Cinnamon Crumb, Baking Detective: The Great Cake Caper

By Author / Illustrator

Harry Woodgate

Genre

Mystery & Detective

Age range(s)

Publisher

Usborn

ISBN

9781805075660

Format

Paperback

Published

10-09-2026

Synopsis

"Such a treat of a book - I loved it!" Robin Stevens, author of Murder Most Unladylike; "A deliciously fun, feel-good mystery." Hannah Gold, author of The Last Bear; "The perfect mixture of bubbly characters and a juicy plot." Briony May, baker and TV presenter.

An irresistible new detective series from award-winning Harry Woodgate, this is Wonka meets The Great British Bake-Off with lashings of secrets and sabotage and illustrations on every page!

Meet Cinnamon Crumb. In the town of Marzipan, home to bakers of near-magical talent, Cinnamon burns toast. She's no baker - but she is about to become a baking detective. Because all is not sweet between Marzipan's two rival superstar bakers, Victoria Sponge and Madeleine Macaron.

They will stop at nothing to win the coveted Twelve Tier Crown at the Great Cake Carnival - even sabotage. So when Victoria sets Cinnamon a mission to spy on Maddie, Cinnamon reluctantly agrees. But when Maddie asks Cinnamon to spy on Victoria too . . . well, Cinnamon is in a situation stickier than sticky toffee pudding!

Reviews

Jacqueline

Cinnamon Crumb lives in the town of Marzipan, a place full of amazing bakers. Sadly, Cinnamon is not among them, she is in fact a culinary disaster. When she is asked by one of the star bakers to find out if her rival is sabotaging her bakes, Cinnamon finds her forte and becomes a detective, with the help of her good friend Rafi.

Cinnamon Crumb, Baking Detective: The Great Cake Caper is full of groaning puns and plays on words but is also really good fun. Books about delicious bakes (and some not so delicious) are just my sort of thing and this is a madcap romp through a fast-moving investigation. Described as 'Wonka meets The Great British Bake Off', it is full of imaginative ideas and impossible feats of baking delights. It is also a fun mystery where nothing too dreadful or scary happens, but the tension is ramped up over macarons and sponges.

The only problem with this story is that it made me want to eat cake! Some of the descriptions were so mouthwatering and enticing and the whole book is so entertaining, I devoured it almost in one go. Harry Woodgate also illustrated this story and the pictures match perfectly with the text in a highly illustrated volume. There are also lots of asides and graphic features that really add to the overall effect.

This is the start of a series about Cinnamon and I am looking forward to the next scrumptious instalment.

352 pages / Reviewed by Jacqueline Harris, teacher