The Gingerbread Bump-Off

Fresh-Baked Mystery #6

by Livia J. Washburn

A Christmas killer has been icing Phylis Newsom's friends in the sixth Fresh-Baked mystery. Not only will Phyllis Newsom's house be featured in the annual Christmas Jingle Bell Tour of Homes, she also has a Christmas Eve bridal shower and a New Year's Eve wedding to bake goodies for. But like her tasty treats, she rises to the occasion. Before the tour gets under way, Phyllis makes a gruesome discovery on her someone has tried to kill her friend. As Santa's naughty list gets longer, Phyllis tries to catch a half-baked killer.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Christmas, Fiction, Cozy, Holiday, Food

290 pages, Paperback

First published October 26, 2011

About the author

Under the names Livia J. Washburn and L.J. Washburn, Livia Reasoner has been writing award-winning, critically acclaimed mystery, western, romance, and historical novels for more than thirty years. She began to write in collaboration with her husband, author James Reasoner, and soon branched out into telling her own stories. She received the Private Eye Writers of America award and the American Mystery award for her first mystery, WILD NIGHT, and was nominated for a Spur by the Western Writers of America for a novel she wrote with her husband, James Reasoner. Livia won the Peacemaker Award from Western Fictioneers for her story “Charlie’s Pie”.

Reviews

[Luffy Sempai · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Gingerbread Bump-Off is so titled because a garden figurine is the murder weapon. I've had quite some expectation from this series. It was a pleasure to read and watch the plot unfold. It was brilliantly told. The author took her time to place the event of the murder. The amateur detective Phyllis went onto the wrong track, due to circumstances and to being misled purposefully by the murderer.

The last chapters were so suspense laden! It felt like a movie, a good movie at that. When there were only a few pages remaining, one knew that the solution would soon be announced. The great thing about this book is that the small clues to the solvency of the case were not hidden. I love when a devious murder is solved by a righteous person. There's something appealing about it. I'm going to read the remaining books and then I'll be watching like a hawk regarding any new books being printed.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun adventure with Phyllis and the gang. This one takes place right after the previous book at Christmas time. This one definitely kept me guessing and I really liked that Sam investigated a little more and just that we got to see more scenes from his view. Looking forward to reading the next book.

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Gingerbread Bump-Off features an intriguing mystery with a cast of characters that likely need time to grow on you to enjoy.

Phyllis Newsom is having a very busy time of year preparing for a Christmas Eve bridal shower and a New Year's Eve wedding, plus her house is to be included on the upcoming Christmas Jingle Bell Tour of Homes. But before the tour can commence, Phyllis discovers the head of the tour attacked on her front porch and left for dead.

I enjoyed the mystery of finding out who attacked Georgia and why. It seemed so random for someone to attack her in plain view on Phyllis' porch on the night the tour was set to begin. The author does a good job exploring different theories on who went after Georgia, each of them entirely plausible. Overall I liked the final reveal and I definitely bought into the why of the attack.

My issue with this book was that I couldn't stand all of the characters. Maybe it's because all of them were constantly harping on about their old age and how they couldn't do as much as when they were young. I also found that they each complained quite a bit about such minor things. I prefer my books to have characters I can relate to on some level, but I just never connected with any of the characters in this book.

Overall if I hadn't needed to read The Gingerbread Bump-Off for a challenge, I likely never would have picked this book up.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do enjoy this series, but I have to say I was disappointed in this installment. I don't like storylines involving women falsely claiming to be sexually assaulted. That doesn't happen often in real life, and I think seeing it happen in movies and books makes people doubt women when they say they were assaulted in real life.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet addition to this series. I just love holiday mysteries and this was too cute.

[Kathy (Bermudaonion) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

Cute cozy mystery set during the holiday season.

[Linda Smatzny · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this story, Georgia Hallerbee is killed on the front porch of Phyllis' house just before the start of the Christmas Jingle Bell Tour. Phyllis knows she has to find the killer since the attack was on her front porch. At the same time, Eve, one of the boarders is having a bridal shower on Christmas Eve and getting married on New Year's Eve at the house so Phyllis has a lot to do. The book was an easy quick read.

[Cheryl Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's December in Weatherford, Texas. The Christmas season is upon everyone. Retired schoolteacher Phyllis Newsom is busier than ever this year. She is planning the Christmas Eve shower and New Year's Eve wedding of her boarder and fellow retired teacher, Eve Turner. Phyllis is also busy mixing up her German chocolate cookies to enter into the newspaper annual cookie recipe contest. Although her plate is full, Phyllis agrees to help out Georgia Hallerbee, the organizer of the Christmas Jingle Bell Tour of Homes. Each year, around a dozen homes in Weatherford are elaborately decorated for Christmas, inside and out. Guests pay a small fee for the privilege to tour the homes, and the proceeds go to local civic organizations. This year, a participant had to drop out of the Jingle Bell Tour due to illness, and Georgia wants Phyllis to put her home on display for the tour. Even though it means she has less than a week to prepare, Phyllis and fellow boarders Carolyn Wilbarger and Sam Fletcher help get the house ready for the tour.

On the night of the Jingle Bell Tour, Phyllis's doorbell rings. When she goes to answer the door, Phyllis hears a tremendous crash and shattering. She opens the door to find one of her large outdoor ceramic gingerbread men shattered and Georgia Hallerbee lying unconscious in a pool of blood. It is obvious someone hit Georgia over the head with one of Phyllis's decorative gingerbread men.

Unable to take an assault happening right on her doorstep, Phyllis jumps into investigating the case with Sam Fletcher. She learns there are people on the Jingle Bell Tour of Homes who do not have alibis for the night of the crime. Also, since Georgia was an accountant and tax consultant, she could have had privy to knowledge of financial wrongdoing. Phyllis seems to hit dead end after dead end as alibis are produced and proven and struggles to get to the bottom of the case.

Phyllis must continue ahead in her preparations for Eve's wedding all while investigating this heinous crime. As days go by and Georgia does not regain conscious, it is looking like the charges may soon be upgraded to murder. Can Phyllis catch a killer, pull off a shower and wedding, and still have time for a little Christmas spirit?

Having read the previous books in this series, I was already familiar with Phyllis and her boarders. Even though I read this book in March, it was a nice, seasonal read and reminded me of Christmas time and Christmas lights. I did not guess the identity of the murderer and enjoyed the story overall. The recipes at the end of the book are sure to please the foodies out there. This is a great addition to the Fresh-Baked Mystery series.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is the holidays and there are extra celebrations because Phyllis is prepping two events for her friend and housemate, Eve, who is getting married. Phyllis is the main character/amateur sleuth in this series. I like her relationship with Sam Fletcher very much. They seem to have a budding romance. They are currently friends and he is a great helpmate. The murder victim is a woman who is smashed over the head with a "gingerbread man" decoration on the front porch of Phyllis' house. There are lots of tangents in the book. Phyllis comes up with some compelling suspects and possibilities. We have all the pieces, but thankfully it is explained at the end what actually happened. I enjoyed the cozy descriptions in this fast holiday read. The book ended with some suspicions of Eve's fiance named Roy. I had to pick up the next book immediately (Wedding Cake Killer) because I was curious about so many things, haha.

[Cherie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phyllis is asked by a friend to have her house participate in the Jingle Bell Tour of Homes that she is in charge of. Despite also having to help prepare for Eve's upcoming bridal shower and wedding, Phyllis decides to participate. This begins a whirlwind of activity. Unfortunately, on the day the tour begins, while visiting Phyllis, Georgia (the organizer) is attacked and left in a coma. Phyllis then proceeds to investigate who attacked Georgia.

It was fun reading all about the preparations being made for the different activities. The interactions between the characters were enjoyable as well. The mystery was not easy to guess. The author did a good job with the use of red herrings. I also enjoyed the fact that she included some tasty sounding recipes at the back of the book.

[Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed this series. I think the reason I like this series is that I find the idea of retired school teachers living together interesting. Sort of like a group home. I have never come across a series like this one. I also like that the main person is pretty normal and makes a lot of mistakes when it comes to finding the guilty party. Everyone seems to have a motive and a means, until the final ending when she finally gets everything into place. By then she has already suggested to the police several other suspects that are actually not guilty at all. I am going to read more books by Livia J. Washburn.

[Royce E · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly new author to me--the characters are growing on me and I have become more comfortable reading this series--but it took me forever to get through this book!

Of course when one is reading three other books at the same time!--what can you expect. Phyllis and Sam did some good investigating of the murder on her front porch. The local police detective was always patient and tolerate of their observations.

Finished the book (I guess), but cannot remember who 'done it!' I had to go to AI to find out. What A shock!

You all need to read the book and see if you can follow the clues--I certainly did not!

[Jamie Barringer (Ravenmount) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a nice cozy mystery with recipes, starring an older lady as the sleuth, a retired school teacher. She reminds me a bit of Miss Marple, always coming across murders without looking for them, with a friendly relationship with some of the police, while other official police investigators find her annoying.
The solution to this mystery is not too obvious, and all the information is present in the text for the reader to work it out alongside, or even before the sleuth, despite lots of red herrings.

[Diane Sugars · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh how I disliked this book!!!! I hate cozy mysteries as I feel that they are just fluff writing with no true real literature value!!! The only reason I read this book was to get it out of my “to be read” pile and pass it along to my little free library. The happy go lucky, almost silly acting characters in this book drove me crazy and the cliches were so sickening sweet that I just couldn’t handle it!

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

A woman is asked to allow her house to be on a house tour and after consulting with her house mates, agrees. The the night of the tour the director of the tour is murdered on the porch with a ceramic gingerbread man. Of course our heroine has to help solve the mystery as she has solved murders in the past. The main characters need some fleshing out as not all of them are very attractive as people. The mystery itself deserved four stars but the lackluster characters dragged it down to a 3.

[Georgiann Hennelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Georgian Hallerbee asks Phyllis to be part of the Gingerbread House tour she is flattered as well flustered she already has a lot going on.But she agrees. Before the tour even starts Phyllis hears a crash on her porch. When she opens the door she makes a gruesome discovery. Someone has broken one of her decorative gingerbread men over Georgia's head. Who did it and why? Phyllis decides to find out with the help of Sam

[Vin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read with a kinda unexpected killer so that really surprised me. Only slight issue I had was that the characters seemed a little too "Murder She Wrote"-ish minus the Appealing personality for the most part. In fact I kinda wished Sam was the main detective/sleuth. Overall a solid read though.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I enjoyed this book, but I got caught up on a few plot holes. As far as cozy mysteries go it's well written, and I like the main character pretty well. She is an older woman and sometimes has views that I personally don't agree with. I liked the ending because it felt like it didn't just come out of nowhere, the clues were all there if you wanted to put it together.

[Kilgallen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not dislike this one but when I finished it I was left feeling underwhelmed. This is as squeeky clean as it gets when it comes to a story line and any romance is very G rated so if that is something you look for it is perfect. The retired seniors who are the main characters are well written and I will keep this one in mind for customers looking for this type of cozy mystery.

[Rebekah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was liking it at first. But then it started to drag the last 150 pages. The scenes from Sam's POV threw me off too at first because we usually don't see his perspective.

But I did like it over all. Honestly, I don't think it helped that I had to return the book to the library and was rushing to finish it.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun cozy with subplots and many clues that deadend for the reader. There are several recipes at the end including one for gingerbread that I think I might try. It's nice to read a cozy after reading several much more heavy books. Should be rated a 3.5.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars. The story was okay but the writing wasn’t great. There was so much “telling” of every detail. It was awkward and not very realistic. I hated the way Sam talked, ending every ing word with in’. And he was a doormat of a character.

[Susan Moxley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome story that keeps you guessing to the very end.

[Brenda Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy the books in this series. The Characters are good. The story moves at a good pace.

[Cynthia Repsher · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Christmas tour, a New Year's wedding, and murder. Phyllis handles it all.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This was one of the better stories in the series. The plot was a bit more complex and I really enjoyed that!

[Marci · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a series about retired teachers who live together.

[Sue Perkinson Hawkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was ok

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mediocre. Plot is okay, ending too rushed. Unfortunately, I don't like Washburn's writing style...too explicit and doesn't leave things to the imaginations.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great one in this series.