One Poison Pie is the first in Lynn Cahoon's Kitchen Witch Mysteries and follows the Chili Cauldron Curse novella which introduced Mia Malone and her gran, Mary Alice Carpenter. Mia is setting up her new gourmet dinner delivery and cookery class business, Mia's Morsels, in her gran's hometown of Magic Springs, Idaho, after being dumped by her boyfriend and boss, Isaac Adams.

Both Mia and her Granny Mary are kitchen witches who are all about adding a touch of magic to their delicacies and offerings and Magic Springs is a place that welcomes ghosts, warlocks and the paranormal. Busy Mia has bought the old school building and is continuing with its refurbishment as well as just getting her first paying client. It's her gran's best friend, Adele's birthday and Mia is providing the catering for her party. As her own kitchen is not yet ready, Mia is using the kitchen at the Lodge where the party is being held. When Adele is murdered on the morning of her party, found dead in the ballroom, Mia admits to finding the woman mean, hard-to-please and demanding and becomes a suspect...

Even though I missed Chili Cauldron Curse I jumped into One Poison Pie with abandon. This is a very exciting new series with wonderful, engaging characters. Mia is caring and forgiving and I love the colourful and fun Mary. Hunky Mark Baldwin is the town's only police officer, Trent Majors owns Major's Grocery and proved himself to be a good friend and, who knows, in future books, he may get closer to Mia. There are threatening phone calls, an attack that sees Mia in hospital, and all sorts of characters arriving at the schoolhouse with evil intent.

This book had all the required ingredients and some special ones, too: a nightmare ex-boyfriend, a super grandma, a choosy, cavilling cat, good friends, and a challenging murder to solve. Mia is a terrific character and I think it's going to be fun to get to know her better as she learns the ropes in her catering business and of her recipes. With a well-written plot and a town full of magic, I look forward to catching up with Mia and grans in the next instalment Two Wicked Desserts as well as reading Chili Cauldron Curse.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Kensington Books via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

I absolutely adored this cozy mystery! The characters were fantastic, and Cahoon did an excellent job of weaving reality and magic together effortlessly. I cannot wait for book two!

My rating: 3 of 5 stars, I liked it.

Book one in the series, though it was introduced by a novella length story previously.

I like the characters, and I like the potential. There's some character building and world building to be done yet, but that's pretty typical for "First in the series," books.

One thing I didn't like though, was the "cliffhanger"ish foreshadowing. I'm going to read the next book, you don't need to leave me in suspense as to what evil might be lurking in the shadows, like some 70s tv show.

This is the first book in the Kitchen Witch series. Mia Malone moves to her grandmother's town of Magic Springs, Idaho to start a catering business. Her ex's sister ends up becoming her assistant and I thought that she and Mia had a great dynamic. It's hard to believe that her and Mia's ex are related to each other. I loved the characters in this book. Mia is such a well developed character. I loved her grandmother. The brothers, Trent and Levi, make an interesting pair. I would love to learn more about both of them. The paranormal element in the book was great. I love that Mia uses magic in her recipes. I am excited to see where this series goes. I received this book from netgalley and Kensington publishing in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed kitchen witch Mia and the cast of characters around her. It’s so rare to find a mystery with a paranormal main character where the mystical doesn’t overtake the mysterious, but this worked.

Mia setting up her business, making new connections, finding dead bodies, there might be a mystical angle with each, but it was the human element that rang true.

And while there’s more than one romance involved, see how she deals with that pesky ex, when you know if you were her you’d want to turn him into a rodent, was just the icing on the cake... it was almost as good as having an unusual suspect.

One Poison Pie earns 5/5 Witchy Familiars...Engaging and Entertaining Magic!

Opportunity has come knocking, and Mia answered it...her fresh start has begun as a full-time resident of Magic Springs and owner/chef of Mia’s Morsels, a catering and cooking school. Her bid was not the only one made on the property, but her desire to maintain the building’s integrity as a school and not tearing it down to build a shopping center proved the major factor in her getting the property. John Louis, the losing bidder, was not happy, and his disappointment is less sour grapes and more poison apples. There was a long list of renovations to complete before any grand opening, but in the interim, she still landed her first catering client. Her Grans’s best friend, Adele Simpson, is throwing herself a birthday party. The publicity might do well for her new venture and getting supplies helps to establish a professional relationship with local vendors, but at what cost. Adele’s reputation as the “meanest woman in Magic Springs” preceded her, so Mia shouldn’t have been surprised all the last minute changes to the guest list and menu...but hold your tongue and smile, it’s business. Except, Adele has been served a big can of “karma” making Mia’s dream a nightmare!

This is the first full-length novel in her new Kitchen Witch series expanding on her prequel novella, “Chili Cauldron Curse,” with an exciting, sometimes nail-biting, cozy mystery, new and revamped characters, and more insights into Mia’s background, her type of magic, and the town of Magic Springs itself. So much is going on that Mia may regret having left Boise. There are threatening messages, physical attacks, and serious peril from some obvious to surprising directions, and along with ghosts, old stories, and loyalties seriously tested, the final reveal of more than one bad actor made this truly a fun read. Cahoon’s writing style is entertaining and her continued use of a third-person narrative gives readers an outsider’s view along with descriptive language to create a lovely mountain area, several buildings and the Lodge, images of varied characters, and mouthwatering hints to Mia’s culinary treats. The dialogue offers clues, information, and fun banter, but also provides insights into the various characters. I really like the length of this novel which gives Lynn the opportunity to go beyond the cozy crime. Relationships are explored between Mia and Grans, Mia and oddly her ex’s sister, Mia and a fellow chef, Mia and the hunky local grocer, and Mia and her Kitchen Witch familiar. All of this makes Magic Springs and its good and bad residents fun to follow. What a series!

We are not all lucky to have our own kitchen witch familiar, but Lynn gives us a vicarious thrill and...a recipe. Enjoy birthday girl Adele’s requested dessert: Magic Springs’s Easy Apple Pie. She offers a couple of serving suggestions to which I add a drizzle of caramel sauce. Yum!

This is the first book in the series that follows the introduction novella Chili Cauldron Curse. I read the novella and enjoyed every aspect of the author's created paranormal world and the likable charcters. Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinion is my own.

In this first book in the series our protagnist Mia is a kitchen witch who just went through a bad break up. Her slimy ex stole her ages old receipes and she has moved home to start over with her magical family. Mia bought an old school building to turn into a cooking school and catering business. When she holds her first event her wealthy local client is found murdered and Mia is suspect number one by the local police. Mia is looking into the murder when she is attacked and knows she is on the path of the killer. To save herself and her new business Mia must solve the case.

I enjoyed all the charcters especially Mia and her Grandmother. The supporting charcters are all likable. The paranormal aspect has the perfect blend into the charcters and the story . The sleuth was fun, interesting and well crafted to the conclusion. This was a winning first full length book in the series and I look forward to the next in series.

It’s no secret that I love paranormal cozies and this one delivered the magic. It was full of witches, a coven, sassy familiars and one heck of a sweet local ghost. Top it off with likable characters, plenty of food chatter, a hint of romance, and this was a great start to the Kitchen Witch Mysteries.

The story takes place in Magic Springs, ID. Mia is renovating an old school. It will serve as her living quarters, the base for her new catering business and eventually offer cooking classes. It provided plenty of creepy nooks and hidden secrets. It will be interesting to watch it transform and come to life as the series continued. I loved the scenes that took place in the snow especially that cabin in the mountains!!

I liked Mia. She’s the typical cozy lead who’s getting over a bad relationship and discovering her passion. It was interesting to see her ex play a role throughout the story. Instead of just hearing her thoughts or memories about him, you were able to discover how truly despicable he could be. The fact that his wayward little sister becomes Mia’s assistant was perfect. Grandma was a hoot too. I’m definitely intrigued by the brothers, Levi and Trent. They come from a magical family themselves, but one doesn’t fully accept or practice his special abilities ... too often. Those little skeptical, mind reading smirks made me smile.

This is definitely a culinary cozy. The characters are often cooking, preparing or talking about food and I loved every minute of it. The book does conclude with a recipe.

I’m very curious to see how Mia embraces her magic and works it into her culinary creations. Looks like the sequel will center around Mr. Darcy, the mysterious cat.

Famous penultimate words, “They can’t charge me for something I didn’t do.” Famous last words, “Your police force is a joke. They think I murdered Adele.”—from One Poison Pie

Mia is starting a food business providing catering, a meal delivery service, and a chef training program. Her first job is catering her grandmother’s best friend Adele’s birthday party. Adele is notorious for her persnickety ways. The morning of the party Adele is found dead under the head table of her banquet—stabbed with a kitchen knife. The police naturally suspect Mia. Mia decides a good offense is the best defense and vows to find the murderer, which puts Mia clearly in the killer’s crosshairs.

This is the first full-length novel in the Kitchen Witch Mystery series. But the author has several other great cozy mystery series so rest assured you are in capable hands. The book’s plotting is excellent with many unexpected twists. However, the characters, especially Christina, are the stars! I could totally see my younger self in her thoughts and actions. The only negative is that the paranormal aspect was played down despite a possessed cat and a ghost in Mia’s house. Hopefully, the Kitchen Witch aspect will be explored more in future books in the series. Overall, I rate One Poison Pie 4 stars!

Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Well, this one definitely got me. It hooked me and kept me the whole time!

Mia Malone has moved to be closer to her grandmother after her fiance dumps her. She is focused on her first big event as a caterer in Magic Springs, Idaho. When her client is found dead on the day of the party, can Mia help find the killer before she becomes another victim?

I really enjoyed this book. I really liked getting to know all of the characters even more than in the prequel novella. I also loved that I was kept guessing the entire time. I was taken completely by surprise by the ending! I love Mia's relationships with all the other characters. I love how much the characters care about each other. I cannot wait until the next one in this series!

Mia has had a bad break up and so she moves back to her grandmother's hometown to get back on her feet. She is a kitchen witch and had decided to open a nice little food delivery shop. In Magic Springs witches live out in the open and so she is trying to get use to the idea of others knowing she is a witch. 

Then her grandmother's friend is murdered at a catering event she was hosting that Mia was cooking for and Mia is high up on the list of suspects for the detective in town. So of course she is going to have to try and figure out who really killed the woman, meanwhile her ex is in town causing trouble for her and his sister (his younger sister stays with Mia). 

Mia is pretty sure she knows why her ex is in town and it's not to try and win her back but to get something that belongs to her but when some things happen she is not sure if he is bad enough to have knocked her in the head or if it could have been the killer trying to warn her off. 

With the help of Trent, who is a bit keen on Mia, they try and figure out whodunit and why. 

Mia seems like a decent character, though I think my favorite was Trent. It always takes me a few books into a cozy series to determine what I really think of the characters because they are always growing a little with each book. I really enjoy this authors first cozy series The Tourist Trap series and sometimes I am a bit harsh on the other series as they just don't live up to to my first favorite...lol. 

Still this was enjoyable and I will be curious about the next book in the series.

One Poison Pie by Lynn Cahoon is the start of a new series, and a very promising one, at that! I loved this book! I loved the characters, the plot, the everything! I love magical witch stories and this is definitely one with the kitchen witch taking the forefront! Mia Malone has purchased the old school building and is refurbishing it to open her own store: Mia's Morsels. It will be a shop featuring small food items and a catering service. In fact, she has her first client: her grandmother's best friend, Adele is having a birthday and Mia is catering her party. Only too late did she discover that Adele was the client from hell...and it wasn't just her experience. Sadly, she discovered the woman's body at the same time. Happily, she discovered Trent Majors, owner of the grocery store, at about the same time. So many people disliked Adele that eliminating those who did like her as suspects was easier. Trent proved himself to be a good friend, and maybe more?

This book has all the necessary ingredients: a nightmare ex-boyfriend, a lovely grandmother, a tricky kitty, good friends, and a challenging murder to solve. There was the bad guy that wanted her school and Adele's nephew who turned up out of nowhere. Mia is a darling character who is going to take a while to learn the ins and outs of her business and of her recipes. Her ex's sister, Christina, who is staying with Mia is a gift, in so many ways. The few little hiccups hardly counted. It is a well-written plot with excellent characters. It is a fun premise: a witch that only does good things. A town full of magic, only part of which is being used. I look forward to more!

I was invited to read a free ARC of One Poison Pie by Netgalley. All opinions contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #onepoisonpie

What an awesome start for this series! I'd already read the prequel to this, which isn't completely necessary, but I'd highly recommend it to get a feel for the characters and what happened with Mr. Darcy, the cat. There was a good plot twist later in the book, and I honestly didn't know which suspect was the killer. There were some other threats Mia got, but some came from other sources. I think I'd be scared to pieces living in that old school she bought!

I love how Mia and Trent were getting closer then let her ex know that he was definitely not welcome around there, especially after a recent rotten thing he did. Christina may have found her special guy which I thought was so sweet. There were a couple of things went missing which were left hanging, but knowing this author, I know they'll come up again and be explained, similar to another of her series, so I'm not really worried about it.

I'm really glad the next book comes out in July, because it would be way too hard waiting longer than that!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

After reading the novella, Chili Cauldron Curse by Lynn Cahoon, I was excited to read One Poison Pie. I was not disappointed. One Poison Pie is book one in the Kitchen Witch Mysteries.
This easy to read Cozy has everything, plenty of plot twists, great characters, (Mia and her grandmother are loveable), humor, hints of romance, and a perfect amout of paranormal.
Set in Idaho. Mia has moved to her grandmother's quirky hometown to start over following a bad romance. She is working on getting a dinner delivery service opened and was hired to cater a birthday party. The morning of the celebration, the guest of honor is found stabbed under a table in the hall. Mia is in the kitchen and goes to the top of the suspect list. Mia knows she will have to clear her name herself but how when evidence continues to point to her.
I couldn't put this book down and actually didn't want it to end. I wanted to stay in Magic Springs!
I was given an ARC by Kensington via NetGalley for an honest review.

This is a fairly decent start to a new series by Lynn Cahoon. I wasn't a huge fan of the novella before this, but I had already had this, so I knew I had to read it and hoped that it was at least a little better than the novella was, and thankfully, it was. It was also problematic in areas, and since I am [apparently] extremely detailed orientated [which is sometimes problematic when reading a book like this], I need to lay these issues out.

1. "You cannot practice magic while looking down your nose at it" <--Aunt Jet [Practical Magic]
I must have said this a hundred times during this book whenever a character would claim they did not practice and wasn't a part of the practice of their family, yet would use magic when it suited them. I see bad things happening because of this. Very bad things. Magic doesn't like to be used for one's own benefit without being acknowledged.

2. It is either a V A N or it is a C A R. It cannot be BOTH, especially in the same sentence. A van is not a car, and a car is not a van. PLEASE figure it out [yes, this seems trivial, but it happens so often that I was totally annoyed by the end of the book].

3. If one wrecks ones V A N in a snowstorm that has shut down the town, one cannot, the very next day, drive one's V A N to rescue someone. Just sayin'.

4. The reveal. Because of how the last part of the book was written, it ends up being rather anticlimactic, and that makes for a rather flat book.

5. This is a cozy mystery, NOT a romance book. I am not sure we needed all the extracurricular graphic conversation [even if it is IN her head] about how the MC feels about someone. I don't mind it when the MC likes someone, but I don't need to know what she'd like to do to him on a bearskin rug in a cabin.

All that said, I can see how this can be a great series. I like the MC [minus her overactive imagination in regards to the guy she's hot for] and the supporting characters. I like the town they live in and the fact that it is based in magic; she does it well. And even though the book started poorly for me, it really grew on me over the course of the story and I do have hope for this series and will look for the next one.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lynn Cahoon, and Kensington Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the 1st full length installment in the Kitchen Witch Mystery series. The introduction to the series was a novella last year. I do not think you need to read the novella to enjoy this book. Mia Malone is a kitchen witch who has moved back to Magical Springs Idaho after a breakup with her business partner and fiancé Isaac. Mia is starting over in her hometown with her Grandmother and has purchased an old school house to start a catering business and cooking school. As the building is being updated, Mia has her first catering gig with Adele for her birthday party. Adele is a great friend of Grans but she is not well liked and the day before the party decides to change the menu and Mia is forced to run to the grocery store and get steaks for the party. The store owner Trent Major who of course is incredibly handsome agrees to help her out and says he will deliver the steaks the next day before the party. As her catering business is not yet ready Mia is using the kitchen at the Lodge where the party is being held. As she is doing her prep with Christina who is Isaac’s sister and is staying with her the florist runs in to say Adele is dead. Mia becomes a suspect as Officer Baldwin thinks she might have had something to do with this. Adele’s nephew accuses Mia in public of killing his Aunt. Mia is later attacked as she was going into her home and has been threatened by John a real estate developer who is angry that Mia won the schoolhouse over him. There are several mysteries going on in this story including a ghost! I really enjoyed this story and the culprit was not obvious. I like how Mia is a forgiving and loving person who wants to help Christina and is concerned about others and wants to make a good life for herself and move on. Like Trent for her and hope that continues to help her. I am really looking forward to the next installment.

I love Paranormal and I love Cozy Mysteries, so I was really excited to read a book that has both. I liked Mia, her grandmother, Christina, and the many other characters we're introduced to. The mystery and the paranormal aspects were a little lighter than I expected, but I didn't consider that detrimental to the story in any way. I was a little surprised at the many times Mia mentally considered having smexy-times with Trent. Not something you often read about in a cozy. LOL
All in all, I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading whatever's next

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor.

This month, I was hoping for a quick, fun read to get me back in the spirit of cozy mysteries, so I requested an ARC of Lynn Cahoon’s One Poison Pie. It’s the first in her new Kitchen Witch Mystery series and was released on the 26th (yesterday) from Kensington Books. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s get on with it.

One Poison Pie follows Mia Malone as she strives to start a catering business in her grandmother’s small hometown of Magic Springs. Throw in an unexpected roommate in the form of her ex-fiancée’s little sister, some pushy guy trying to buy her new home/workspace out from under her, a hot grocer, and a nosy Gran and Mia’s life is complicated enough. That doesn’t stop fate from tossing another wrench in the works when Mia’s first catering client turns up stabbed to death. As a prime suspect, Mia sets out to clear her name, especially when it becomes obvious that she’s the next victim.

Sounds pretty standard, right? It is. Except for the whole witch aspect. I like the concept, but the execution is lacking. The magic system isn’t well thought out at all. In fact, for most of the book, it isn’t even really there. It feels like the magic is only mentioned when the author can’t think of any other way for the characters to get out of a situation. The random mind reading is weird and not explained well. At all. Trent doesn’t seem to need a special connection to someone in order to read their mind, so why didn’t he just scan people at the wake and be done with it? Unless maybe he can only read other witches? It’s confusing. Maybe it’s just because I’m used to elaborate magic systems that are discussed in detail, but I wasn’t happy with it. And don’t get me started on the random ghost visits. Otherwise, it’s a regular old cozy mystery.

The characters themselves are okay. I like Gran and Christina. Mia is interesting even if she does fall in love super fast. She’s also weirdly trusting. On the other hand, she also locks her recipe book in a safe and makes a decoy one, so she isn’t entirely naive. The Major brothers are fun. The guy who’s trying to buy the building from Mia is way too obviously a douchenozzle. And a lot of other characters are not memorable at all. Like the bad people. I had no clue who they were at the big reveal, which isn’t good.

One more thing that I want to mention is the title. It has absolutely nothing to do with the story and that irks me worse than anything else about this book. There’s a mention of pies, but it’s not critical to the plot. And there’s no poison whatsoever. I even looked it up to see if maybe it’s a saying I’m not familiar with. If it is, Google doesn’t know it either, so I don’t feel bad. It’s completely misleading and not in a good “I see what you did there” way.

The writing is fine. There are some continuity errors that can be attributed to the fact that it’s an ARC. I go in with the understanding that these books haven’t had their final polish, but with all of the plot holes and seemingly random stuff, this book really feels like a first draft. Maybe a second draft. I hate saying that since they might have smoothed some stuff out with the final polish, but most ARCs are at least obviously final drafts. This isn’t.

Ultimately, I didn’t care for One Poison Pie. It had a lot of potential, but didn’t live up to it. If the next installment falls in my lap, I’ll read it to see if it gets better, but I won’t be spending any money on it. Cahoon’s other series might be better.

Overall, I gave it 2 out of 5 stars. If you’re in to cozies and kitchen witches, maybe you’ll understand the magic system better than I did. Otherwise, there are better cozies out there.

Mia Malone is a kitchen witch. She has moved to Magic Springs, Idaho to be closer to her grandmother and away from her ex-boyfriend. She’s bought an old school which she plans to open a catering business. Surprisingly her ex’s sister has moved in with her. Mia’s grandma has arranged Mia’s first job, unfortunately the client is found dead before the event.

Mia and her new acquaintances in the city band together to solve the mystery. I really enjoyed the storyline. I loved the characters and can’t wait to see where the relationships grow. Great new series!

What an amazing start to a very promising series! I loved the main character and fell in love with her life and the town itself. I can’t wait to read more in this series.