A Good Day to Pie by Misha Popp

A Good Day to Pie by Misha Popp
Narrator: Tanya Eby
Series: Pies Before Guys #2
Published by Dreamscape Media on February 7, 2023
Source: NetGalley
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Length: 7 hrs 43 mins
Pages: 320
Format: Audiobook
Purchase at Bookshop.org or Audible
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Everyone loves a good pie. But how about a pie that’s as deadly as it is delectable?

Daisy bakes a little murder into every pie she creates, and she and her dog, Zoe, deliver them to the town’s worst cads. Now, Daisy’s entered a televised, elimination-style competition and has a shot at $100k in prize money—but she still has a murder pie to deliver between filming.

In a completely unexpected turn of events, she discovers that her intended victim is one of the competition judges, and he turns up dead before the pie even arrives. Now, Daisy has to solve the murder—even if it means working a bit of magic—before someone calls foul play and exposes her murderous secret.

For anyone who’s ever fantasized about the world of competitive baking à la the Great British Bake Off—or has ever dreamed of getting back at that guy who wronged them years ago— Popp’s culinary cozy series is as alluring as a perfectly baked pie, this edgy yet utterly charming novel takes the idea of “a dessert to die for” to a whole new level.

I loved A Good Day to Pie. This is the second in the series featuring pie baker Daisy Ellery. I would suggest reading the first, Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies, before starting this one. Daisy has magic that she can bake into her pies and she most often uses that skill to kill abusive men.

This time around Daisy has entered a baking contest, apparently like the Great British Bake Off which I’ve never seen – I’ve watched enough competitions on the Food Network to get the idea though. It turns out that one of the judges is a man she is supposed to deliver a murder pie to after the contest, which is a bit worrying. It becomes an even bigger problem when the man ends up dead before she can even give him the pie. Now she needs to find out who killed him and whether there is any way the cops might be able to connect Pies Before Guys to the crime.

There are a lot of characters here – the judges, the production staff, and the contestants. It’s impossible for them all to be fully developed, but they were a quirky, interesting group, and some of them are definitely more likable than others. I listened to the audio and the narrator did a good job at giving each of them their own voice. Of course, it helped that a few of them had regional accents.

The mystery was put together well. There was enough to keep you guessing til near, but the clues lead you to the murderer. I liked how Daisy used her magic to help solve the case. It wasn’t over the top but fit her character well.

My favorite part was probably all baking. So many delicious treats!! It makes me want to give baking a pie from scratch a shot. There are also a couple of recipes in the back that are neat. She gives a basic recipe and then suggestions on ways to mix it up, like add-ins.