Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audio ARC. It hasn’t affected the contents of my review.
Okay, picture Big Little Lies, but less literary and more cozy mystery-esque. A group of moms attend a cake bake-off where everyone has baked a Victoria Sponge, but before many cakes can be tasted and judged, the host (whose name is also Victoria Sandwich!) drops dead. One of our main characters, Rachel, has the blame pinned on her by the other mothers because of some offhand comments she’d made on the playground and in a group chat, so she and two other mothers, Jane and Frankie, decide to clear Rachel’s name and figure out who killed Ms. Sandwich.
This was a fun, breezy read. It’s definitely above average for its genre and the themes it’s tackling (the emotional labor of women and stay at home moms in particular), but it’s not a genre breaker or anything. To say why would be spoilers, but this book impressed me. Clare Thompson knows how to construct a mystery, and she’s pretty great at character work! She plays with reader expectations with aplomb. I thought this was one type of book, but it turned out to be another, but the way the author wrote the story, it was completely organic, when it could have been abrupt and weird. Anyway, I will happily read more books from this author, and wouldn’t mind if this turned into a series. I also really liked the audiobook narrator.
30 Books in 30 Days—2026
Book 14/30
