The Curse of the Cherry Pie

As with most culinary cozy mysteries, there is a lot of food discussed in this book. Not only is Tish a literary caterer (her dishes are always inspired by books) and a cafe owner, she’s also taking part in a Bake-Off, so things are definitely heating up in the kitchen! While this is the fourth book in the series, you can definitely read it as a standalone – there’s enough of a background and introduction to bring everyone up to speed. But honestly, I highly recommend reading this entire series.

There are so many things I love about this book. Not only was the “curse” interesting to watch unravel – there was no shortage of suspects – there were a lot of twists and turns to keep me guessing until close to the end. The pacing of the story was very even and never really slowed down. But it never felt like an information dump either. It moved along nicely and I zipped through the book at a steady pace.

Over the course of the last three books, Tish and her friends have really gone through a lot of personal development. I find it one of the most interesting group of friends in any cozy mystery series. They have real problems and they go through ups and downs in a very realistic way. It would seem like there’s a lot of drama happening alongside the main mystery (new relationships, affairs, divorces, etc) but the personal stuff never seems to distract from the main storyline, so it’s a nice balance. It also gives me a feeling of getting to know the characters very well. I can’t really say much more without giving away spoilers, so I’ll just say that Tish goes through a lot this book, and I was happy with how things ended up for her.

Of course, along with the literary-inspired dishes, another rare feature of this series is that the sidekicks (in this case, Tish’s two best friends Mary Jo and Julian aka Jules) often do some investigating on their own. While this isn’t completely unheard of in cozies, Meade often gives the sidekick a chapter of their own, which I love! She does this in this book and MJ does some digging on the side for Tish at the local dentist’s office.

And while Jules doesn’t get his own chapter, he is there for almost all the action and I couldn’t be happier. He’s definitely my favourite character in the series. He’s a bit silly and easily-distracted, but he’s also loyal and fun and I think the perfect friend to Tish and MJ. We all need more Jules in our lives!

The ending of this book was very satisfying but also kept things very open for the next book. I obviously adore this series and I can’t wait for more of Tish and her friends.

*** Thank you to Severn House Publishers, for providing me with an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Loved reading this book and author. I highly recommend her books. Happy reading and enjoy her books. If you haven't read any of her books yet