Jessica is the one of the finalists of a TV baking contest who returns to her hometown to film the remaining few episodes. Jessica is a part of one of the town’s most influential families whose literary love and their many bookish themed shops are plentiful. Not everyone in the family is happy Jessica is back, who as the black sheep of the family, ventured off the literary path to fulfilling her dream of running her own food truck and crafting delicious baked goods. But when her nemesis from the show turns up dead in her small town, all eyes are on Jessica as being the top suspect.

This series debut took me on an adventure of a cozy mystery that takes place only over a few days but it was definitely an adventure. There was a lot of backstory that drops the reader right into the middle of what was a tale that was already in motion. At first, I thought I was reading a book that was in the middle of a series, but as the story went on, it righted me back on track. The twists and turns in the plot of securing the reveal of who the true murderer was and I loved the little band of supporting characters that surrounded Jessica. I enjoyed the small town setting a lot, but Jessica’s family were so nasty to her that it was hard to be fully charmed by the story. Despite this hurdle, I did figure out who the killer was and it was great to have a win in solving the murder!

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for the arc. All thoughts expressed in this review are my own.

This was a very fine light reading 📚 and I enjoyed it a whole lot.
My plan is to also write about the book on the media platform I co-ordinate, but in more detail, so this will happen a tad later. However, this review will also appear on my GoodReads account, and there will be an Instagram post.

As a lover (and sometimes translator) of cozy books, I have to confess cozy mysteries are one of my not at all guilty pleasures. This one was my first contact with Mathilda Swift, and surely I already joined her mailing list. I liked the style and the pacing: the short chapters were precisely what I needed after a long day!
What else I loved was the cleverly crafted names of places and people, something I noticed afterwards in all her series' titles. Then, the carefully paced combo of action, suspense, and fun got me, and I ended up whisking everything in a sitting (see what I did?).

I am really looking forward to read more by Mathilda soon!

And Then There Were Scones by Matilda Swift was a short and sweet cozy mystery featuring a town almost entirely owned, and definitely run by a family of book people, mostly book stores. It was supposedly run by a board but the reality was that one person controlled it all, Jessica’s aunt Enriqueta, who did not like her. Her enmity came mostly from the fact that Jessica had veered from the family business to run a food truck and was now competing in a nation-wide televised baking contest. Shortly after seeing her, Jessica ran into a dead body, that of Cameron, a competitor on the show who had been eliminated. What was he doing here? And who had killed him? And why was the camera crew from the show here? There were rumors that she was the murderer, but the police didn’t actually seem too involved. She would have to solve the crime herself if she were to resume her career, however shaky that seemed at the moment.

This was a cute novel. This little town, Quillington, was a rival to Hay-on-Wye, a town nearby to which, in fact, many of her family had fled. Everything had a bookish name and most of the stores were book-based. Jessica had learned to bake from her grandmother, who owned a bookstore, which Jessica would inherit, far into the future, she hoped. The crime was solved quickly and in an unexpected manner. There wasn’t much fore-shadowing. The premise is cute and the surroundings even cuter. Jessica is an acceptable sleuth. Not much depth, but fun to read.

I was invited to read And ThenThere Were Scones by Victory Editing Netgalley Co-op. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #VictoryEditingNetgalleyCoop #MatildaSwift
#AndThenThereWereScones

Fell in love with the gorgeous cover and liked the well plotted and entertaining cozy mystery.
Hope to read further novel by this author
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This book was okay. It definitely wasn’t the best story I’ve ever read, but it’s not the worst either. It was really short, and a lot of the parts where the main character is thinking things through trying to solve the mystery conveniently leave out things that she already knows, leading her to draw the wrong conclusion a few times. I also didn’t like that it left off on a cliffhanger. Because I’d like to know how the cliffhanger is resolved, but I don’t really care about reading the next book. This one just didn’t hook me enough for that.

This book is everything I love about cozy mysteries. It's set in a quirky town full of themed bookstores, with a protagonist who is the black sheep of her family because she chooses to devote her time to baking instead of ink and paper. There's a Great British Baking Show style competition that's filled with conflict even before one of the contestants is found dead in a narrow alley. I love everything about this one -- the way the author uses language, the way Jessica thinks through her problems, the situation with her family and their weird little town. And best of all the second book is coming out in March so I won't have to wait long to see what happens next!

"And Then There Were Scones (A Parchment Paper Mystery #1)" by Matilda Swift read more like a second or third book in a series. Jessica Askew is in her hometown filming a food truck competition when one of the contestants is found dead. Her aunt and one of the crew members immediately try to balm Jessica for the death. Now this is where it seems like back info is missing. I'm not sure if I missed it or what, but it didn't feel very clear why her aunt dislikes her so extemely and has her entire family (except grandma and brother) working against Jessica. You'd think she'd encourage a job that takes her away from town if she didn't want her around, not try to ruin it.

For the mystery part of things, Jessica mostly gets involved with trying to figure out why it's connected to her or her family. Otherwise most of Jessica's time is spent working around her aunt's scheming. It'll be interesting to see where this series goes.

And Then There Were Scones
Book One in the Parchment Paper Mysteries
By Matilda Swift
Genre: English Cozy Mystery/General Fiction/Mystery and Thrillers
Format: ebook
Pages: 184
Pub date: Feb. 12
ISBN: 9605380498756

Jessica Askew is a baker competing inThe Great British Street Bakes Showdown, a TV contest for food truck owners. The most recent episode is taking place in the village of Little Quillinton, Jessica’s hometown. It’s not a homecoming Jessica wanted. Askews founded Little Quillinton, the largest book village in the nation. Jessica, however, is the black sheep as the family, rejecting the literary in favor of scones, baked Alaska, strudel muffins, and other baked goods. Her Aunt Enriqueta is quick to point out during a TV interview Jessica is an embarrassment to the Askew family’s literary heritage. If things weren’t already bad enough, the body of Jessica’s biggest rival turns up in Little Quillinton, and Jessica becomes suspect number one. Not the best circumstances for winning a baking competition. Based on the actions of the local police, Jessica knows she must be the one to clear her name on top of trying to win this competition. She’s in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

I’ve enjoyed many of Matilda Swift’s other books. She’s written the Heathervale mystery series and the Slippery Spoon mystery series. And Then There Were Scones is the first book in her new series, and it is a fast-paced, fun read, with a twisty plot that makes it difficult to guess the murderer’s identity. The characters are well-written. There is humor throughout the novel, a plus. Once I started reading, I couldn’t put the book down. I look forward to reading more books in the series. 5/5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-Op for a copy of the e-book. All opinions are my own.

A wonderful cozy debut with all the perfect cozy elements. Thank you to the publisher, the author and Net Galley . My review opinions are my own.
Welcome to a quaint Yorkshire village where the family of our protagonist lives. They are booksellers and Jessica is a baker. She returns home to be in a cooking contest and a murder occurs. Jessica is the prime suspect and must navigate her family, village people who assume she is guilty and find the rightful suspect.

The sleuth was enthralling, the characters perfect small village types, the baking fun to read. I look forward to the next in series. .Well done to the author for a great debut mystery.

Jessica is back in her hometown to shoot an episode for the baking contest she is participating in. When she discovers the body of one of her competitors, she finds herself trying to clear her name, deal with her demeaning and controlling at and win a baking challenge all at the same time.

While you can go home again, no one said it was gonna be a cakewalk. Can Jessica figure out what her family‘s up to, who killed the Baker, and save her own bacon? Give this great cozier read to find out, because I guarantee you’re gonna wanna be back for more in this series. I know I will.

A food truck baking contest gains a lot of significance for Jessica when it shifts to her hometown. Things take a shocking twist when detectives discover that one of Jessica’s competitors has been murdered, making her the prime suspect. This story presents an engaging, cozy mystery set against a charming backdrop. This was a fun cozy and I recommend it to all cozy readers!

Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

And Then There Were Scones is a fun food truck baking competition set in England. Jessica went against her book heritage to open a food truck. She is hoping that competing in the competition will help her get more places to work from her food truck.
As the book opens, Jessica is in her home village. There is a summer party going on, during which another competitor dies. Jessica is a suspect, so she tries to figure out the murder to save her place in the competition with hopes of winning.
I enjoyed reading this book. There are some recipes at the end that sound good.
The solution to the murder was really interesting. I’m glad the next book is only a month away as there is a bit of family mystery that serves as a cliffhanger to this book.
Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I throughly enjoyed this cozy mystery. I always like a book set in England as I am a fan of British TV. The book has an interesting cast of characters. It moved at a nice pace and was easy to follow. I would read more by this author.

The title and the cover of this book immediately got my attention, as a lover of a good cream tea, what could the story possibly be about? Turns out it's about Jessica and a baking contest. What I wasn't expecting was that one of the other competitors would get murdered and it was more of a murder mystery, that said, I did enjoy it, even though it wasn't quite what I had anticipated

As a huge cozy mystery fan I can tell you this is one of the best I've read! I love the cozy setting, and the characters make you absolutely fall in love with them. This was my first book by this author but I will certainly keep an eye out for more!

This was a quick and enjoyable read. It was a little choppy moving from scene to scene and the big reveal at the end was odd. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants an easy and quick read.

And Then There Were Scones has been a sweet balm on my fragile nerves in the current world climate, and has just become my favourite mystery of 2025!

Jessica Askew is returning home to Little Quillington to continue taking part in a baking contest, that will hopefully help elevate her food truck status. However, when a contestant on the show is found killed, and Jessica looks to be fingered for the crime, she must solve a murder and try to win at the same time!

When can I move to Little Quillington? It's a town based on books, with so many of the residents being named after books/characters and each shop having a bookish theme. I want to move there right now... well without the murder of course!

From the very first page I was hooked on this mystery. It's a fast-paced mystery that brings the reader into the story quickly. I felt like I was running the cobblestone streets of Little Quillington with Jessica and her best friend, Pippa, as they race to solve the crime. It was a fantastic whodunnit and I didn't manage to solve it before Jessica - quite the feat given how many mysteries I read.

If you like baking shows, culinary mysteries and everything cottage core you need to start this series!!! Matilda Swift has me completely hooked on this series and I will definitely be reading her backlist as well, because I need more!!

When I started the book, I felt like I was dropped into the middle of the story. I kept going back to see if there was a previous title in the series. A little more development would have been helpful. Additionally, I kept thinking this entire plot is much ado about nothing. The main character is found leaning over a dead body that she came across. However, a friend was with her when they came upon said body. The entire plot was about how the MC was under immense suspicion of murder because others (other than the friend) came across her leaning over the body. The MC stressed the entire book and the plot line was of course her trying to solve the murder to take suspicion off herself. The book would have been fine (and even better) with this strange plot line. The MC was a likeable character and had the resources to solve the murder without her being the main suspect. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for review

Jessica is the black sheep of her family because everyone else has always been involved with books and literature. Jessica loves to bake and has her own food truck. Jessica enters a food truck baking competition show and the tension ramps up when the show is being filmed in her home town. When a fellow competitor is found murdered, Jessica is the immediate suspect.
This is a fun cozy mystery and I am looking forward to trying the scone recipe included at the end of the book!
Thanks to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the ARC.

Jessica Askew grew up in the Yorkshire village of Little Quillington, where her family has been selling books for as long as anyone can remember. Much to the dismay of her relatives, Jessica's interests lie in the culinary arts rather than literary ones. Taking part in a TV cookery competition was supposed to increase the profile of her food truck business, but instead, it made her a murder suspect determined to clear her name!

Book one in Matilda Swift's new series is a quick and easy read with a killer that surprised me, which is always good. Jessica is an interesting main protagonist, and although I have read quite a few cosy mysteries with a theme relating to a very popular cooking show, this was still enjoyable. There are recipes at the end of the book plus a link to Little Quillington's local newspaper, which I think is a great idea. I will definitely be on the lookout for books two and three, which are released in March and April.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op, but the opinions expressed are my own. I really enjoyed this. It was a good series starter, which promises much. 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.