Through a Bakery Window

by Catherine Zebrowski

Romance, mystery, and death in a small New England town.

Enthralled with a lavish wedding, the town gossips flourish until the specter of a long-deceased spirit intervenes. Based loosely on a true crime story from the turn of the nineteenth century in New England, this novel uncovers a simple truth of humanity-from the well-off to the working class, everyone falls victim to the transience of joy and the struggles of human nature.

Genres: Romance, Historical Fiction, Crime

282 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 20, 2021

Reviews

[Jessica Wooddell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel is a fun read that makes you feel like a part of the town and its families. There is a great surprise ending, too.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a hurried and harried novel, but one that wants to be read when you are in a relaxed state and don't want to be challenged by any more of current reality. It is set in a time which is far from some of today's madness yet shows that in some ways we haven's progressed quite as far as we think we have. I thought it was very good but was rather slow at the beginning.
I won an e-book copy in a LibraryThing Giveaway!

[Sharon Healy-Yang · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't put down this mystery based on actual murder in a small Massachusetts town at the turn of the 19th into the 20th century. Catherine Zebrowski writes an exciting novel about two young people struggling to marry over the mysterious resistance of members of their well-to-do families. We know someone will be murdered, but who exactly and why?! The author keeps us guessing on both counts. We care because she has created two young people we care about and believe in, complicated family conflicts, and intriguing contemporary class conflicts and loyalties. The novel has a nice feel for the time period, so you have the sensation of being back in a world in which many opportunities are opening up for women and the working class, where technology is changing the world in exciting ways, and tradition teeters between stability and constraint.

[Kyd Clueless · Rating 1 out of 5]

Such a strange read. The characters were enjoyable, but the plot was a mess. All of Part 2 was completely unnecessary and didn't add to the overall plot. I kept reading and enjoyed some of it even though the story was going nowhere. The real plot doesn't start until 80% into the book, so that's way too much time spent on backstory and character development. Then all the sudden the story is over and all is revealed via letter in the prologue. No real way to follow the mystery and no hints about the murder. Just tons of lead up, hints at a mystery, late story murder, the end, now hears a letter to tell you what happened and why. Disappointing mess!

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did enjoy this book. It was an interesting view into the end of the 19th century and what it was like to travel as an American overseas in Europe. It was also interesting to see what the Dynamics were like between families with young adults and how dating happened between these courting young individuals. I did not like the ending I felt it to be a little bit confusing and felt that it was unnecessarily harsh but overall I did enjoy the book.

[Eileen O'Finlan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loosely based on a real story, Through a Bakery Window is part romance, part murder mystery set in a small town in Massachusetts in the early 1900s. It is an engaging, well-told tale with a great twist at the end.

[Karen L48 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is more of a romantic book than a mystery. Not my type. I did finish the book.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a twisted storyline. That shows how secrets can destroy lives. I figured out the ending but not the suicide. So sad how a simple secret can affect so many.

[Aoife · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is more a diary than anything to do with mystery/cosy mystery. The mystery only comes in around part 3 and part 2 is background for too long for me - it could have been 2 chapters.