Book 34, 2016
May. 15th, 2016 08:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chez_jaeThis evening, I finished reading Pies and Prejudice. It's the first book in the "Charmed Pie Shoppe" mystery series by Ellery Adams.
After walking in on her husband cheating on her, Ella Mae LeFaye leaves Manhattan and returns to her hometown of Havenwood, GA. There, she reconnects with the women who raised her: her aloof mother, her beloved aunts, and her mother's housekeeper, Reba. Ella Mae also bumps into her old childhood crush, Hugh, and her childhood rival, Loralyn Gaynor.
Her family is so delighted at her return, that they help Ella Mae buy a small building, which she plans to open a pie shop in. Unfortunately, it's the same piece of real estate that Loralyn's fiance was planning to buy for her. When the man is found dead, having been struck over the head with Ella Mae's rolling pin, Ella Mae finds herself the primary suspect in his death. Unwilling to sit by and let the local police do their job, Ella Mae begins nosing around for information, beginning at the victim's equine veterinary practice.
Just when Ella Mae's new pie shop has a successful opening, another tragedy occurs. Now it's a race against time to find a killer before anyone else is hurt.
The story was peopled with wonderful characters. I loved all of Ella Mae's aunts, as well as her stern mother and the scrappy Reba. Ella Mae's terrier, Chewy, provided plenty of comic relief, and the pies that Ella Mae baked were making me drool on the pages. Ha ha!
My biggest complaint about the book is that it didn't end with the reveal of the murderer. It dragged on a few more chapters, ostensibly to tie up some loose ends, but that just seemed weird to me. A one-chapter epilogue, sure, but that much more? *shakes head*
Favorite line: "It's like I left my dreams in a jar on a shelf in my childhood closet, and now I only need to reach up and open the lid so they can come true."
Four stars:
****
After walking in on her husband cheating on her, Ella Mae LeFaye leaves Manhattan and returns to her hometown of Havenwood, GA. There, she reconnects with the women who raised her: her aloof mother, her beloved aunts, and her mother's housekeeper, Reba. Ella Mae also bumps into her old childhood crush, Hugh, and her childhood rival, Loralyn Gaynor.
Her family is so delighted at her return, that they help Ella Mae buy a small building, which she plans to open a pie shop in. Unfortunately, it's the same piece of real estate that Loralyn's fiance was planning to buy for her. When the man is found dead, having been struck over the head with Ella Mae's rolling pin, Ella Mae finds herself the primary suspect in his death. Unwilling to sit by and let the local police do their job, Ella Mae begins nosing around for information, beginning at the victim's equine veterinary practice.
Just when Ella Mae's new pie shop has a successful opening, another tragedy occurs. Now it's a race against time to find a killer before anyone else is hurt.
The story was peopled with wonderful characters. I loved all of Ella Mae's aunts, as well as her stern mother and the scrappy Reba. Ella Mae's terrier, Chewy, provided plenty of comic relief, and the pies that Ella Mae baked were making me drool on the pages. Ha ha!
My biggest complaint about the book is that it didn't end with the reveal of the murderer. It dragged on a few more chapters, ostensibly to tie up some loose ends, but that just seemed weird to me. A one-chapter epilogue, sure, but that much more? *shakes head*
Favorite line: "It's like I left my dreams in a jar on a shelf in my childhood closet, and now I only need to reach up and open the lid so they can come true."
Four stars:
****
no subject
Date: 2016-05-16 07:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-18 11:19 pm (UTC):D