I absolutely adored the 3rd book in this series. Pope has once again written a paranormal/feminist/cozy mystery that checks all the boxes for a relaxing read. This series has such an interesting premise, and it's always a fun ride making it to the last page! I absolutely recommend!

I loved this latest installment of the Pies Before Guys series. To get the most out of your reading experience I would recommend reading this series in order.

I’ve read all the books in this series so far and unfortunately this one has been my least favorite. I felt this book lacked its usual charm and coziness. While I appreciated the conversations the plot brought up, it just felt like a completely different series. I also felt like Nick felt really out of character in this one. I will continue to read this series but found this book to be disappointing.

Daisy is approached via email by a woman who needs one of her special pies. Unfortunately, the
email does not come through the way requests are usually made and Daisy is concerned it may be a trap.
When she receives more information from the woman, she is torn between helping or not. The stakes
are raised when the woman disappears. To make matters worse, the person the pie was requested for
is a member of the police force. Daisy is determined to uncover what happened to her, hopefully
keeping herself and friends out of danger.
Quick enjoyable read.
#TheLasttoPie #NetGalley

I love the Pies Before Guys series!! This third instalment is a great addition, and was a pleasure to read.

Daisy has a special type of magic that allows her to infuse her amazing pies with hope, bravery, honesty, and occasionally, murder. In this book, she questions her own ethical standards, and struggles with her morality and her purpose. This book doesn't shy away from social commentary, and looks at the nuances of abusive relationships, abuse of police power and racism, among other topics. I really liked that it addressed very real issues with a hint of empowering magic, where ultimately you know the good guys will win. It's not going to fix the world, but Daisy can make a difference to one person at a time.

The characters are what keep me loving this series. The mysteries are fairly straightforward, giving the characters a chance to really shine and capture your heart, and I'll keep reading Pies Before Guys to spend more time with them anytime!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC I was thrilled to receive!

I Freaking LOVE this series and each book gets better and better! This series is going on my to keep shelf because they are so freaking good!!! Absolutely obsessed with this! And this story line in is probably one of the best yet. And we get to see Dasiys character evolve even more. This is absolutely perfect!!! This is a 6 star read for me!
I just reviewed The Last to Pie by Misha Popp. #TheLasttoPie #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

After being disappointed by the second book being a formulaic knock off of the GBBO I was happy to see The Last to Pie return to the original charm and coziness that made me love the first book. I was delighted for Noel and the other characters to have screentime again, and the idea of baking murder magic into a pie continues to be a fun premise to explore. While sad, the social commentary was accurate without overburdening the storyline.

4.5/5

Daisy is back again with deadly pies in book three! I really love this series! This book felt significantly darker than the last two books. There was less of the happy, silliness found in the last two books. The entire series deals with making murderous pies to kill domestic abusers, so there is a darkness to the whole series. This book just felt much darker than the last two. I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing. This added more realism and a heightened sense of suspense. I was on the edge of my seat for pretty much this entire book!

I will continue reading this series as long as it keeps getting written and published, so I hope it is not over anytime soon!

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest rating and review.

OMG - I LOVED this book. If I could give it 100 stars instead of 5 I would! Wahat a super genius plot with the whole Dexter killing witch powers. And it's like super safe since the pies only kill their intended victims. And hooray for a supportive boyfriend instead of one she needs to hide everything from. Although, I do wish she lived in a better place. Like can't she park the mobile home into a huge mansion. Maybe kil off some horrible dude and then split the inheritance with the widow? Just saying.... Anyways - I can't wait for more in this series.

This mystery was enjoyable! A female lead who saves others with a little magic and secrecy, of course! Very easy storyline to follow. Reminds me of a Heather Webber novel but with more edge to it.
If you're a fan of Sarah Addison Allen and love cozy mysteries as well, you should definitely try this book out!
Thanks given to the publisher for an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I love this series! Each book has a different flavor but all are consistently delicious with a good bite of mystery and murder for a good cause. This one's delving into an abused wife who suddenly goes missing gave me chills and was carefully and skillfully handled.

Daisy is back with her Murderous pies! This is one of my most anticipated books of this year. There is something about this series of cozy mystery books, Daisy, and Murderous magic pies that has me hooked.

Daisy is living her best pie life! She is in love and still going strong with Noel. She is still making pies for the diner, and some murdedous ones on the side 😉. This time though Daisy receives a pie request that she isn't sure is quite legit. A woman has reached out for a pie for her abusive boyfriend cop. Daisy is hesitant and with good reason. Could this be a trap and the police are on to her operation? But things take a turn when the cop's girlfriend all of a sudden disappears. Now, Daisy is on a mission to find out what is really happening. Can she find the missing girlfriend or is it too late?


What I love:
- Daisy! Seriously, I love her. She is a baddie who rocks 1950's frocks, makes murderous magical pies, and tries to help abused women. I wish I could make magical pies! Of course, not to murder anyone. 🤭
- As always, I love the LGBTQI+ representation in each book!
- The fall vibes in this book has me wanting to fast forward time to October. This book would be amazing cozy autumn/Halloween read
- Found family 🥹 I love Daisy and her found family. Her friendships with Juan, and Mellg make me smile. Also, her friendship with our fave grouch Frank warms my heart too!
- I love the romance parts! Her and Noel make my heart smile. They both deserve the world!

I love the book series so much! This book was probably my favorite of the three! I am not sure if this will be the last one. But I would be happy with more of Daisy and her pies. Solid 4 stars out of 5. But I may bump it up to 5 stars.

As always, thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Last to Pie is the 3rd book in the Pies before Guys series by Misha Popp. The series is about Daisy Ellery who owns a pie truck and business called Pies before Guys.
The Ellery family has been magical when it comes to making things in the kitchen, putting a little magic into the food they create can provide much needed focus, bravery, or honesty to the intended patron. However, magic can also cause undetected death to others that deserve to pay for their sins. In this edition Daisy has the task of going up against a dirty cop who not only has a habit of beating his wife, but also commits all kinds of horrors behind the safety of his badge and fellow officers.
I enjoyed this story about Daisy and her determination to help others at the risk of being discovered. She shows the grit and determination we already expect, but we also learned more about her relationships to those she holds close. This cozy mystery will make you question who exactly are the "good guys" and what exactly counts as a crime.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Publishing, NetGalley and Misha Popp for an ARC to review. #Netgalley

I was BEYOND excited to get an eARC of this book the other day because I didn't think I would. It felt like Christmas 🎄, winning the lottery, and scoring front row seat tickets to Beyonce and BTS!

This book was a very, very good installment for my first and loved cozy mystery series, Pies Before Guys. Daisy Ellery is back and she's killing men and making pies! And I love her for that. This series has all I want in a book: pies, murder, taking down the "pietriarchy", adventure, mystery, hot bakers, hot farmers, hot smart hacker/cyber sleuths and food puns!

I love the relationships throughout this book. Juan and Daisy, Daisy and Noel, Daisy and Frank, Daisy and Zoe, and of course Daisy and Melly. Each relationship is different and distinct because the characters are. No charcter is alike in this series, not the victims and not the bad guys. Which is something I really like about it. The writing is simple, yet the plot is so fun, cozy and light. Daisy is easily one of my favorite characters. She is so real and relatable and Obsessed with her dog, like me! I loved when we got more glimpses of Daisy's family and backstory. I love Noel and Melly alot as separate characters, so IF a love triangle does happen I won't mind who Daisy ends up with. I had a lot of emotions when reading this book from joy, to coziness, happy to excited then fear to anxiousness back to joy and excitement! I really enjoy the found family trope underlined in this whole series, it is my favorite trope.

The themes presented in this book are what made my reading experience even more enjoyable. Which are: community, love and magic will be what ends white supremacy which enables the patriarchy, capitalism, racism, homophobia, sexism & ableism & many more. That we all have magic inside of us it is just our hobbies, or how charming we are, or our skills, etc.... Another theme is that we do have the magic to do something & take a stand against injustice. That life is live-able because of the small things, which is only strengthened via community, unconditional love and pies!

I am so excited for book 4 and honestly, anything Misha Popp writes including a grocery list.

Definitely pick up this book if you are a fan of: cozy mysteries, cozy mysteries with food, food puns and pie!

Above is my honest, yet unhinged & jumbled, review of The Last to Pie. An eArc from Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books, releasing May 21st, 2024.

This book wasn’t for me. It did not speak to me, I didn’t like the story and had to DNF at 24%. The characters were also boring.

If you haven't read a Pies before Guys mystery, I would suggest going back to “Magic, Lies and Deadly Pies” which was a good kick-off to the series. Daisy has the magical ability to bake delicious pies that will cause you no harm if you are a good human, but will kill you if you are an unrepentant abuser of women. This ability comes with some ethical dilemmas. The great thing about this third book is that Popp lets the characters’ wrestle with all of this. Daisy's amazing, adorable boyfriend Noel knows what she does and knows that she isn't going to stop doing it. How he wraps his head around this is a really well captured part of the book. One thing that I appreciate about this series is that it does not shy away from hard conversations. I give props to Daisy and Noel for making the effort to communicate their conflicting feelings over the whole situation and to listen to and respect each other even in the midst of serious disagreements. I really like Melly who is Daisy’s best friend. She really helped Daisy in this book and it was nice to see the two of them together more. Sometimes while reading, it seems like the two of them have chemistry. I don’t know if the author is going to go that route or not, but it does seem like it’s there. Popp’s writing creates a vivid picture of the world Daisy inhabits. The incorporation of dark humor serves to lighten the mood amid the serious themes explored, demonstrating Popp’s spectacular writing ability. I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series. Thanks to Misha Popp, Netgalley, and Crooked Lane Books for an e-arc in exchange for my thoughts.

What if you could request a pie that would kill only the person who's done you wrong? Everyone else could eat it and be fine, but only the person the poison is meant for would get poisoned. That's exactly what Daisy Ellery does in her business Pies Before Guys. A baker can't make a living on making murder pies alone, so she also bakes safe bakes, with a little magic, at a local diner. When a domestic abuse victim emails her seeking a murder pie for her abusing partner, Daisy looks into the details. As she starts to look closer and the woman goes missing, her abuser sets his sights on Daisy as his next target.

This is the latest in a mystery series, the third book in it, but I had no idea that it was a series when I started. I honestly thought it was the first book in a series when I picked it up. I had no problem finding myself among the characters or the story. Misha Popp did a fantastic job reminding readers what happened before, for those that are in the same shoes as me. I definitely want to go back and read the other two books in the series and I hope she'll write more in the future with these characters.

Trigger warning for domestic abuse.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for review consideration.

Readers who may have not connected with the structure of book 2 ([book:A Good Day to Pie|61819089], set in a cooking show filming) will be happy to get back in the swing with book 3, which is set back in town and over the course of a few weeks.

I still like the general premise, and I think there's a lot of opportunity to tell more stories in this paranormal universe. But I'm ready to be done with this series. There's a lot of repetitive narration as the main character continues to ruminate on whether or not-- or to what degree-- she may be evil. Although it is specified once that the magic doesn't necessarily or automatically kill abusers, this is again mostly ignored, and I think that's a big disservice to the character and the premise. And the boyfriend, who the MC things is pretty perfect, in a heated moment calls her both a psychopath and a serial killer. So, not really so perfect.

The series has a lot going for it and will continue to be good to suggest to many readers. Mysteries with romantic elements, a Bi MC who is a trauma survivor, significant side character in an interracial gay marriage raising an adopted daughter, and more. The discussion of domestic violence feels authentic and never flippant, but prioritize here the voices of readers who are themselves survivors. Added (?) in this book were more comments and minor reflections on privilege, especially white privilege, as the main character has a number of encounters with a police officer who is abusing his girlfriend-- <spoiler> and who is part of a group of officers abusing other women</spoiler>. I appreciate these, but the exact timing of them could be finessed a little more.

eARC from NetGalley.

Another great edition in this quasi-cozy dark mystery. I am always so surprised by the direction that each book takes. Usually there is a particular formula that a series takes and repeats, but every single book in this series is completely different than the last, but still brings that je ne sais quoi that pulls me in and has me love everything about this darker than usual fare.

Popp doesn't shy away from the darker sides of the world, and in this book there is a long look at policing and domestic violence - so be warned if those are not topics you want to dive into. She doesn't soften or skip over the darker truths that come with that world. But she pulls it off very well, and balances what could have felt voyueristic with other plotlines as well as some personal growth of Daisy herself to keep this in the sweet spot of dark cozy mystery instead of graphic thriller/mystery.

I don't generally read dark books, but there is something about this series that I don't think will ever push those lines in a way that pushes me away. I am always ready for the next one, and I think I will happily read every adventure that Daisy embarks on.

I really liked the first installment because it was fresh, original and also not too politically correct in terms of language and morality (I mean the lead character does bake murder pies as some kind of avenger for women mistreated by men). Anyway, it was a "fun" change in some twisted kind of way, in the cozy mystery genre. The second one had lost what made the initial concept interesting, so when I saw that the third one was coming back to basics, I had big hopes. Sadly, I found it a bit boring. Took too long for the suspense to kick in.