Book 80, 2021

One Poison Pie by Lynn Cahoon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I just finished reading One Poison Pie by Lynn Cahoon. It's the first book in the "Kitchen Witch" mystery series. Story is in 3rd person pov, with Mia Malone as the main character. Mia is a caterer (as well as a kitchen witch) looking for a fresh start.

After a nasty break-up with her boyfriend, Isaac, Mia moves to the same small town in Idaho where her grandmother lives. In Magic Springs, real magic, witches, and covens are an open secret. Mia isn't looking to join a coven; she simply wants to convert the old school house she bought into a base for her new catering business. Her first client is her Gran's best friend, Adele, who also happens to be the town harridan. When Adele is found stabbed to death, Mia finds herself on the short list of suspects. Not helping is that Adele's nephew, William, publicly accuses Mia of murdering Adele and threatens her with legal action. In the meantime, the real estate developer who lost out on the schoolhouse is pressuring her to sell, Isaac's younger sister, Christina, has moved in with Mia to train as a sous chef, and Isaac himself shows up with his own brand of drama. Fortunately for Mia, she has a new, strong support system to rely on, including her grandmother, James (a local chef), Trent (who owns the grocery store), and Levi (Trent's younger brother). Mia will need all the help she can get to clear her name and avoid ending up a victim herself.

Well now. I enjoyed this story, but I felt like I was reading the second book in a series, not the first. Also, three villains?! Each one of those plots could have been its own book, but the author chose to include them all in one. It teetered on the edge of confusing. As far as editing is concerned, in two places, there was the tiniest shift to first-person pov. A competent editor should have caught and corrected that. Finally, I was not satisfied with the resolution. It came out of left field, and the motive for Adele's murder was so absurd that it boggled me. I may have even harumphed. You know what else annoyed me? The title of the book is "One Poison Pie", but poison had nothing to do with anything. Most vexing.

Favorite lines:
♦ Her first big gig and she would have to count on a teenage Goth sous chef and an I'd-rather-be-fishing grill master.
♦ "Got to save the world from another undercooked salmon."
♦ Her hormones must be flying for her to be in lust at ten in the morning.
♦ "I'm pretty sure he thinks I killed Adele, and probably shot JFK too, even though I wasn't even born at the time."
♦ Oh yes, she felt the attraction, the deep, gut-searing need to take this man to her bed and do bad things with him. And then try them all over again.
♦ Trent gently tossed the wallet into the console next to her, shrugging. "I don't like driving with it stuffed in my pants." He shrugged and put the keys in the ignition. // "There are so many responses to that statement that I can't choose one," Mia smiled.

In spite of my misgivings, this really was a fun story. Characters were portrayed well, the plot flowed without meandering, the narrative featured Mia engaged in the business of living, rather than focusing on any amateur investigation, and I liked the pace of the new, slow burn romance she seems to be kindling with Trent. Four stars!

Since this is the first in a series, I still want to put it to the ( Trope Test )

That's seven 'yes' answers, but I'm not going to change my score.