3.75

This was so much fun! I admit that I was hesitant going into it because I didn't know how the murder pie business would play into a GBBO style show but it ended up sort of an isolated close circle mystery and not only could I not put it down, it had me grinning through most of it.

The biggest downside of this book to me were that the side characters from the previous book hardly made an appearance. They all came to see her off to the competition in the beginning but after that we only got the occasional phone call with Melly. That being said, there were a whole host of new characters to get attached to and I hope if the series continues we get to see some of them later on. Also, Daisy didn't really use her magic in this book, and while it didn't bother me, others might care more because it is a big deviation from the first book.

That being said, I loved the descriptions of all the baked goods and I loved how queer friendly the cast is. I really like Daisy as well and I like the way Misha Popp is able to give us her internal monologue without feeling like it's dragging the plot out.

Overall, I think this is a great installment in this series, in fact I enjoyed it more than [book:Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies|58896183]. That being said, I do think you should read the first book to get the most enjoyment out of this sequel. Also, I admit that while I think this is a great modern cozy mystery there is clearly a political slant to this series and if you're looking for escapism (regardless of your personal politics) you might not find that here.

Daisy is back and she’s participating in a bake-off on the Food Network. On her way to North Carolina for filing she drops off a few murder pies along the way for the most deserving men. With one more pie planned for delivery on her way back from filing, she’s surprised to find that recipient is one of the judges on the show.

When the next Murder Pie target judge is murdered, Daisy is caught between baking and sleuthing. Can she handle the heat or is it time for her to get out of the kitchen and focus on the mystery?

I was waiting for this second book in the series to drop and was excited to read it! Daisy is t’s a great protagonist: a strong female and yet sweet and feminine all at once. She’s a serial killer you have to love…sounds strange, I know. But give the book a read and I think you’ll find that hits it right on the head!

I was so excited to get back into Pies Before Guys with some mystery, a little romance, fun characters and murder pies. Um. This wasn’t it. It was like reading a season of GBBS with less charm.
I’d read a third book if we ditch the competitions and go back to mysteries and pies.

Thanks for Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for an eARC.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Daisy is a baker of delicious pies but she has a secret, her pies are not just delicious, but deadly. Now in the midst of a televised baking competition, there is more than baking going on. Daisy is simultaneously trying to see if her baking skills are good enough to win, and uncover the mysteries happening around her.

This book was a cute sequel to the original, but it is good enough to stand alone. It’s cute and endearing, as you are falling in love with each of the contestants. Each chapter teases at the mystery with little tidbits of information but never giving anything away. I appreciated the twist, and didn’t see it coming at all.

Sometimes I felt Daisy was a little too 007, and wasn’t sure how she got away with all the things she did. It worked with the plot though, so it wasn’t bad.

Overall this is a fun and cute read, and I appreciated the extras at the end.

I LOVED this book. When Daisy enters a cooking contest being filmed for TV, she didn't know her investigative tendencies would come in handy too. There's great character development, laugh out loud funny parts, and of course some cozy mystery all wrapped into one. I haven't read the first book in the series, but the author covers the important parts making it fine as a stand alone. I'll be picking up the first book in the series, and I hope Misha Popp keeps writing more.

Oh, I loved this so much! I preferred this one to the first one in the series- just for the setting, the cast of characters, and how cute it was. It felt more like a typical cozy mystery than the first one and I enjoyed it so so much.

My biggest issue is I was missing our friends from the first one, especially Noel and Zoe! I liked the format and the characters better but I just wish we had those characters more involved. Who says you can’t bring a dog to a cooking show, dang it! (Probably the FDA but anyway…) Melly is still…Melly and I heavily dislike her after the first book and wish she had more consequences to her actions or at least learned from it because it doesn’t feel like it at all.

Overall, I thought it was such an adorable book with a fun setting and can’t wait for the next in the series.

What an amazing, creative combination of murder mystery and The Great British Baking Show. The book's characters are realistic and entertaining all the while enthralling the reader in the mystery of it all. I loved reading this book, and while I found the beginning a little slow, I later appreciated the lead-in, which made it easier to root for Daisy!

I enjoyed 'A good day to pie" quite a bit more than the first in the series. I think there was a more defined plot. I'm a good competition fan so this was a nice way to frame the narrative. Good pacing too.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

I thought it was great, a fun read.

Thank you to Netgalley for the arc!

I was looking for a mystery/murder-ish books and I came across this, so why not try this one? At first, this book is quite interesting to read, but after a few chapters I kinda lost my mind and suddenly feel out of my element. But it doesnt mean this book isnt good. It just means this book was not 'it' for me. Well, lets talk about this book. What is this book about?

This book is about a cooking show narration with a dash of mystery and magic. The majority of the book narrates the main character's cooking show competition, the actions and dialogue of other characters during the competition and her own internal monologues.

The writing is clear, it wasnt exactly fast-paced like how i preferred for myself, but it was well-paced. This book is also has some fillers that I found a bit bland, but overall, it was quite interesting to read.

This book is great for starters, but I think I should have read the first book before jump into this one. I was quite confused since I didnt read the first book beforehand. While at that, I highly recommend readers to read the first book before reading this one. But some people said that this book can be read as a standalone, but it wasnt the case for me.

*I’d like to thank Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Confession: I haven’t read the first book in this series. I am sure any questions about the characters from the first book would have been solved if I read it, but the fact that most of them aren’t in this book, I think I got by pretty well. Daisy is a baker who can bake magic into her pies. That ,stickers just happens to kill the man it’s intended for and only him. She gets accepted to a show like The Great British Bake Off, and what does she know, one of the pies she is going to deliver after the show is for one of the judges. There are two murders, one of whom is the judge himself.

The novel spans the entire shooting of the show, which would be about a couple weeks if I understood the timeline enough. The cast and crew are secluded, meaning the killer has to be among them. I loved a lot about this story. Daisy was a great main character with strong-ish morals (see the murder pies), and Popp has a wonderful way with the food writing. The only thing I had issue with was the pacing. At first it was taking a long time for the plot to get moving. I’m sure if I read the first book, I wouldn’t have cared about the goodbyes at the beginning of the book before she leaves for the show. It also was a little difficult to remember all of the contestants, but that was fixed soon enough. I’m excited for this book to make readers salivate.

When I read the first book in this series earlier this year, I thought it was a sorely needed breath of fresh - modern-sensibility scented - air to the cozy genre. I love cozies, I do, really. But with this second installment in the Pies Before Guys mystery series, she continues to bring a welcome and refreshing setting and cast to the cozy party, while maintaining the same tone of classic predecessors. While I think the cast in this installment spiraled perhaps a bit out of control in size, what with an entire crew of bakers and television personas, I didn't enjoy the mystery less for it. It might have worked more in the author's favor if she had attempted a more suspicious "who is the murderer among us?" tone for the novel, a la Agatha Christie, but most of the cast felt, well, like TV extras. All that said, I still really enjoyed this mystery and look forward to more from Misha Popp - more pies, more queer sleuthing, and more dark humor as rich as a finale-worthy mud-pie.

This is Misha Popp's 2nd book in the Pies before Guys series. Read the first one a few weeks ago and was eager to read this one. All I can say this did not disappoint! I truly loved this book and series so far. Characters are relatable, funny and believable. I also like that the author adds recipes at the end for all of us to try!

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC and I look forward to more books in this series!

This is GBBO plus Knives Out in the most delicious combination. An isolated estate turned luxury boutique hotel complete with hidden passageways serves as the setting. Housing the bakers and judges of Bake My Day along with all of the secrets that they’ll keep hidden at any cost. Secrets that start unraveling once it’s obvious that one of them is a murderer.

A Good Day to Pie is a quick quozy (queer cozy) read full of fall vibes. It’s full of banter and fast-paced as Daisy has a deadline to suss out the killer before the competition finishes filming in less than two weeks. I loved that she again uses her pie magic (she infuses her bakes with intent like encouraging honesty that affects whoever eats her baked goods) to help her solve the mystery.

Shout out to the author for writing a bi FMC and including an ace secondary character. Courchesne even includes the ace flag colors in some of her bakes and refers to herself as the Real Ace of Cakes.

Fun. Baking lovers will love it. I didn't read the first one, but I think this stands for itself. Many thanks to the author, Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Awesome cozy! A great collection of characters. Daisy enters a television baking competition where the judges are not great. One ends up getting the axe. Great story plot. A good solid mystery. Thanks#netgalley and #CrookedLaneBooks for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

(This review will be published on my bookstagram early next year, closer to the book’s publication date.)

I couldn’t get enough of Misha Popp’s Pies Before Guys series so I grabbed the second book on @netgalley.
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We are once again following Daisy, the baker with a taste for vengeance 😉. This time Daisy has entered a televised baking competition, a la The Great British Bake Off, and soon discovers her next murder pie order is for one of the scum bag judges. But someone else gets to him before she can and Daisy wants to find out who.
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This is my new favorite cozy mystery series. I have heard it described as a dark cozy and that feels perfect. It’s cozy but with an edge. The competition is set in an old mansion with a large, diverse cast of characters. It also reads like baking erotica in the best way possible. The detailed descriptions of the competition bakes were glorious.
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Popp’s first book in the series leaned much further toward feminine vengeance and honestly, I found the motive for Daisy investigating this mystery somewhat lacking. However, I was happy to push past those issues and just enjoy the character interactions, competition drama and delicious descriptions of food.
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If you love mysteries set in big, old houses and the GBBO, this book is for you.
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Thanks to @crookedlanebooks for the ARC. Releases February 7th, 2023.

I had a lot of fun with this book, or series i should say as i went back and read book one when i realised this was actually book two of an ongoing series. I love to bake and I equally love watching/reading anything to do with baking so the setting was perfect for me! i found the murder mystery intriguing but i did find it slightly odd that it took so long for daisy to start using her magic to aid in solving the mystery. i became quite attached to some of the side characters in the first book and ended up missing them in the second but i did enjoy the new characters that were introduced, hopefully they’ll all come together in the next book.

all in all this was a delightful read and i had a great time!

This one took me a little bit of time and I almost DNF it but I wanted to give a thriller a fair try, so I pushed through. Unfortunately, just as I suspected, it was not a very good reading. The writing is ok and the plot was a little predictable, and that is an important factor for me when it comes to a thriller. This was an easy but definitely not a quick one because I got bored pretty quickly. I think a part of why my experience was not that great is because this is a series and since I didn't read the previous books, it made this book harder to enjoy. I did appreciate that the premise is about Daisy who runs a murder pie service out of her RV and the set up is sort of similar to GBBO. Overall, I'd give this three stars.

Saw this book being advertised as a murder mystery version of the Great British Bake Off and I was hooked. Only issue was that I hadn’t read the first one! I’m reporting back to say that while I’m sure there’s background I’m missing out on, A Good Day to Pie works beautifully as a stand alone.

Our protagonist, Daisy, runs a murder pie service out of her RV. Yes, murder pie. She has the power to imbue magic into her pies that can take down specific abusive men. This isn’t the main plot of this book, though, but I believe it’s the basis for the first book. Anywho, Daisy takes her pies onto a new version of “the popular British baking show” to compete for $100,000. What she doesn’t expect is for an intended murder pie recipient, who happens to be one of the show’s judges, to die pre pie. Now she becomes wrapped up in both getting to the end of the competition and getting to the bottom of the murder.

I thought this was fun and cute! like I said, I have no idea if this was a good sequel novel, but I enjoyed reading it as a standalone, even with the assumed background that I missing. It was really easy to root for the characters as they competed, and it felt very cozy when they interacted.

My biggest hang up is that it felt a little bit cheesy, but I’m always down for a good CW show style book. 3.5⭐️ rounded down

Thank you so much Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the eARC to review!

CW: mentions of abuse, murder