Featured on Buzzfeed Books! In the first in New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon’s Kitchen Witch series, Mia Malone is starting over in Magic Springs, Idaho—where murder is on the menu . . . What’s a kitchen witch to do when her almost-fiancé leaves her suddenly single and unemployed? For Mia Malone, the answer’s simple: move to her grandmother’s quirky Idaho hometown, where magic is … grandmother’s quirky Idaho hometown, where magic is an open secret and witches and warlocks are (mostly) welcome. With a new gourmet dinner delivery business—and a touch of magic in her recipes—Mia’s hopes are high. Even when her ex’s little sister, Christina, arrives looking for a place to stay, Mia takes it in stride.
But her first catering job takes a distasteful turn when her client’s body is found, stabbed and stuffed under the head table. Mia’s shocked to learn that she’s a suspect—and even more so when she realizes she’s next on a killer’s list. With Christina, along with Mia’s meddling grandma, in the mix, she’ll have to find out which of the town’s eccentric residents has an appetite for murder…before this fresh start comes to a sticky end. . . .
Includes Recipes!
Praise for Lynn Cahoon
“I love the author’s style, which was warm and friendly. . . . A wonderfully appealing series.”
—Dru’s Book Musings on the Tourist Trap Mysteries
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While One Poison Pie by Lynn Cahoon is the first in the series, I really do feel like I should have read the novella, Chili Cauldron Curse, that came out about 5 months before this one. I know 2020 was a weird year for publishing, but I really wonder why they decided to put out a novella to introduce the series.
In the novella it looks like Mia comes to town to help out grandma and she must have decided to stay in town by the end of the book. I can see how it is a prequel, but I think it would have been better to make it into a full length book and start the series with Chili Cauldron Curse. While I didn’t feel lost while reading One Poison Pie, I did feel like I was missing parts of the story.
I really enjoyed getting to know the characters in One Poison Pie. Mia and Christina make a wonderful pair of roommates and sleuth/sidekick, and Cahoon has already primed the pump to have two emerging romances by the end of the story. Although I can see some readers of the cozy genre not enjoying all the mentions of sexual feelings that Mia is experiencing. Grandma is a wonderful matriarch and I’m glad that Mia has someone there to help her with her powers and that she’s not stumbling around blind trying to figure out more about them.
On the note of magical powers, I wish they were more incorporated into the book. There was so much potential for more magical spells, recipes, and herbal concoctions to be added to the story. I’m hoping Cahoon will go deeper into the traditions of kitchen magic and benefits of various herbs in future books.
I am interested to see how this series progresses (especially since there is a cliffhanger) and would be willing to read the next book since the characters are so enjoyable and to see if the magic is expanded upon.
I am a fan of Lynn Cahoon so when I found out she had a new series debuting with a hint of the paranormal, well it was a given that I would be adding the series to my to be read list. One Poison Pie is the first full-length book in the new Kitchen Witch Mystery series and I am definitely a fan. Mia, her grandmother Mary Alice, Christina, and the rest of the cast of secondary characters are delightful and have so much potential for future storylines. This is a paranormal cozy but I liked that it was only one element and was not the predominant element in the book. The paranormal aspect adds interest and possibilities to the story and future books in the series. There is also a bit a romance for Mia as well as Christina (who is the sister of Mia’s ex-boyfriend).
The mystery is well done. The victim was one of the town’s wealthiest citizens. She had a tendency to be a bit difficult in dealing with vendors and tradespeople she hired. Mia is immediately a suspect and starts looking into suspects in order to clear her name. Having just moved to town, she needs her new business to succeed. In the process, she is joined by her grandmother, Trent (a possible love interest), and Levi (Trent’s brother). I thought the mystery was tied up nice and had a very satisfying ending.
I think this series has wonderful potential and will become one that I look forward to reading. The characters and instantly likable and the mystery was interesting and well-plotted to keep the reader’s attention.
I voluntarily read a digital advanced reader copy provided to me by the publisher, Kensington Books, through Netgalley. The thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
This is an intriguing mystery. Ms. Cahoon does a great job introducing possible murder suspects. I enjoyed meeting Mia Malone, her Grans and Christina, her ex-fiance’s sister. I am looking forward to reading more about what’s developing between Mia and Trent Majors. Also I am sure whatever darkness Mia has been warned about in this book will make for a compelling story.
The cover really got my attention and is the best thing about the book. It, like the title, is misleading. No poison, no pie, no magic, no witchiness. Several of the characters are supposed to be witches, but they don’t do anything with it, no real powers or results. It is, essentially, a mainstream cozy. The the stereotypical single female main character recovering from a bad breakup who goes home and reinvents herself. The romance, or talk/thoughts of men, sex, relationships is heavy.
The mystery isn’t really a mystery, we basically know who did it and why, but the proof is what is uncovered.
Overall, it was an ok, light read, but doesn’t hit the mark on what it seems to be selling itself as.
I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
While I’ve read several books by Lynn Cahoon in several series, this one was different. This delightful cozy mystery had a paranormal twist. The characters are well developed and the mystery was interesting. This is a great first book in a new series and I look forward to reading future books and getting to know the characters. The author has come up with another winne!
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing Corporation for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
I have read a lot of Lynn’s books but this is a new series so I grabbed and read the first one. I will be reading the rest of the books in this series.
Mia, is a kitchen witch, and has moved back to Magic Springs to open a catering business and cooking school. This is after a bad breakup with her long time boyfriend. Issac, the ex, sends his sister Christina to live with Mia as a spy. He wants Mia’s cookbook. Luckily she realizes that and he doesn’t end up with it. Mia’s grandmother’s best friend is murdered and it’s looking like Mia is going to be charged with the crime. She is working on finding the true killer but she doesn’t know who to trust. With help from her friends and grandmother, she does solve the mystery.
Another great series by Lynn Cahoon. A nice variety of characters. Mia is going to be fun to follow!
I loved this first in the series. Mia is hired to cater an event for her grandmother’s best friend, but when a body is found, Mia’s future is looking rough.
I liked the characters, each with their own personalities. The mystery was good and kept me guessing and with a couple of the side stories, it made it hard to trust some people. The story moves along at a nice pace and kept me turning the pages. The touch of paranormal is nice, I enjoyed it. I will continue on with this series. Great start!
Read 1.26.2021
This is a fairly decent start to a new series by Lynn Cahoon. I wasn’t a huge fan of the novella before this, but I had already had this, so I knew I had to read it and hoped that it was at least a little better than the novella was, and thankfully, it was. It was also problematic in areas, and since I am [apparently] extremely detailed orientated [which is sometimes problematic when reading a book like this], I need to lay these issues out.
1. “You cannot practice magic while looking down your nose at it” <--Aunt Jet [Practical Magic] I must have said this a hundred times during this book whenever a character would claim they did not practice and wasn't a part of the practice of their family, yet would use magic when it suited them. I see bad things happening because of this. Very bad things. Magic doesn't like to be used for one's own benefit without being acknowledged. 2. It is either a V A N or it is a C A R. It cannot be BOTH, especially in the same sentence. A van is not a car, and a car is not a van. PLEASE figure it out [yes, this seems trivial, but it happens so often that I was totally annoyed by the end of the book]. 3. If one wrecks ones V A N in a snowstorm that has shut down the town, one cannot, the very next day, drive one's V A N to rescue someone. Just sayin'. 4. The reveal. Because of how the last part of the book was written, it ends up being rather anticlimactic [ You cannot have a really anticlimactic reveal at 82% without everyone realizing who the killer then has to be because there is no one left {unless its someone who has not even been mentioned}. I do hope this isn't a trend! ], and that makes for a rather flat book. 5. This is a cozy mystery, NOT a romance book. I am not sure we needed all the extracurricular graphic conversation [even if it is IN her head] about how the MC feels about someone. I don't mind it when the MC likes someone, but I don't need to know what she'd like to do to him on a bearskin rug in a cabin. All that said, I can see how this can be a great series. I like the MC [minus her overactive imagination in regards to the guy she's hot for] and the supporting characters. I like the town they live in and the fact that it is based in magic; she does it well. And even though the book started poorly for me, it really grew on me over the course of the story and I do have hope for this series and will look for the next one. Thank you to NetGalley, Lynn Cahoon, and Kensington Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Mia Malone is a kitchen witch. She has moved back to her grandmothers hometown to start a catering business in an old school. When her first clients shows up dead and she is a suspect, Mia looks into solving the mystery.
Opinion
The narration was awesome. Having different voices for each character helped keep clear who was talking. And Trent’s voice? Yummy.
The story is definitely a great start for this new cozy mystery series. Gran is endearing. Mia is sweet. Trent (the love interest) is kind yet sexy. Add in a troubled, yet faithful young woman and a ghost and you’ve got a nice crew.
For the plot, there was intrigue as well as every day problems. The story rolls along at a nice pace and keeps you wanting more.
Many thanks to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC of this book.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley and voluntarily reviewed it.
After reading the prequel to this series I was looking forward to reading book and when I was in the mood for a paranormal cozy mystery book I decided to pick this one up. One Poison Pie starts like a typical cozy mystery the main character just moved to a new town, leaving her cheating ex behind and starting her own business. And then there is the dead body ofcourse.
This book started off good, I liked the cooking theme and seeing Mia make a new start in life. I liked how she had a close bond with her grandma and also had a roommate. Then there is the dead body and Mia is a main suspects, her ex is showing up and a competitor for the building Mia bought is determined to make her sell. I liked that there were multiple things going on besides the mystery. This book had all the ingredients for a great cozy mystery, but unfortunately this book didn’t work for me.
I considered DNF’ing this book, but by then I was far enough in the book I figured I might as well finish, but in the end I wish I had just DNF’d it. At the start I was still liking it well enough, the writing style was decent enough and I liked the set up for the different plot lines and wonderign whether certain mysterious events where connected or not. Sadly the issues I had with the book are the kind that kinda get worse the more you read and by the end of the book I was just happy it was over.
The mystery fell flat for me unfortunately. There’s a decent set up with an unlikable character being killed and Mia being one of the main suspects. Which both gave Mia reason to get involved and it which would give plenty of people motive, which I figured would make for an interesting mystery. Sadly it wasn’t. For some reason the book never dives into other possible suspects and motives or even what happened or what clues are there. For that matter Mia hardly looks into the mystery. There is not much of trying to solve the mystery and the only reason she does is mostly by coincidence. Mostly she tries to stay save and focus on her business and own problems.
I would’ve liked to see Mia more actively involved in trying to solve the mystery. There is an interesting twist related to a side character involved in the mystery toward the end, but by then I had already lost interest. Then the climax scene at the end felt very anti climactic and Mia did something not so smart there whcih made me annoyed, compounded by something not working just when she needs it to.
Besides the mystery, there’s the issue with Mia’s ex as well as a competitor who is angry she got the building instead of him. Neither of these plot lines were particular interesting to me either. I do feel that with the whole ex plot line it helps to have read the prequel novella as I am not sure if the book gives the reader enough information if you haven’t read it. I sure think reading the prequel helps get a better understanding of some side plot lines regarding Mia’s cat, Christina and Mia’s ex.
While there is plenty going on the book mostly felt like a slice of life type of story. The mystery mostly takes a backseat and Mia doesn’t really get involved into trying to solve the mystery. And another small thing that bothered me is the title. There is no poison or pie in this book, so I have no idea why the title mentions a Poison Pie.
For some reason I had a hard time liking Mia. She seemed nice enough at first and I like her passion for cooking and how she cooks to de-stress. I didn’t really care for how much she still thought of her ex, but that made sense given he was such a big part of her life for so long, it just wasn’t particularly interesting. I also never got why they were together in the first place, he is painted like such an unlikable character who doesn’t fit with Mia at all, that I just couldn’t grasp how they ever had a relationship. Then there is Mia herself who could be quite rude and judgmental at times. Mostly these are small things like her inner thoughts or how she interpreted things that just rubbed me wrong. There are also some scenes where she isn’t acting smartly and she keeps secrets from both her friends and family and forgets to give important clues to the police. She also seemed to dislike the police officer, who had his own issues with Mia, but in my opinion Mia’s behavior sure didn’t make it better. She also keeps thinking she isn’t ready for a romance, which she said so often, but then didn’t act on it and never communicates that with the love interest. I didn’t really feel the romance.
I had expected this to be a paranormal cozy mystery and I loved the idea of a kitchen witch. There just isn’t a lot of paranormal at all. There is no explanation, we don’t get a feel for the paranormal element and it doesn’t come alive. I loved the idea, but we see so little of it, it was disappointing. By the end of the book I still had no clue what a kitchen witch could do or a normal witch for that matter, as those exist too. The magic doesn’t really play a role in the story and doesn’t even add much flavor as it just isn’t there for enough. Mostly it’s hinted at, Mia makes some assumptions of other people’s magic and we hear multiple times about the role kitchen witches had in previous times. I am just sad there wasn’t more about the magic.
To summarize: I really wanted to like this book, but sadly it didn’t work for me. After the promising prequel I was looking forward to this book, but unfortunately I didn’t like it. The set up was promising and I liked the idea of a kitchen witch. Unfortunately the mystery fell flat for me. There wasn’t as much focus on the mystery, the main character didn’t do much investigating, there are hardly any suspects and the ending felt anticlimactic. There are some other side plot lines beside the main mystery, but they didn’t really catch my interest either. I didn’t like Mia, she seemed nice enough at first and I liked her passion for cooking, but she could be rude and judgmental and some of her inner thoughts rubbed me wrong. I also was disappointed there isn’t more magic and paranormal. Mia is a kitchen witch, but there hardly is any information about how it works. Sadly this book didn’t work for me.
One Poison Pie was the third paranormal cozy mystery I’ve read in the last three weeks and I liked it a lot.
I can affirm I have found a new genre I enjoy.
There is a novella before this book that I haven’t read but I easily followed Mia’s journey from here.
Mia Malone is a chef and a kitchen witch with the power of healing with food.
She is back in Magic Springs to start her own catering company but her first job doesn’t go as expected and from that on she won’t have a moment of peace.
With a killer on the loose she will try to make her business strive, but it seems that troubles follow her everywhere.
Lynn Cahoon leads us on a very well planned adventure of mystery, murder and family and friends bonding.
It won’t be easy to guess who is the murderer because there are so many people who had good reasons to commit the crime. I was so invested into the story I kept point my finger at someone only to change my mind in the next page.
This was the first book written by this author I’ve read but I’m already looking forward to the next one in the series because she made me so curious with that ending.