🥧BOOK REVIEW🥧

The Last to Pie - Misha Popp
Rating: 5/5 ⭐️

“Daisy Ellery is back to doing what she does best: making pies and killing guys. And it’s about to get more dangerous than ever. Daisy knows the statistic–domestic violence perpetrated by cops is rampant. It was only a matter of time before she was called in to help. But when this request arrives in her inbox, it isn’t accompanied by the required referral and that makes Daisy nervous. Is this really a woman trapped in a violent relationship, or is it a shady cop trying to uncover Daisy’s murdery side hustle?

Daisy hesitates to accept the job–until the woman who left the request goes missing and it’s clear her boyfriend is responsible. Knowing his work buddies won’t be any help investigating, Daisy sets out to find the woman and plans a little justice of her own. When Daisy finds evidence that the boyfriend wasn’t just a monster in private, but corrupt at work too, things get even more perilous.

Feeling guilty that she hesitated to help the woman, Daisy is determined to find her and get her justice–whatever it takes.”

I loved this whole series! Sign me up all day for bad ass women taking on bad men with magic pies! This one was a bit darker than the other two - I appreciated the conversation and commentary around domestic violence and law enforcement. The friendships in this series are some of my absolute favorites - especially Frank, Juan and Melly. I honestly want about 10 more books about Daisy!

You could read this as a stand alone but I HIGHLY recommend the whole series! 🍰

Recommend if you like:
- Magical realism
- Cozy mystery series
- Magical murder pies
- Found family
- Baking references (and real pie recipes!)
- Dark humor

Thank you to @crookedlanebooks, @mishapopp_ and @netgalley for my copy!

Daisy Ellery is a pie baker. She runs a pie food truck called The Pie Girl. What not everyone knows is she also bakes murder pies. Daisy has magic, and she uses it to make pies for guys who are abusive and need to be stopped.
When she receives a request from a local woman whose boyfriend is a cop, she hesitates, because this could be trouble. But in her hesitation, the woman goes missing, and now Daisy needs to help her before it's too late.
I enjoyed this book. I haven't read the start of the series, but it was easy to jump into the storyline. The concept was pretty unique to me, which I also enjoyed - murder by pie?! This was a fun and quick story to get through!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love murder magical baking so much 😭😍

As a queer baker I love books about baking and this book is so so so well done in that regard. It's written by a fellow baker, hell a fellow ace baker and that warms my heart.

I don't read digital books that are not easily digestible romances very often and it should be noted that I read the entirety of this book as an e-book and didn't wait for the audiobook. That's how good it is. I was so excited for this one and it caught me at the right time and I was sucked in. Any spare second I had I was catching up a little bit and I really liked this one.

I didn't do a reread of the first two books before I started this one and maybe I should have because I honestly don't even remember the romance happening but it's fine.

I don't want to give too many details away because this is the third book in a series and I definitely recommend that you read all three books. It's essentially about Daisy who is a pie baker and she has magic. Her magic has been passed down through the women in her family and they've all used it in very subtle friendly ways. Her grandma used it when she made clothing to make women feel more comfortable with themselves and her mom used it as a hair stylist but Daisy uses her magic a little differently. She does bake pies for the diner and for her pie food truck that are infused with friendly feelings and good luck and happiness but she also runs a side business where women who are in abusive or dangerous situations can write in and request a murder pie. Daisy bakes magic into the pie that makes the abuser want to stop doing the bad things that they're doing and often that means death. So she bakes murder pies. It's kind of awesome to be completely honest. If you made it to book three I would assume that you're on board with this but if you look at reviews from book one people are upset. I think that they need to pull the stick out of their butt and realize that sometimes murder magic is the way to go.

So in book one we see Daisy develop her relationships with her friends and the diner and she gets blackmailed essentially. Book two we see Daisy compete on a baking TV show where there's a murder mystery set in the baking competition. And now in book 3 we see Daisy get a request from a woman who doesn't really follow all of the procedures and the abuser in question is a cop. There's a lot of discussion about abuse and law enforcement and domestic violence and police misconduct. We also get more of a look into Daisy's relationship with her boyfriend and her relationship when the one of her best friends. Her pitbull Zoe continues to make an appearance and be adorable and we get to see more of Daisy's relationships with all of the diner staff.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat and I was worried for them the whole time. It does wrap up just a little bit too cleanly for me and I would have liked to see it drawn out of it but as a whole I really liked this one and I get so much joy out of seeing Daisy really grow and blossom up into someone who is comfortable with her own wants and desires in relationships and see her learn that she is deserving of found family and love and happiness.

Daisy is known as The Pie Girl, she runs a mobile catering business that occasionally -and very secretly- provides a "special" service to abused women only. She helps them break free from their abusers by way of deadly pies that she carefully crafts with her magical powers. When one of Daisy's special clients goes missing, Daisy sets out to find the woman before it’s too late -"if" it isn't too late already.

This is the third book in the "Pies Before Guys" series. My review might be biased because I haven't read the first two books. At the end of the day, it only reflects my own experience with this book ... Which was underwhelming, a bit disappointing even.

- An issue with the whole concept : I feel like the author really wants us to like Daisy, despite the fact that she's a serial killer. And she (the author) spends a lot of time trying to convince us that her main character's actions are justifiable ... What she does is actually not okay, and no amount of justification (and there's a lot of it in this book, paragraphs and paragraphs) will change that. I would've been more comfortable with, and would have rooted for, a morally grey character.

- CERS (Compulsive Eye-Roll Syndrom) inducing monologues : I get that some (if not most) writers want their books to reflect their own beliefs. But choose your battles, chill out, keep the sanctimonious talk for the right instances. Daisy's supposed to be some sort of super-woke lady who can’t tolerate any form of injustice, but her constant comments are tiresome - especially because they're often randomly thrown around, even when it's not very relevant for the story.
Example : In this paragraph, Daisy was wondering if her client drove a car and how much independance her alleged abuser gave her : "I wonder about regular trips, the grocery running around that so often falls to women in straight relationships." Why mention the gender-based distribution of duties here ? Is it relevant ?
Another example, when Daisy has been randomly pulled over by a police officer : "I'm thankful to be
driving off not only without a ticket
but without harassment, and I am
fully aware of how lucky that is. Had I been Black or if Zoe [dog] had been anything less than perfectly friendly, all of this could've gone very wrong." This one just made me uncomfortable.

- The story was very slow paced, not in a good way with interesting developments, there were a lot of un-interesting monologues and dialogues between Daisy and her friends that had nothing to do with the actual mystery. I might have felt differently about it if I had read the first and the second books. But here, I just couldn't care less about them, it just seemed to me that there were parts of the book where nothing happened.

Fun fact : I was halfway through the book when I realized that I didn't know the main character's name. Well there's a reason for that, it was only mentioned TWICE in the whole book ! TWICE !

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane for giving me access to this e-ARC for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

A lot of times I'm usually not very impressed with a series but with these I couldn't put them down. I loved that this 3rd one you may not have needed to read the first two but appreciated the bits of back story from the others. In this story, Daisy gets herself mixed in with the local police that leads her and Melly in a dangerous cat and mouse game.

This book felt a little slightly darker than the others which I liked

I enjoyed this read a lot! The cover absolutely caught my attention and I’ll be recommending this read to several of my friends!

This book kept me engaged the whole time. I don’t typically read this genre of book but the description and the cover drew me straight in. I enjoyed it and had a hard time putting it down!! Can’t wait to read more by the author.

#TheLasttoPie #NetGalley is an intense cozy mystery that had me gripping my Kindle until the last page.
Baking pies is what Daisy does, but when she receives a request for a special pie, things go wrong and Daisy won't stop until she finds what she's looking for.
I loved this book so much, even though its fiction, I would love to be able to request my own special pie!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of the book.

I'm super excited to read the other books in this series! I'm a super fan of Mia P. Manansala, so I had to pick this one up! Thank you for the ARC!

The Last to Pie is another great book in this series. I love the premise and the equal opportunity characters. I can’t wait for the next in the series.

Thank you to #NetGalley for letting me read this ARC.

I can't help it, I love this series. Do I think it's incredibly well written? No. Do I think that the characters are fascinating? Also no. Is the plot supersmart? No again.
What I love is the idea of it. I'm a sucker for a good pun, which combined with my love of murder mysteries and baking is what made me reach for this series to begin with. And is why I still jump at the chance to read the latest one.

I do however have a couple of complaints.
I think that most of the characters are a bit bland, and tend to be a bit stereotypical, but I do think that they are improving as the series continues. There's some tension in the relationship between Daisy and her boyfriend, which I think is much needed for there to be anything interesting about either of those characters at all (and yes, I'm still hoping she dumps him for Melly). It was also quite surprising, at least to me, and I appreciated that in a series that otherwise struggles with being a little too predictable. I think that there's a bit of a Nancy Drew like problem here, with the main character being a little too perfect. We are told that she has issues, but they are always sort of magically only there when it's convenient, or she's capable of getting over them, or she always has people around her that accept her anyways and have absolutely no problem with it. It makes the whole set-up feel a little childish at times. On the other hand, the relationship problems that surfaced in this third installment finally shows her in a less perfect light, which ironically make her a much more likeable character.

The thing with this series is that I mostly complain about the things I think are wrong with it, but I also can't wait for the next one... so my complaining is probably just me being snobbish.

This gets a 3 out of 5 stars as a whole from me, but let it be known that the idea is 5 out of 5 and I'll keep on reading them until there are no more to be had.

I know it’s not great to wish the test were a real thing, but with so many women in abusive relationships, I feel like this is a powerful anthem for them. That said, this is one great cozy, mystery series.

This time, maybe Daisy has gotten herself and I may risk being found out. But Daisy will leave no one behind one. She agrees to help them. And in this instance, she feels that she and her cell may have played a part in the acceleration of the abuse. Can Daisy save the woman, or is she going to be too late?

If you have not read a book in this series, yet, give this one a try. You’ll see what I mean about wishing this were a real thing. But, you have the pleasure of reading one great cozy mystery. I cannot wait for the next entry in this series to be served up!

First of all, I didn't read the previous 2 books.
Second of all, I kinda hated the murder pie method.

Daisy gets a murder request from a desperate and isolated Jodie. Jodie wants to get rid of her abusive police officer boyfriend. At first Daisy is hesitant, she has never had to go after a cop before, that is until Jodie goes missing.

If you have read the previous books you know that Daisy uses magic enchated pie to kill abusive men. And Daisy is so sure that the police can't trace any of the murders to her that she shows up in person to deliver the pie?! Apperently she does this a lot... in the same area... How is she not a murder suspect??

It was a nice enough read, but the murder pie thing just wasn't for me.

Daisy Ellery uses her inherited magic to influence people through baked goods – she provides customers of Frank’s diner with feelings of nostalgia and comfort, college students who frequent her food truck receive focus, stamina, and curiosity. But Daisy also bakes very special pies that are tailored to one person (always a man) laced with enough magic to put down the worse humanity has to offer.

Misha Popp gives enough background information that you could read this book without reading the first two, but I don’t know why you would. Daisy’s adventures and the full story of her background are worth reading.

Daisy has a very specific referral process for her “murder pies” and she isn’t sure what to do when she receives a request for a pie that doesn’t follow the rules. The woman claims to be trapped in a violent relationship with a local cop, but is it a set up? I like that the author explains abusive relationships without seeming preachy. She explores the different ways a woman may find herself with an abusive partner and why it can be so hard to leave.

While Daisy is trying to help the mysterious woman she also deals with her own relationship issues. Her boyfriend Noel knows what she does even if he doesn’t always like it. He’s also not thrilled when her friend Melly (with whom Daisy shares an attraction) steps in to help. I appreciate an author who does not lean heavily into the miscommunication trope. Issues here are resolved (eventually) with serious conversations that you don’t have to wait a third of the book for.

This series includes a growing found family for Daisy and other characters. I don’t always agree with her actions, but I am always rooting for her. This is the strongest of the books so far and I look forward to the series continuing.

I received an advanced copy of the eBook from Net Galley in return for an honest review.

Daisy Ellery is back to doing what she does making pies and killing guys. And it’s about to get more dangerous than ever. Daisy knows the statistic–domestic violence perpetrated by cops is rampant. It was only a matter of time before she was called in to help. But when this request arrives in her inbox, it isn’t accompanied by the required referral and that makes Daisy nervous. Is this really a woman trapped in a violent relationship, or is it a shady cop trying to uncover Daisy’s murdery side hustle?

Daisy says ACAB in the third Pies Before Guys mystery novel and I loved every second of it. More please!!!

This book made me laugh and made my heart hurt. I haven't read the first two books in the series but I found my footing pretty quickly with the plot and characters with only minor confusions. The last part of the story had my heart beating and I raced through the last 10% to find out what happened. I did enjoy this book, however I think it's a mistake to market it as a cozy mystery with the dark and triggering tones that are prevalent throughout the plot.

In Misha Popp’s latest installment, “The Last to Pie,” readers are once again thrust into the intriguing world of Daisy Ellery, the enigmatic pie aficionado with a knack for solving mysteries. Popp masterfully crafts a narrative that seamlessly blends elements of suspense, moral dilemmas, and culinary delights, making this third entry in the Pies Before Guys mystery series a captivating read.

The plot revolves around Daisy’s receipt of a request for revenge against an abusive cop. Popp doesn’t shy away from tackling the pervasive problem of domestic violence within law enforcement, adding a layer of complexity to the storyline. Daisy’s hesitance to accept the job without a proper referral sets the stage for a moral quandary that becomes increasingly central to the narrative.

As the stakes heighten, the disappearance of the woman who sought Daisy’s help propels the story into a suspenseful whirlwind. Popp expertly navigates the tension between Daisy’s commitment to her cause and the potential pitfalls of her murdery side hustle.

Popp skillfully explores themes of guilt and responsibility, allowing readers to connect with Daisy on a deeper emotional level than we’ve seen so far in the series. This character development adds richness to the overall narrative, elevating it beyond a typical mystery novel.

The intricate plot unfolds with a series of unexpected twists, keeping readers guessing until the final pages. Popp’s writing is both evocative and efficient, creating 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 narrative dexterity.

“The Last to Pie” not only delivers a gripping mystery but also serves as a platform for social commentary. Popp navigates issues of corruption and abuse with nuance, prompting readers to reflect on the complexities of justice. The thematic depth adds layers to the narrative, making it a thought-provoking experience.

After reading, and very much enjoying, the first two titles in this series, I was so excited to sink back into this cozy series and was fortunate enough to receive an early copy to read.

Starts out strong, and there's suspense in the build-up. Daisy is a great MC - she uses her baking skills and family magic to right wrongs - she's a likeable heroine doing what she can and trying to be happy. I enjoyed this one a lot, and look forward to reading more of this series.




Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the DRC!

I love this author Misha Popp. Her books are fun and exciting. I think I missed book two, so I'm off to get A Good Day To Pie. (Number one book is, Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies). I like Daisy, Melly, Frank, Juan, Noel and the dog Zoe, so much. The characters are all well-developed and likable. I would recommend reading in order but you don’t have to. Just gives you important history and some great recipes as a bonus! This episode is about a mysterious request without the usual requirements of Pies before Guy's, secret magic sideline for Daisy, “Pie Girl” is worried it could be a trap but what if it isn’t? Stalling to answer could mean life or death. Daisy makes special pies for those who have no alternative from an abuser. Her pies can give them a chance to mend their ways or die. All of her books are amazing and also have romance, family warmth, and a sense of humor entwined in great stories. Read now! Daisy’s magic only works for the good of the world. Thank you NetGalley and publishers Crooked Lane Books for this eARC I can’t wait for the next one!

"The Last to Pie" by Misha Popp is a thrilling addition to the Pies Before Guys mystery series, perfect for fans of authors like Mia P. Manansala and Elle Cosimano.

The story revolves around Daisy Ellery, who's renowned for her pie-making skills and her unique side job. She specializes in helping those who need revenge against abusive men. In this case, she's tasked with dealing with an abusive cop, a situation that hits close to home, considering the prevalence of domestic violence involving police officers. However, things take a suspicious turn when the request arrives without the usual referral. Daisy is left questioning whether she's truly helping a woman in need or if she's become a target for a corrupt officer trying to uncover her unique services.

When the woman who made the request goes missing, and it's evident that her boyfriend is involved, Daisy's hesitation turns into determination. Knowing that the police might not be of much help due to the potential involvement of a fellow officer, Daisy takes matters into her own hands. As she uncovers evidence of corruption and further abuses, the situation becomes even more dangerous.

"The Last to Pie" delves into themes of domestic violence, abuse, and the corrupt use of power. The story showcases Daisy's courage and commitment to helping those who need it, even when her own safety is at risk. It's a gripping and empowering mystery that keeps readers engaged from start to finish.