Hey Guys! I have A Pie to Die For by Stacey Alabaster!

I stumbled upon this book on instafreebie and I thought I’d give this a go. I’d give this a 6/10 on my grading scale

Rachael is an owner of a failing bakery. She’s being put out business by bakermatic a big chain store. At the day of the food festival her arch enemy, Mrs Butters, pays her a visit. She takes a piece of pie only to die mysteriously later. Now Rachael is on the hook for the murder…and she must use the help of her friend pippa to solve the case.

What I thought was great:
-Pippa and Rachael are fun characters. They may not have a lot of depth to them but they’re enjoyable to read. The other minor characters, excluding the detective, are also pretty fun to read.
-The story moves quickly but not too fast. Just fast enough to keep me interested. And there are actually some twists and turns in the story!

What I thought was not so great:
-the detective comes across as a supreme a**hole. He just jumps down Rachael’s throat and won’t let her explain herself. It also seems as if her literally has no other suspects because he literally questions no one about the whole affair. Rachael solved the whole dang mystery for him! And he has the audacity to pretend he knew who the killer was the whole time!
-the cops never took evidence, witness statements, etc. They did zero investigation. Why not look at the stomach contents to see how she died? And what food item killed her?
-All those one star reviews should have been spam and easily removed from the internet.
-The killer is a moron. He locks 3 girls, 2 of whom are shop owners in the shed. Like no one will come looking for them? Also 3 against one is simple to overpower since none of them are drugged.
-Rachael’s business is magically ok. How did she get the money for rent? How is she still living in an apartment? How can she pay pippa? Just because the murder was solved doesn’t mean her business is ok. Bakermatic is still there. Shouldn’t she still be failing?
-Also why are ppl eating packaged baked goods? I know that’s standard in a grocery store. But the point of a bakery is to get stuff freshly baked…so really bakermatic shouldn’t- even be able to exist.
-pippa literally interposes cake & pie the whole story. Which one is it? Cake or pie!!!

Like I said earlier. Characters fun to read. Plot interesting even if somewhat simple. Although there were a few surprises. And I enjoyed the overall lighthearted tone of the cozy mystery. However some things need to be better explained. And the detective really needs a personality transfer stat!

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