Burned to a Crisp – Gingerbread Hag Mystery #1 by K.A. Miltimore

Burned to a Crisp is a delightful read. I’m not quite sure it qualifies as a mystery, as there isn’t quite a lot of detection, but I don’t think that should put anyone off of it.

The world building of a secret society of strange and unusual persons and ancient magical artifacts found in something as mundane as a bakery is very entertaining. Burned to a Crisp has a delightful cast of fun and interesting characters. Dorro is an amusing character I can’t wait to see more of, and I’m quite intrigued by the villain. One misstep is that, while the characters have different personalities, all of their dialogue – and the narration – have the same writing ‘voice’, which did take some getting used to.

The most fun part of this novel is its star, Hedy Leckermaul. She is a wonderful combination of Mary Poppins, Mortiticia Addams, and Willy Wonka all rolled into one. The story definitely focuses on bringing the world of the fictionalized version of Enumclaw (a real place!) to life, and leaves some mystery of this baker’s past, but I’m excited for the future of The Gingerbread Hag series