I like the setting and the set-up of this mystery series, and this entry was a quick read and overall pretty good. I do find myself getting tired of over-the-top characters--specifically Charlene and Chief Shaw. A mystery (or any book), in my opinion, doesn't need ludicrous characters to be interesting. And if there are ludicrous characters, I want them to be in minor roles (preferably non-recurring roles). The two-dimensional characterizations undermine my enjoyment of the book overall. But still, a decent read.

Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Gourd to Death was my introduction to the Pie Town series by Kirsten Weiss. I could not have asked for a more pleasant book to read. It has fun and quirky characters, a strong storyline, and more pumpkins than you can ask for, as well as a long list of potential suspects. The exchanges between Charlene and Marla are often funny, and Val is a strong main character. Everything starts with a woman found dead underneath a giant pumpkin, and Val starts investigating, with Charlene alongside her. A few more characters provide help with the investigation, sometimes with questionable results. I liked that Takako became a major character in the story, and I would like to see more of her in the next books. If you like a good mystery, fun characters, harvest season and pumpkins, this is the book for you! Highly recommended!

Gourd to Death is a well written and entertaining cozy mystery. Great plot and quirky characters. I received an advance ebook from the publisher and this is my unbiased review.

Val and Charlene are at it again. Book five in the series, and the second one I’ve read. A fun cozy mystery but a little skimmable at times in the middle. Would recommend this book and author.

I enjoyed this book and loved the older sidekick. The mystery was interesting and kept me guessing,

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3 1/2 stars but I rounded up to 4.

A sweet cozy read. Is it predictable? Yes. But there were enough little side antics to keep you engaged and the plot was written well enough that the story flowed. Takako was great! I loved Charlene and enjoyed Val. My first Pie Town Mystery and I'll definitely look forward to the next one!

Thank you Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3431468843

This series is near and dear to my heart, and this latest installment just cements that. Every page just draws me deeper and deeper into this book until I finally came up for air at the last page. The mystery is perfect, the author does a great job of giving hints without giving anything away. A great addition to the series.

4/5 stars

I received Gourd to Death through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Gourd to Death is the fifth installment of the Pie Town Mystery series, but the first I have read. In this fall cozy mystery, Val, Charlene and the rest of the Baker Street Bakers find themselves investigating a murder that took place during the towns annual Pumpkin Festival. Was the death caused by a feud between San Nicholas and the close by San Adrian or was there something for sinister in the works?

This mystery did a great job of pulling the reader into the Pumpkin Festival setting and making you wish that is was fall. The Pie Town setting also had me wanting pie! Gourd to Death was a well written, cozy mystery with a fun plot and fun characters, I especially enjoyed Val.

At times I found the feuds in the story to be a bit childish, but that did add to some of the humor of the story. Overall, this was a good cozy mystery read, guaranteed to get you into the fall and Halloween spirit. I look forward to going back and reading the previous installments in this series.

While taking an early morning sneak peek at the St. Nicholas Pumpkin Festival, Val Harris and her piecrust maker/sleuthing partner Charlene discover a body crushed beneath a giant pumpkin. Because the victim was a fellow contestant in the pumpkin pie bakeoff and the pumpkin belonged to his uncle, Val’s detective boyfriend is promptly kicked off the case. Between running her homemade pie business, getting to know her stepmother, and dealing with the back-and-forth sabotage between St. Nicholas and the residents of a town with a competing pumpkin festival, Val already has a lot on her hands. But when her boyfriend recruits her to help him investigate the murder behind the chief’s back, she can hardly say no. With help from Charlene and their crew of misfit armchair detectives, Val takes on the case. Following a second murder, it is imperative that Val find the killer before she becomes the third victim.

GOURD TO DEATH is the first Pie Town Mystery that I have read. I initially requested the boom on NetGalley because it was set around Halloween and I am a huge fan of that holiday. After reading GOURD TO DEATH, I plan to go back and read the first four novels in the series. The characters in this series are incredibly unique and a lot of fun—especially Charlene.

Overall, I enjoyed GOURD TO DEATH. There weren’t too many viable suspects, but Weiss kept me guessing for most of the novel. The novel is fast-paced and humorous. Thanks to Charlene and her antics, there are many laugh-out-loud moments.

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review - a pie making contest at the annual pumpkin festival turns deadly when they discover a contestant crushed under a pumpkin. This will be a scary Halloween

A word of warning, make sure you have pie handy when you read this book. You will be craving it after the first ten pages. Val Harris owns Pie Town in coastal California and she is surrounded by some very quirky characters. There's Charlene her 70+ piecrust maker, her goth assistant manager Petronella, Marla a 70-something vamp who is the archrival or Charlene, a would-be witch named Mrs. Thistleblossom and a mysterious stepmother, Val can hardly keep up with pie making and the annual Halloween Pumpkin Festival in San Nicholas when someone is found dead under a giant pumpkin. She and her Baker Street Bakers join forces to solve the crime. This laugh out loud cozy is clever, witty and fun to read.

Gourd to Death is the 5th book in the Pie Town Mystery series and I never wanted it to end! I absolutely adore this series and Kristen Weiss has delivered! If you enjoy cozies, especially those that have fantastic main characters then this entire series shouldn't be missed! They are perfection!

Thanks to Kensington Books for giving me a free digital galley of this book in exchange for feedback.

The word that springs to mind is "zany." I don't often read books that call for dropping a z-bomb, but this one fits the bill.

I like Kirsten Weiss a lot - she's probably my favorite cozy-mystery author at the moment. I've read all the Pie Town mysteries, but I think a reader could comfortably jump into the middle here, because she tells you what you need to follow the plot, which isn't that much. This is Val. She owns a pie cafe. This is Charlene. She makes the crust. They solve crimes.

In this installment, there's a pumpkin festival in town - and the neighboring town is also preparing for their pumpkin festival! There's a lot of pumpkin-related rivalry, and when an optometrist is found dead under a huge pumpkin, it isn't immediately clear whether the primary target is the human, or the competition-quality pumpkin.

There is a mystery, and it does get solved, but for me, a lot of the fun in this book relates to all the different kinds of pumpkin-related shenanigans. If you like this sort of thing, this is probably the sort of thing you'll like. I did.

Another one of my favorite cozy series. I had so much fun re-visiting this quirky town and its characters. It also had a great mystery. Looking forward to reading more in this series.

A fun series complete with quirky characters (my favorite kind) and delicious pie. A well written, fast paced, engaging mystery and the Halloween theme is a bonus.

Val Harris, owner of Pie Town Bakery, and her elderly pie crust specialist Charlene McCree, seemed to get drawn into the strangest situations. While taking a break and checking out the current pumpkin festival, they come across the body of a woman. The victim was under a huge pumpkin, one so large a fork lift was needed to move it.
Her detective boyfriend was removed from the case because the police chief thought Val and an employee had motive, and half the town believed it was a group from another town that also held a pumpkin festival.
Feeling that the chief was not looking into all the possible suspects, the ladies, with the help of Det. Gordon Carmichael, who worked on the QT, and Val's stepmother, Takako, managed to gather suspects and rule them out, unlike the police chief.....until they eventually solved the murders, as another victim came to light.
This tale is rife with humor and human insight. The characters are not one dimensional and fun. Ms. Weiss' descriptions of the festival make you wish you could go there...except for the bodies.
I requested and received a Netgalley ARC to peruse and recommend it highly. It's a perfect read for fall...intrigue and humor without gore, profanity or sexual content. Suitable for all ages.

I enjoyed this book. It's got great characters and an interesting story. Val and Charlene find a body under a giant pumpkin at a pumpkin festival and naturally has to investigate since she doesn't trust the police chief who takes over the investigation. All kinds of mischief happens. The ending where we find out who the killer is is exciting as they get trapped in a burning corn maze. #GourdtoDeath #NetGalley

Gourd to Death is the fifth book in Kirsten Weiss's Pie Town cozy mystery series. I haven't read the previous books and had no trouble following along.

Val, the owner of the Pie Town bakery, is gearing up for her small town's Pumpkin Festival. She and her pie crust expert, Charlene, make an early morning pre-festival visit to get a sneak peek of the pumpkins entered in the competition. They find more than they were expecting when they find a body crushed under one of the enormous gourds.

Small town rivalries, relationship secrets, vandalism and a pranking war with a nearby town all add to the mysteries that Val and Charlene have to unravel.

This is a comfortable, well written cozy with all of the expected components - quaint small town, adversarial police chief, boyfriend in law enforcement, quirky neighbors and customers and delicious descriptions of baked goods. Warm and comforting like one of Val's pies.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington for the DRC.

I received this arc from netgalley in exchange for and honest review. I quite enjoyed this cozy mystery.. I didn't realize this was an on going series, so I do feel like I missed out on some important things that happened in previous books. However I did quite like the book, and I would like to start this series from the beginning.. The main character Val was great, I loved her interactions with the other characters.. And love that she owned her own Pie shop.. I kind of want to visit one now.. lol. Also the halloweenish setting taking place during the pumkin festival. It sounded like lots of fun, also the rivalry they had with the neighboring town was hilarious..

This is part of a series but it works fine as a stand alone novel.

Val owns the local pie shop and is on the committee for the pie competition at her first local pumpkin festival. Before they start baking Val and her assistant Charlene go to explore the festival and find a dead body. There are plenty of suspects and red herrings to keep you interested including a pumpkin war with a neighbouring town.

I look forward to the next book in the series.