Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies

Adult mystery. Daisy Ellery has inherited a gift of magic, and she uses it to bake pies. Most pies are filled with nostalgia, or a touch of focus, but some are to die for. She runs an underground business called Pies Before Guys where abused women can request a pie that will stop their abuser dead. But someone has uncovered this line of work and has started threatening to expose Daisy. Meanwhile, she finally starts to feel like she has real friends in Turnbridge, including not only the staff of the restaurant she bakes for, but Noel the owner of a local orchard who works next to her at the farmer's market, and a loud activist named Melly that she meets on the college campus. When Noel encourages her to enter a Miss American Pie baking contest for a $10,000 cash prize she agrees and promptly features his apple and honey in the ingredients. But as the contest gets closer, the messages from her blackmailer increase. Will Daisy be able to enter and win or will she have to face up to her past?

This book was mostly fun, but I was a bit surprised at the language used and politics included. To me it didn't quite feel like a cozy mystery because of that. I did enjoy it though, and requested the physical copy so I could see the recipes at the end. A bit of mystery, a bit of romance, and a lot of pie.

Content Warnings

leanne_miron's review against another edition

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dark lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

jcstokes95's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Your enjoyment of this book will be at least a bit determined by how much you believe shitty abusive men should be killed for their crimes. Which, okay by me, but I see a few reviewers who didn't read the back flap, so just doing my best to help out.

Daisy Ellery is a charming baker with a secret talent for creating magical murder pies, directed at the abusers in her town. When she received a letter threatening to reveal her side gig as a feminist semi-serial killer, she has to go into detective mode to find out who might be blackmailing her. However, it really doesn't feel like Daisy does a lot of detecting, to be honest. Mostly she avoids the situation brewing with her rival and focuses on a bunch of other distractions. From a romance plot with her farmer's market neighbor...and a romance plot with the passionate (and very annoying imo) Mellie. Also a plot to save an orchard via pie competition. And also to convince a woman to take action against her husband. There is a lot going on at once and it can feel a bit chaotic sometimes.

However, it feels lighthearted throughout, which is a feat, because there is a lot of vague mention of domestic and sexual violence. The author is never graphic or specific, which keeps the tone light and even chipper because of Daisy's personality. I sense your mileage may very on how you feel the tone matches subject matter. Most of the time it felt alright for me, I've been searching for lighter books after a rough reading month. My main issue with this book is the repetitive narration. Not sure how this felt in physical copy, but in the audiobook, it was evident that the novel could have lost some of the padding and been better for it. But all in all, the pace keeps moving and this is easily devoured for those who like something on the border of mystery and small town intrigue.

Content Warnings

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