Will Val pie hard on national TV? Business at the bakery may have slowed down, but Val Harris isn’t about to eat humble pie—not until a reality cooking show decides to whip the struggling Pie Town into shape. If Val can tolerate criticism from an abrasive pastry chef during filming, the free publicity might turn the unusual opportunity into the sweetest deal she didn’t know she needed. Except … know she needed.
Except no one in San Nicholas has an appetite for dessert once murder steals the spotlight. When the show’s bossy producer gets pushed to her death, Val and her flaky, septuagenarian pie crust expert, Charlene, follow crumbs in hopes of finding the killer. But with cameras still rolling and the shocking identity of the victim’s replacement a guaranteed recipe for disaster, Val needs to stay cool long enough to solve the crime and keep Pie Town from falling apart—or else she just might go up in smoke before she ever graces the small screen.
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Suspects abound in this pie-centric small-town mystery. Val Harris is very relatable as the owner of a new pie shop still struggling for success. Her friendship with Charlene is quirky and believable. Bonus recipes included. The Almond Toffee Pie sounds especially amazing!
While business at Pie Town my have slowed Val Harris hasn’t given up on her struggling business. So when her employee Charlene surprised her with a reality show filming their show at Pie Town and giving Val advice to whip the business into shape, Val grudgingly agreed. What other surprises are in store for Val?
This is the third book in the series, but my first. This is a well-written fun cozy mystery. Most of the characters are likable and the setting has that small-town feeling that I enjoy. Since this was my first book I didn’t really have a favorite character but there were a couple that definitely stood out above the rest. The mystery is well-paced with several twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. The secondary story in this book is also interesting. I would like to see how the relationships between Val and her newly found family will develop.
I voluntarily agreed to read a copy of this book supplied by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own and in no way have been influenced.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Pie Hard, a reality cooking show has come to Pie Town courtesy of Charlene and as a complete surprise to Val. The camera and crew arrive along with Regina Katz, the show’s producer. Val is nervous because she knows what type of show this is. They will bash her shop and everything she does to get the high ratings. The show’s pastry chef, Ilsa Fueder, is already muttering “don’t like” about every pie she looks at.
After the first day of taping Val gets a call from Ray, one of the gaming regulars telling her that show’s producer has died in an “accident” he sees more like murder. Soon the Baker Street Bakers are into a full-blown investigation with Ray as an associate member, (he is not a baker). Shocked that show is continuing Val uses the opportunity to get to know all the suspects on her list. She also has a connection to the show’s new producer. The death has again slowed Pie Town’s business to a crawl. Hard to be a success when Val keeps finding dead bodies. She just knows she needs to find the killer before she is bankrupt and baked to a crisp.
This is a fun series and this is a great addition. Murder with a lot of mayhem fills these pages. Charlene is quite the instigator and to start with Val just has to go with the flow. Right from the beginning when a yurt is dropped within feet of Val’s tiny storage container house and the “goddesses” arrive for their yearly retreat. Something Charlene forgot to mention to Val. Then continuing when Val arrives at Pie Town to see her shop filled with strangers, holding cameras and tacking a microphone to her shirt. And on to Charlene’s several unbelievable and impossible theories about who killed the producer and why. It takes a little time, but Val gets her bearings and juggles all these balls in the air while trying to find out more about a certain new member of the crew. The author has done so well developing the recurring characters and introducing the new batch as well. Charlene’s cat, Frederick continues to make his appearances and is always good for a giggle.
I really enjoyed all the facets of the mysteries within this story. Val has plenty of clues to sift through along with plenty of suspects. The story is expertly plotted in a way that had me guessing right up until the big reveal. The family dynamic that was woven into the murder part of the story really added depth. It will be interesting to see how it impacts future stories. I was intrigued about how the goddesses were going to evolve into the story. I will say I was surprised at the role one of them played, but it was absolutely perfect.
In this next book of the series Charlene has taken upon herself to get the Pie Shop involved in a reality TV Series. Val is totally surprised and isn’t sure that she wants anything to do with the show, from what she has seen they are quite harsh and critical. Val ends up agreeing and hopes that the show can help boost the Pie Shops sales and maybe give them some ideas to improve upon business. When the producer dies from a fall off a cliff the police think it may have been an accident or suicide but one of Val’s regulars from the gaming group was there and he thought she had been murdered. Val insists on figuring out just what happened to the woman but gets a shock when the new producer turns out to be her father, a man who left her life when she was a few years old and never returned. What has brought him back into Val’s life and why now? There is also a strange young man hanging around all the time, does he have anything to do with the woman’s death or is it just a coincidence? Val already has a lot going on in her life as it is, Charlene didn’t tell her about a group of women who would be staying in a yurt for a week on the property that Val lives on. The death of the producer and some other incidents have become a burden on the Pie Shop, keeping people away from eating there. The sudden appearance of her father hasn’t helped the situation either. Follow along and see how Val deals with each new direction she is pulled into and where it all leads. Will she find a killer and get her Shop back on track or will a new death close her down for good? This is a funny series filled with a great cast of main characters. I love the direction that the author is taking and can’t wait to see what Val and Charlene get into next.
I received an ARC of this book, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
This is the third book in what has been a really entertaining cozy mystery series to date. I love all of the titles. In fact, the title of the first book is what drew me to check out the series. Then I read it and fell in love. This book is a nice addition to the series. The characters are fun, eccentric, quirky and seriously, who can resist a book with a narcoleptic cat. Val and her sidekick Charlene are going to be featured in a new reality show that will help the struggling Pie Town. And……you guessed it, something goes wrong leading to murder and mayhem. I love how the author has written Val and Charlene. The complement each other in personality and temperament. Who know two bakers could find so much trouble. This time around, we get a glimpse into Val’s past with the arrival of the crew that will be filming the reality show.
The mystery is well done and while there are not that many suspects to choose from, trying to guess the identity of the killer was harder than I thought. The author did a great job of distracting me with clues and backstories that made me continue to second guess myself. The book had a nice pace and I thought it was well plotted. I like how the characters are growing and developing and I’m looking forward to reading more books to come in the series. I’m hoping one day we will get the answer to whether or not Charlene’s cat Frederic is really narcoleptic or just incredibly lazy and spoiled.
I voluntarily read an digital ARC provided to me by the publisher, Kensington, through Netgalley.
This was a terrific book! The reality show Pie Hard comes to town to shoot a show about Pie Town. Of course, all sorts of things start to go wrong with 2 murders, a break-in at the shop, a fire, and a car bomb. Also, someone from Val’s past shows up. With Val and the crew being suspects and Gordon off the case, it’s up to Val, Charlene, and Ray to catch a killer. I was thoroughly intrigued by this book and finding out mire about the cast and crew of the show and who the killer was. I hope there will be more of this series so we can read more of Val and Charlene’s adventures and see more of Val and Gordon’s relationship! Highly recommend!!