“Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies” by Misha Popp is a story about Daisy, a pie maker who bakes magic pies to kill bad men. This was a fun and clever take on the genre of cozy mystery. I really enjoy Misha Popp’s writing style and character development. The author is able to seamlessly integrate the queer aspects of the story. Though there are some heavy hitting topics around abuse, violence, and abortion, the story is still able to maintain the light cozy mystery genre. I absolutely love the pie baking competition and the recipes at the end of the book. Great story, I will definitely be reading the next book in the series!

Such a nice read and I’m glad I got the opportunity to review this book. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for more releases from the author.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me a free eARC of this book to read in exchange for my review!

Murder and pies, what more could you want? A fun--if morally gray--foray into revenge and justice...with a side of pie.

I really loved this first book in a new to my series and author. I can't wait to read the next one. The characters and location really add to the plot. This book keeps you guessing until the end.

This one is a cozy mystery, sounds weird right? It definitely does but that is what this is. Killing them with pies, not at all heard of. Daisy bakes poisonous pies and delivers it to men who have committed crime against women. One day she gets a letter at her door threatening to reveal her secrets.

If you enjoy a story with magic realism….this is a book you should pick up.
Magical pies
Witchcraft
Murder
Mystery
Romance
Loved the recipes that were included!

Culinary enchantment is one of my most niche inclinations in both film and literature.

From Sarah Addison Allen's debut novel, "Garden Spells," to Sarah Michelle Gellar's sole cinematic regret, "Simply Irresistible," I've always been fascinated with the ability of food to impact consumers on a deeper level, impacting their emotions or changing their behaviours in a meaningful way.

And in that sense, "Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies" fulfilled my expectations. I loved the generational witchcraft, akin to Alice Hoffman's "Practical Magic." I loved the mouth-watering descriptions of Daisy's pie-riffic creations. And I loved the "Dexter" esque vigilante twist.

If only the writing for this debut novel weren't as gauche as the cover art.

This was a quirky book full of characters and charm that ultimately was a miss for me. I had trouble connecting and felt myself pushing to finish. Cute but not a fit for me.

I don't read a ton of mysteries (cozy or otherwise) as I kind the formula to be a little boring. This book was not boring. Great characters, a unique premise, and a genuinely surprising twist made for a lovely read.

What a great new series!
This reminds me of the good witch - a sprinkle of magic with a great sense of small town community.
I love that there is a little wrinkle about how the pies are used.
Highly recommended for fans of foodie mysteries.

Not your typical cozy mystery and that is what makes it so special! This is book one in the new series “Pies Before Guys Mysteries”. Daisy Ellery is a pie-baking witch who comes from a family whose magic is channeled into their career of choice.

While outwardly she is a happy baker, working to bring smiles to her customer- she has a bit of a dark side with some killer pies.

I loved this book- the characters are fabulous, a dash of romance mixed into the romance. It made for a great read. Can’t wait for book two!

I was given a copy of this story to read; but thoughts and opinions are all my own. Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the chance to read this book!

I have mixed feelings about this book. Murder, Lies and Deadly Pies by Misha Popp is classified as a cozy mystery but I would say it's more of a dark suspenseful romance book. While it had aspects of a mystery from trying to find out who is blackmailing the main character, it had more of a romantic feel with the two characters the main character has to choose from. I say a dark romance because the Daisy, the main character, bakes pies infused with magic to kill guys who harm women. So she's a serial killer disguised as a lovely pie maker. I couldn't quite connect with her because she shows no remorse for justifying why she bakes the pies. I did like that she also bakes pies to help college students who are stressed and courage pies to those that may need it. This book does touch on some sensitive subjects such as abuse and rape. Overall I enjoyed the book but wouldn't recommend it as a cozy mystery read. If you like cutesy serial killer books with a touch of romance then I would say this book is for you.

I've read a couple of books where baking and magic goes hand and hand but there is not a lot where the protagonist is using their magic for murder. Now, I am against murder (of course) but I am 100% rooting for Daisy. Does that make me a bad person? Maybe, but it does make for a very interesting story. Daisy is hard not to like, a little bit sweet, and a lot dark. I did get a little bit of Dexter vibes.

Or course, Daisy doesn't kill who she doesn't think deserves it, she very specific on who her victims are, but she does walk a very thin, fine line between hero and villain. The mystery aspect of the book was okay, although I guessed correctly on who the blackmailer was. The romance aspect was also pretty good, I kept waiting for Noel to make a sort of personality shift but was glad he remained on the up and up.

Overall, a unique start to a magic, mystery series.

i am loving some mystery and thrillers. I like a little mystery in our books. A good one. Liked it alot and will read more.

It looks like a cozy mystery. It sounds like a cozy mystery. It's marketed as a cozy mystery. It is not a cozy mystery.

I made it about a third of the way through this book and had to stop reading.

First of all, I have been reading cozy mysteries for decades, and it's one genre I know inside and out and I love to see grow and expand, but not like this.

What did me in on this one is the main character is the murderer. This is not a spoiler, you will learn this from almost page one. This is not an oops, I accidently killed someone, this is an, I am going to kill you because I have been hired to kill you with my pies because you've wronged someone. In the most heinous, abusive ways, but still....

Secondly, the cussing, while not overly done, is a turnoff when you think you have a cozy mystery in front of you.

Third, this was a little heavy on the politics that closely resemble the last few years, and whatever side of the aisle you're on, I think we've all had our fair share of hearing about it.

So, unfortunately this was a hard miss for me. I thank NetGalley and Crooked Lane for the ARC in exchange for my review.

Daisy Ellery and her homemade pie business are more than meets the eye. From a glance, Daisy looks like a sweet, 1950s style housewife who bakes pies for a local diner, farmers markets, support group meetings, and college campuses. Her pies are sweet, delicious and customers swear they feel happier, stronger, or more focused. These customers are right.

Daisy comes from a long line of Ellery women who are all witches. These women’s magic is channeled through traditionally feminine skills like sewing, hair styling, and in Daisy’s case, baking pies. Daisy bakes magic into all her pies to help her customers improve their lives.

However, Daisy also possesses a power her ancestors did not: she is able to kill bad men without a trace with her magical pies (or so she believes). Daisy is a vigilante and passionate about social justice; creating pies to help local women who have been wronged by violent partners, abusers, and rapists. When someone finds out what Daisy is doing and contracts her to bake pies as blackmail, she is put into a compromising position.

While this mystery is not cozy in the traditional sense, the small town, farmers markets, and pie baking certainly are all very cozy plot devices. The book’s themes are likely darker than anticipated due to the nature of the crimes the men have committed and also that the protagonist is a murderer herself.

The writing was quirky and fun and I loved the diversity and inclusion present in the book. The authors politics are quite apparent in the book, which could be a turn off for some but not for me. This book is totally “Witches vs. The Patriarchy” baked up into a pie.

Thank you to Net Galley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with an Advanced Reading Copy ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Dazzling… I loved the premise for this book and it was an enjoyable read.
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

The thing about cozy mysteries is that they always have the best titles. This one, for sure, grabbed my attention. Then the blurb? How can you not want to read about a woman who gets revenge a la mode? Color me instantly interested.

Daisy is one of the best characters I've read in some time. She's confident and competent, but also has her moments of insecurity. Her dedication to helping others out of awful situations is admirable, even if it isn't exactly the best course of action sometimes. I also love that she acknowledged her flaws when they poked their heads out of hiding. Self-aware characters are a good thing.

Noel is sweet and a lot of fun, although I didn't completely trust him when he first appeared. His orchard was a blessing in disguise for Daisy, and her pie business and his orchard fit together perfectly. Melly, on the other hand, annoyed me. I loved her energy, but the way she was constantly popping into Daisy's life unexpectedly, letting herself into Penny, etc., rubbed me the wrong way. She did mellow a touch by the end, but she was not my favorite of the group.

Overall, the mystery was engaging and the characters were a lot of fun. The guys in the diner were fun, the ladies Daisy met through Pies Before Guys were also a lot of fun, despite what they'd been through. Probably the best part of the whole story, however, was the way that the magic worked. Daisy could only put thoughts and intentions into her pies, not commands. I like that it worked with what was already inside a person rather than against their will. It's a very important distinction, in my opinion.

Synopsis: Ellery women can infuse magic onto their crafts. For Daisy Ellery, this magic takes the form of a dangerous wish: the bad men she targets as the recipients of her pies die. She puts her gift to use baking pies for the partners of abused women, until one pie request from a blackmailer tries to force her to go against every one of her rules.

▪ Little bit of magic. Daisy could be a regular poisoner, but the fact that her weapon is magic is such a clever twist. Plus, it ensures that her pies can never kill the wrong person, which is ever cleverer. Aside from this, the rest of the story takes place in a world identical to the one we live in, just a bit more magical.

▪ Hints of romance. Daisy has two love interests in the course of her adventures: one man and one woman. Daisy’s sexual orientation is never really an issue. The real issue is rather that both love interests look really suspicious at times. All part of the fun!

▪ Baking contest. Yep, there is pie baking for Daisy’s day job (a diner), night job (murder pies), but she also joins a pie competition. The next book in the series actually continues this by having her participate in a televised baking competition. This delights me for some reason.

▪ Good mystery. As I said before, the romantic interests are suspicious, but they are far from the only suspects. This makes for a nice, twisty mystery. The denouement is delightful as well as nerve-wracking.

▪ Quirky characters. Daisy is pretty quirky herself, with her magic, her pet pitbull, and her 50s-housewife-type dresses, but her friends are very distinctive and endearingly odd. Especially grumpy Frank the diner owner. You can’t have a cosy mystery without the quirky found family, and this book delivers on that front.

A light and delicious read that will leave you wanting more.