TL;DR: Did I ever think that I’d be reading about murder pies? Nope. But the moment I heard a fellow book blogger mention this series on her blog the other week, it sounded like something I’d love to read and for the most part, it was just what I wanted! A lot happens in this and while the elements of the romantic variety occasionally distracted me from the murder pie-filled plot, the author did a fine job of weaving the storylines together and having it contribute to growth in the MC’s arc.

Daisy is such a great character and so easy to root for! She has been through so much from a young age with the loss of her mother and the complete deterioration (and ultimately the loss) of her father to drugs and alcohol. The three constants in her life are Penny, her pie mobile and trailer, Zoe, her adorable attention-loving doggo, and Pie. Lots and lots of Pie. Lovingly crafted, wickedly delicious, magic-infused pies that can give you strength, bring you clarity, help you study, make you fall in love or… Kill you. After all, variety is the spice of life, right? 🤭 Kidding… But no, really, the Pies have it all and I loved Daisy’s mission with Pies Before Guys and how determined she is to help women out of terrible situations they otherwise would not know how to get out of. From the time she learned she could make murder pies, she’s lived life by a strict set of rules that kept her from getting close to others and led to a fairly lonely existence. I appreciate how, in addition to sleuthing and being a total girl boss machine, she also gets to experience growth in her arc as she finally lets people into her life. I loved Noel—he was such a wholesome bean and respectful farmboy! 🥹 He fit so neatly into Daisy’s life in a way that read and (to Daisy) felt like comfort and it was a cosy romantic vibe I was here for.

There were a few bits that stopped me from loving this more and I think they’re very much “it’s me” things. As I mentioned earlier, there is a romantic subplot but it’s a very small subplot and doesn’t take up a major part of the story. That said, it was enough to distract me at times because it veered into love triangle territory and since that’s my least favourite trope of all time, I wasn’t keen on it. It didn’t help that I also didn’t like the other love interest at all and they didn’t have a minor role in the story either so we had to see them often! They irritated me from the start and all I will say is that Daisy was way too kind about the whole thing, which tracks for her character but ugh, I wanted to boot this person out of the picture so badly! 😂 Talk about someone not knowing how to read a room and sticking their nose in when they should just begone and then in their “effort to rectify their earlier mistakes (which they were not forgiven for)” they just go and make a situation ten times worse than it needs to be… I can go on but I won’t cos it’s just gonna get ranty. I will say that the real bad guy in all of this was truly horrible and deserved so much worse than what they got. Sadly, as it’s pointed out in the book, there are so many disgusting monstrous creatures disguised as men who physically, mentally and emotionally abuse women and never face the consequences for it. Not that I condone murder but… Murder pie is what they deserve!

Ultimately, I had fun with this cosy mystery. I loved the humour woven into a book that tackles some heavy themes (do check triggers before reading). It’s a very quick read and a perfect palate cleanser book and it will either make you want to make a pie or eat a lot of it. I love that some recipes are included at the back of the book—I know what I’ll be trying to make sometime soon!

Have you read Magic, Lies and Deadly Pies or is it on your TBR?

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