspects at the expo, Maddy and her aunt’s friends, the Baker Street Irregulars, and even Baby join forces to unveil a killer hiding in plain sight… before wedding bells start to chime.

My Opinions

I’m glad to see that I was wrong last year, thinking that book three, A Cup of Flour, A Pinch of Death, was the last in the series. Icing on the Murder is a fantastic addition to the Baker Street Mystery series. And I still want more of Maddy and the gang. Please, Ms. Burns, can we have more of the Baker Street Irregulars?

As I did last year, I still recommend reading the series in order. While there aren’t too many spoilers in this book for earlier ones in the series, I still suggest you read them in order. The first book is Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder.

Now, for the murder, I was making my list of suspects from the minute we were introduced to Serafina. I don’t think I have ever cheered for someone’s death as much as I did hers. She is probably one of the most despicable characters I have ever met. I think she’s the most deplorable person anyone has ever met, as everyone in the book seems to wish she were dead. And that makes it hard to figure out who killed her.

While I understand Burns was setting the scene and adding tension, why did it take until after the 30% mark for the murder to happen? If anything, it made the rest of the book go quickly, because you had so many more suspects to consider, and less time to consider them.

Overall, I enjoyed Icing on the Murder as much as, if not more so, than the rest of the series. Do you enjoy reading books set in small towns? What about books that feature food, especially baked goods? Or nods to classic literary detectives? Then you should read Icing on the Murder! Or better yet, just read all of the Baker Street Mysteries! I, for one, look forward to returning to New Bison soon.

Are you looking for some more books to read? Check out my bookish lists, book reviews, and monthly reading wrap-ups.